No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section amends the Clean Air Act to facilitate state implementation of national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) as follows: (1) extends the interval for EPA review of NAAQS from every five years to every 10 years; (2) authorizes the EPA Administrator, in consultation with the independent scientific review committee under CAA section 109(d), to consider the likely attainability of a primary NAAQS as a secondary factor if a range of levels is requisite to protect public health with an adequate margin of safety; (3) requires EPA, before promulgating a federal implementation plan (FIP), to provide a state at least one year after a SIP finding or disapproval to submit a corrective plan or revision and, if submitted, up to three years to promulgate the FIP (notwithstanding the existing two-year deadline); (4) exempts extreme ozone nonattainment areas from requirements for contingency measures in SIPs; (5) for ozone nonattainment areas, inserts "and economic feasibility" after "technological achievability" in specified reasonable available control technology and attainment demonstration provisions, simplifies cross-references in section 182(e), and eliminates demonstration requirements for certain plan credit extensions; and (6) requires particulate matter nonattainment area milestone plans to account for technological achievability and economic feasibility in demonstrating reasonable further progress.
This section revises the exceptional events provisions (42 U.S.C. 7619(b)) to broaden the definition of exceptional event to include natural events, human activities mirroring natural events (e.g., prescribed fires), or human activities unlikely to recur (from prior definition limited to uncontrollable/preventable events not reasonably expected to recur); excludes ordinarily occurring stagnation of air masses, meteorological inversions, or source noncompliance (replacing prior exclusions for stagnation, high temperatures/lack of precipitation, or source noncompliance); and defines "action to mitigate wildfire risk" as a prescribed fire or similar state-approved measure to reduce wildfire risk and severity. The section further (1) requires the EPA Administrator to propose revisions to exceptional event regulations within 18 months of enactment (from March 1, 2006) that address such actions; (2) mandates regional modeling and analysis for multi-state petitions upon request and a public website tracking petition status updated monthly beginning 12 months after enactment; (3) incorporates the role of wildfire mitigation actions into petition criteria and data exclusion processes for national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) determinations (e.g., exceedances, designations, attainment); and (4) strikes prior requirements for EPA concurrence on state exceptional event determinations. This section also adds a new section 179C to the Clean Air Act to exempt Severe or Extreme ozone nonattainment areas (under CAA section 181) or Serious particulate matter nonattainment areas (under section 188) from sanctions or fees under sections 179 or 185 for NAAQS deficiencies or missed attainment dates if a state demonstrates such issues resulted from (1) out-of-area emissions, (2) exceptional events, or (3) mobile source emissions beyond state control despite full implementation of available state measures. (Thus, this provides relief from highway funding sanctions or fees up to $5,000-$10,000 per ton of excess emissions for events outside state authority.)
This section revises the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC)—which provides independent scientific peer review of air quality criteria and national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) under the Clean Air Act—as follows: (1) increases state air pollution control agency representatives from one to three, requiring at least one each from EPA Regions 1-3 or 5, 4 or 6-7, and 8-10; and (2) directs CASAC, prior to EPA establishing or revising a NAAQS, to assess and advise (after public comment) on potential adverse public health, welfare, social, economic, or energy effects of various NAAQS attainment and maintenance strategies.