legislation: 97-s-2266
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| 97-s-2266 | 97 | s | 2266 | Clean Air Reauthorization and Acid Precipitation Study Act of 1982 | Environmental Protection | 1982-03-24 | 1982-03-24 | Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works. | Senate | Sen. Byrd, Robert C. [D-WV] | WV | D | B001210 | 2 | Clean Air Reauthorization and Acid Precipitation Study Act of 1982 - Amends the Clean Air Act ("the Act"). Title I: Implementation Plans and Enforcement - State Implementation Plans (SIPs) and the SIP revision Process - Revises required State Implementation plans (SIPs) provisions. Directs a State to notify the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of proposed and adopted revisions to its SIP and of any comments or objections filed concerning such revisions. Directs the Administrator to: (1) submit to the State comments on the technical and legal sufficiency of any proposed revision; (2) publish notice of a revision in the Federal Register within 30 days of receipt of notice of State adoption of the revision; and (3) provide a period of 30 to 70 days for public comment. Provides that any SIP revision shall be deemed approved and become effective 90 days after publication in the Federal Register, unless the Administrator, upon considering the State's administrative proceeding record and public comments, disapproves on the basis of failure to satisfy specified requirements. Directs the Administrator to publish notice of such approval or disapproval. Permits the Administrator to: (1) extend the periods for public comment and for approval, by up to 60 days; and (2) hold public hearings on SIP revisions. Provides that an SIP approval shall not be effective unless the Administrator finds, and publishes, that the State's response to any objection filed both during the State's proceedings and the Administrator's public comment period was not arbitrary or capricious. Repeals the requirement that SIPs provide for periodic inspection and testing of motor vehicles to enforce compliance with applicable emission standards. Prohibits the Administrator from requiring, as a condition of SIP approval, any indirect source review program or, except as specified in provisions for nonattainment areas, any program of periodic inspection and testing of motor vehicles. Permits States to include, and the Administrator to approve, such programs in SIPs. New Source Performance Standards - Limits the applicability of the percentage reduction requirement for new fossil fuel fired stationary sources to those categories of stationary sources to which such requirement were applied under regulations in effect as of December 31, 1981. Provides that NSPS apply only to stationary source construction or modification commenced after NSPS regulations are promulgated (currently, proposed). Enforcement - Provides a one-year period for compliance after issuance of specified Federal enforcement orders (not including Federal orders relating to violations of national emission standards for hazardous air pollutants or State enforcement orders). Repeals a requirement that the Administrator seek an injunction or assess a civil penalty in the case of any major stationary source not in compliance within 30 days of such a Federal enforcement order. Provides discretionary authority for the Administrator to seek injunctions or assess penalties any case of noncompliance which last beyond 30 days enforcement orders (and continues such discretionary authority in cases not involving major stationary sources). Directs the Administrator to carry out specified enforcement authorities through the use of full-time Federal officers or employees. States that contractors should be used only as necessary to provide technical support for such enforcement. Prohibits the Administrator from contracting with anyone other than a full-time Federal officer or employee to provide legal assistance for such enforcement. Revises enforcement provisions relating to major stationary sources which burn petroleum products or natural gas to cover such sources which voluntarily convert to an alternate fuel. Includes other alternate fuels under the enforcement provisions which currently cover conversion to coal by such sources. Requires (currently allows) each State to develop and submit to the Administrator a plan for carrying out noncompliance penalty provisions in such State. Repeals the authority of the Administrator to carry out noncompliance penalty provisions in a State under certain conditions. Authorizes (currently requires) the State, or the Administrator if the State has not received a delegation, to carry out penalty provisions to assess and collect a noncompliance penalty in specified circumstances. Authorizes the State to grant exemptions from penalties in cases of minor noncompliance (and continues the authority of the Administrator, when appropriate, to do so). Repeals a requirement that the Administrator send notices of noncompliance to specified persons, in the event the State fails to send such notices. Requires persons receiving such notices to submit a calculation of the amount of penalty owed and a schedule of payments within a reasonable period prescribed by the Administrator or the State (currently requires such submission within 45 days of notice issuance or petition denial). Makes a similar change in the deadline for submissions of petitions challenging such notice or alleging entitlement to an exemption. Provides that public hearings on such petitions be conducted by the Administrator or the State, as appropriate, and that decisions on such petitions be made within a reasonable time (currently requires the Administrator to hold such hearings unless the State agrees to do so and currently requires a decision within 90 days after receipt of the petition). Repeals provisions authorizing the Administrator to review State decisions on such petitions and requiring such review under certain conditions. Authorizes the State or the Administrator, as appropriate, to adjust or compromise any penalty assessment if the source is in compliance. Repeals provisions for: (1) final adjustments of penalties after compliance; and (2) Administrator objections to, and substitutions for, State noncompliance penalties. Revises requirements for noncompliance penalty assessed amount determinations and payment schedules. Authorizes the Administrator, after notice and public hearing, to revoke or suspend any delegation under noncompliance penalty provisions upon determination that a State is not complying with such provisions. Attainment Date Extensions - Permits States to receive up to five-year extensions beyond the December 31, 1982, national primary ambient air quality standard ("primary NAAQS") attainment date for pollutants in nonattainment areas (currently the Act permits such extensions for carbon monoxide and photochemical oxidants). Requires, in order to receive such extensions, that a State: (1) certify to the Administrator that attainment is not possible before December 31, 1982, despite implementation of all reasonably available measures; and (2) commit itself to not modifying State nonattainment plan provisions so as to adversely affect reasonable further progress. Directs the Administrator to publish notice of such certification and afford an opportunity of not more than 60 days for public comment, including a hearing where appropriate. Directs to Administrator, if satisfied that such attainment is not possible, to extend the deadline to a date providing for attainment as expeditiously as possible, but not later than December 31, 1987. Grants the Administrator discretionary authority, upon State application and after notice and public hearing, to provide an additional extension of an attainment date for any NAAQS, for up to six years beyond the December 31, 1987 extension. Conditions such additional extensions on a State demonstration that: (1) the State has made good faith efforts to make reasonable further progress toward attainment during the previous extension period and has achieved annual incremental reductions in emissions of the air pollutant concerned; (2) all applicable SIP provisions, including those relating to legislative and funding actions and reasonably available control technology (or alternative measures that achieve equal or greater reductions in emissions) are being adequately implemented; (3) air quality problems are so severe and persistent, for identified reasons, that the previous extended deadline cannot be attained; and (4) in the case of requests for additional extensions for carbon monoxide or photochemical oxidants, the State has adopted and will implement in a cost- effective manner a program of motor vehicle inspection and maintenance not inconsistent with the purposes and requirements of title II (Emissions Standards for Moving Sources) of the Act. Directs the Administrator to promulgate guidelines for SIP revisions, including guidelines respecting the terms of such additional extensions. Authorizes the Administrator to prohibit issuance of a construction or modification permit for any major stationary source which emits a pollutant for which a NAAQS has not been attained by the appropriate deadline. Permits case-by-case waivers of such prohibition for the construction of any new stationary source to replace an existing stationary source, upon determination by the permitting authority that emissions from the new source of each air pollutant for which the area is designated a nonattainment area will be less than such emissions from the existing source. Directs the Administrator to: (1) enforce such permit requirements by issuing an order or bringing a civil action; and (2) seek an injunction or assess a civil penalty for violations of such prohibitions against construction or modification. Nonattainment (other amendments) - Revises other part D provisions for permit requirements in nonattainment areas to require that proposed new or modified major stationary sources comply with the best available control technology (BACT) standard, in the case of permits issued on or after the enactment date of this Act (compliance with the lowest achievable emission rate (LAER) standard is thus required only for permits issued before such date). Repeals a requirement that SIP provisions for nonattainment areas establish a specific schedule for implementation of a vehicle emission control inspection and maintenance (I/M) program in order to qualify for a deadline extension in meeting the primary NAAQS for photochemical oxidants or carbon monoxide. Requires that SIP nonattainment provisions for urban areas with greater that 500,000 population, in which the 1981 photochemical oxidants and/or carbon monoxide level exceeded the respective primary NAAQS by 50 percent or more, must contain a cost-effective program applicable to in-use motor vehicle emissions and not inconsistent with title II (Emission Standards for Moving Sources) of the Act. Requires that such program include an I/M program, if the State deems this appropriate. Allows a State to decide that the I/M program will apply first to motor vehicle fleets and commercial operators and then, when the State determines necessary for attainment, to other vehicles. Permits any State to: (1) continue an I/M program for any nonattainment area which does not fall under the new requirements concerning urban areas with the above-mentioned population and pollution areas; or (2) submit revisions to modify or eliminate such program. Makes specified emissions level requirements for construction and operation in nonattainment areas inapplicable in the case of any SIP under which: (1) the construction or modification of specified stationary sources is required to comply with the best available control technology (BACT) standard; (2) an adequate emissions inventory is maintained; (3) all existing major stationary sources will be in compliance with emission limitations based upon reasonably available control technology (RACT) not later than 1987 (or earlier, as appropriate); (4) notwithstanding the construction of new major stationary sources, there is a program for obtaining such annual reductions in emissions as represent reasonable further progress; and (5) annual increased emissions resulting from source construction or modification shall not exceed one percent of the inventoried emissions of the applicable pollutant in the nonattainment area. Provides that the Administrator shall apply on a gradual or partial basis the authority to withhold Federal grant funds for sewage treatment and highways in cases of noncompliance with the Act as appropriate to the severity of such violations. Prevention of Significant Deterioration - Revises provisions for Prevention of Significant Deterioration of Air Quality (PSD). (PSD provisions currently specify allowable short-term and long-term "increments" of emissions of sulfur oxide and particulate matter - regulations for other pollutants are not yet final - in areas with cleaner air than that required by NAAQS. (Currently the smallest increments are allowed in "class I" areas, which include "statutorily designated" large national parks and wilderness areas, with larger increments in "class II" areas, and the largest increments in "class III" areas.) Repeals the "increment" limitations (specified "maximum allowable increases over baseline concentrations") for class II and class III areas. Eliminates the short-term increment limitations for class I areas. Permits State Governors to rule that concentrations of particulate matter attributable to fugitive dust from specified sources shall not be taken into account in determining compliance with maximum allowable increases in ambient concentrations. Eliminates provisions for PSD area redesignations as class III areas. Provides that PSD preconstruction requirements shall only apply to physical or operational changes resulting in a significant net increase in source emissions of any air pollutant regulated under provisions for NAAQS, NSPS, or NESHAPs. Sets a de minimis amount for such increase at 100 tons per year (1,000 tons per year of carbon monoxide) for any air pollutant for which a NAAQS is established (except lead) and 18 tons per year for fluorides. Revises PSD preconstruction review analysis requirements to grant discretion to the permitting authority in determining whether continuous air quality monitoring data is necessary to determine whether emissions from a facility will exceed maximum allowable increases (class I area increments) or maximum allowable concentrations (primary and secondary NAAQS). Requires PSD preconstruction permit programs to: (1) notify applicants within two months after receipt as to whether or not the application is complete and in what respects an incomplete application should be modified; and (2) issue or deny the permit within seven months after a completed application is received. Authorizes any officer or employee of a permitting agency to communicate and meet with any applicant, prior to submission of an application, to clarify PSD preconstruction permit requirements. Eliminates the requirement that PSD regulations for hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, photochemical oxidants, and nitrogen oxides contain measures at least as effective as the "increment" limitations for sulfur oxides and particulate matter. Provides that the Administrator shall promulgate PSD regulations, as appropriate, for any such pollutant (thus repealing a specific deadline for such regulations). Deletes the requirement that the specific measures included in such regulations to evaluate permit applications be "numerical." Eliminates the special definition of "best available control technology" (BACT) for purposes of PSD provisions. Defines BACT for purposes of the Act to mean the applicable New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) (the EPA-set technology-based standards for categories of industries), along with applicable national emission limitation standards for hazardous air pollutants (NESHAPs). Retains determination of the BACT by the permitting authority on a case-by-case basis where no NSPS exists for a stationary source in a particular category. Allows State and local governments to adopt or enforce standards or limitations more stringent than the BACT standard. Visibility Protection - Limits the applicability of specified visibility protection provisions to: (1) "significant" impairments of visibility within mandatory class I Federal areas; and (2) "significant" adverse impacts on air quality related values (including visibility) on lands within class I areas. Operation and Maintenance - Requires that SIPs include a program for periodic audits of major stationary sources to insure the proper operation and maintenance of pollution control equipment used to comply with emission limitations. Requires that the results of such audits be available to the public. Sets a deadline, six months after enactment of this Act, for submission of SIP revisions taking account of such requirements. Emergency Variances - Revises provisions for emergency variances from any SIP requirement applicable to a stationary source. Authorizes the President to issue such variances. Permits such variances to be issued when foreign imports of fuels used by a stationary source have reached an excessive level and such imports can be reduced by the emergency suspension. Increases the maximum period for such temporary emergency suspensions to two years (currently four months), but prohibits any such suspension remaining in effect for more than four months if it results in a violation of any NAAQS. Requires the person (a State Governor or the President) issuing any suspension for a period of more than four months to revoke such suspension upon determination that the stationary source did not change to an alternative fuel. Administrative Review - Revises provisions relating to international air pollution. Directs the Administrator to: (1) publish notice in the Federal Register upon receipt of specified information or allegations about such pollution originating in the United States; (2) receive public comments and conduct an investigation including public hearings respecting such pollution; and (3) make a finding as to whether any air pollutant emitted in the United States causes or contributes to air pollution in a foreign country. Provides that any finding that U.S. emissions cause or contribute to air pollution which may reasonably be anticipated to endanger public health or welfare in a foreign country shall be deemed to be a finding which requires an SIP revision. Regulatory Stability - Sets forth regulatory stability provisions establishing a ten-year "grandfather" period, commencing with construction or modification, during which a stationary source (unless subsequently modified) shall not be subject to more stringent requirements if the construction or modification is subject to NSPS, obtains a permit or approval, and meets all permit or approval requirements. Excludes from such "grandfather" provision any emission limitation or standard imposed on any stationary source with respect to: (1) hazardous pollutants designated under NESHAP provisions; (2) pollutants with no NAAQS in effect at commencement of the construction; or (3) any other air pollutant, if the Administrator judges that the public health or welfare may be endangered. Effective Data and Transitional Rules - Sets forth an effective date and transitional rules for the amendments relating to Nonattainment provisions and to PSD provisions. Title II: Ozone Protection - Revises ozone protection provisions of the Act. Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to continue ozone protection studies and research while increasing actual measurements of stratosphere ozone and improving methods of monitoring potential trends in such measurements. Directs the Administrator to contract annually with the National Academy of Sciences to: (1) continue review and research; (2) determine the extent, nature, and causes of changes in stratospheric ozone concentration (with particular attention to the effects of chlorofluorocarbons); (3) investigate unreasonable effects on health and the environment; and (4) report all findings and associated uncertainties. Directs the National Academy of Sciences, in consultation with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, to report, within two years and annually therafter until such time as the theory of ozone depletion by chlorofluorocarbons has has been validated, all findings concerning actual or potential alteration of the concentration of ozone in the stratosphere, its causes, and associated implications and uncertainties. Requires that such report be made to the Administrator and to the Congress, with copies available to the public. Requires that continuing research and monitoring programs be expanded to determine the extent, nature, causes, effects, and associated uncertainties of stratospheric ozone concentration changes. Directs the President, within two years from the date of enactment of this Act and annually thereafter, to report to the Congress and the public on efforts to reach international agreements among the major free-world producing countries of chlorofluorocarbons as to the nature, extent, and implications of any threat to the concentration of ozone in the stratosphere and as to the appropriate regulatory action to be taken. Prohibits the Administrator from proposing further regulations for the control in the United States of any chlorofluorocarbon under the Act or the Toxic Substance Control Act until: (1) the Administrator determines that depletion of the stratospheric ozone by chlorofluorocarbons at a rate determined to be eventually harmful to human health and the environment is actually detected; or (2) the President reports that international agreement has been reached as to the nature, extent, and implications of any threat to the concentration of ozone in the stratosphere and as to the appropriate regulatory action to be taken. Provides that this Act shall not affect: (1) the validity of regulations concerning aerosol propellants containing chlorofluorocarbons promulgated by the Administrator before the effective date of this Act; or (2) the Administrator's obligation to comply with other applicable requirements in adopting regulations for the control of chlorofluorocarbons. Prohibits States or local governments from adopting or attempting to enforce any regulation (except ones controlling halocarbon use as an aerosol propellant) respecting the control of chlorofluorocarbons to protect the stratosphere or stratospheric ozone until the Administrator has promulgated regulations for such control in the United States. Title III: Authorization of Appropriations - Authorizes appropriations to the Administrator for FY 1983 through FY 1987. Provides for sums necessary for: (1) the Administrator and the States to effectively carry out the Act's provisions, including training of State and local personnel, enforcement, abatement, and control, consideration of SIPs and revisions, and audits; and (2) sufficient funding for personnel for the Administrator to carry out the Act, particularly its regulatory functions, without undue reliance on contractors. Requires that such authorization not be less than the appropriations authorized in fiscal year 1981 to carry out the Act (except provisions relating to the National Commission on Air Quality). Prohibits the Administrator from using any funds appropriated under the Act for any payment for a reduction-in-force in any fiscal year. Directs the Administrator to inform the appropriate committees of the Congress of the reasons for such reduction, its impact on carrying out the Act, and other detailed or pertinent information, at least 30 days prior to issuing any general notice of such reduction. Declares that nothing in this title shall authorize appropriations for any research and development activities under the Act. Title IV: Acid Precipitation Study - Amends the Energy Security Act (title VII provisions also known as the "Acid Precipitation Act of 1980") to reduce the period covered by a comprehensive research plan from ten years to five years. Makes conforming amendments relating to implementation of, and authorization of appropriations for, the comprehensive research plan. Directs the Acid Precipitation Task Force to submit a final report, with detailed recommendations, within five years of enactment of the Energy Security Act. Authorizes the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to submit recommendations, to accompany the final report of the Task Force, for specific changes in law supported by scientific findings of the Taks Force. Prohibits the Administrator from proposing or promulgating any rule to control sulfur dioxide or nitrogen oxide emissions if such rule would expand the Administrator's existing regulatory authority, before the final report is transmitted. Directs the Task Force to: (1) study fuel precombustion treatment and low-polluting combustion processes for reduction of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions; and (2) solicit information from State agencies conducting acid deposition research. | 2025-08-29T19:51:28Z |