[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2362 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2362

     To amend the Clean Air Act to direct the Administrator of the 
 Environmental Protection Agency to consider risk assessments and cost-
   benefit analyses as part of the process of establishing a new or 
                     revised air quality standard.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 5, 2000

 Mr. Voinovich (for himself, Mr. Breaux, Mr. Inhofe, and Ms. Landrieu) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
               Committee on Environment and Public Works

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
     To amend the Clean Air Act to direct the Administrator of the 
 Environmental Protection Agency to consider risk assessments and cost-
   benefit analyses as part of the process of establishing a new or 
                     revised air quality standard.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Air Quality Standard Improvement Act 
of 2000''.

SEC. 2. PURPOSES.

    The purposes of this Act are--
            (1) to establish more effective environmental standards to 
        continue to safeguard public health and the environment;
            (2) to promote better resource allocation to ensure that 
        serious risks to air quality are addressed first;
            (3) to improve the ability of the Administrator of the 
        Environmental Protection Agency to use scientific and economic 
        analysis in developing air quality standards;
            (4) to yield increased public health and environmental 
        benefits and more effective protections while minimizing costs;
            (5) to require that relevant qualitative and quantitative 
        information be considered in the process of evaluating the 
        costs and benefits of air quality standards;
            (6) to promote the right of the public to know about the 
        costs and benefits of air standards, the risks addressed, the 
        risks reduced, and the quality of scientific and economic 
        analysis used to support decisions; and
            (7) to require the Administrator of the Environmental 
        Protection Agency to conduct risk assessments and cost-benefit 
        analyses as part of the process of establishing a new or 
        revised air quality standard.

SEC. 3. RISK ASSESSMENT AND COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS.

    The Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.) is amended by adding at 
the end the following:

         ``TITLE VII--RISK ASSESSMENT AND COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS

``SEC. 701. DEFINITION OF AIR QUALITY STANDARD.

    ``In this title, the term `air quality standard' means--
            ``(1) a national ambient air quality standard established 
        under section 109 (including the setting of any emissions 
        budget for purposes of attaining or maintaining any national 
        ambient air quality standard);
            ``(2) an increment or ceiling for the prevention of 
        significant deterioration established under section 163;
            ``(3) regulations established under section 169A to address 
        the regional haze or other impairment of visibility by manmade 
        air pollution in a mandatory class I Federal area;
            ``(4) any finding or emission limitation determined under 
        section 126;
            ``(5) any emission standard or requirement that applies to 
        on-road and nonroad mobile sources (including aircraft engine 
        standards) established under title II;
            ``(6) any requirement that imposes a limitation on the 
        quality of fuel used in mobile sources;
            ``(7) any emission limitation or emission budget for sulfur 
        dioxide or nitrogen oxides established under title IV;
            ``(8) any preconstruction review requirement that regulates 
        new sources or major modifications of existing sources in 
        attainment or nonattainment areas;
            ``(9) the setting of any emissions budget or other 
        requirement for purposes of attaining or maintaining any 
        national ambient air quality standard under section 110;
            ``(10) any new source performance standard, existing source 
        performance standard, or design, equipment, work practice, or 
        operational standard established or revised under section 111;
            ``(11) any standard to protect public health and the 
        environment described in section 112(f);
            ``(12) any new regulation applicable to an electric utility 
        steam generating unit under section 112(n);
            ``(13) the designation of a pollutant under section 115 as 
        causing or contributing to air pollution that may reasonably be 
        anticipated to endanger public health or welfare in a foreign 
        country;
            ``(14) any air pollution control technique information, 
        transportation planning guidelines, information on procedures 
        and methods to reduce mobile source air pollution, or control 
        technique guidelines issued under sections 108 and 183;
            ``(15) any identification of attainment dates for national 
        ambient air quality standards under part D;
            ``(16) any identification of control measures for the 
        reduction of interstate ozone air pollution under section 184; 
        and
            ``(17) any identification of reasonably available control 
        measures and best available control measures for particulate 
        matter under section 190.

``SEC. 702. RISK ASSESSMENT, MANAGEMENT, AND COMMUNICATION.

    ``(a) Use of Science in Decisionmaking.--In carrying out this Act, 
(including establishing a new or revised air quality standard under 
this Act), the Administrator shall base any scientific or technical 
conclusions on--
            ``(1) the best available, peer-reviewed science and 
        supporting studies conducted in accordance with sound and 
        objective scientific practices;
            ``(2) data collected by accepted methods or the best 
        available methods (if the reliability of the method and the 
        nature of the decision justifies use of the data);
            ``(3) data (including the underlying research data) that 
        have been made available to the public, subject to the 
        exemptions under section 552 of title 5, United States Code.
    ``(b) Public Information.--
            ``(1) In general.--In carrying out this section, the 
        Administrator shall ensure, to the maximum extent practicable, 
        that the presentation of information on public health effects 
        concerning any new or revised air quality standard is 
        comprehensive, informative, understandable, and conveniently 
        available for public comment prior to the promulgation of any 
        regulation under this Act.
            ``(2) Specifications.--The Administrator shall, in a 
        document made available to the public in support of a 
        regulation proposed or promulgated under this Act concerning an 
        air quality standard, specify, to the maximum extent 
        practicable--
                    ``(A) each population addressed by any estimate of 
                public health effects;
                    ``(B) the expected risk or central estimate of risk 
                for the specific populations or resources, where 
                applicable, and each appropriate upper-bound or lower-
                bound estimate of risk;
                    ``(C) each significant uncertainty identified in 
                the process of the assessment of public health effects, 
                and studies that would assist in resolving the 
                uncertainty; and
                    ``(D) peer-reviewed studies known to the 
                Administrator that support, are directly relevant to, 
                or fail to support any estimate of public health 
                effects, and the methodologies used to reconcile 
                inconsistencies in the scientific data.
            ``(3) Health risk reduction and cost analysis.--
                    ``(A) In general.--As part of the process of 
                proposing a new or revised air quality standard, the 
                Administrator shall publish in the Federal Register and 
                seek public comment on an analysis of each of the 
                following:
                            ``(i) Quantifiable and nonquantifiable 
                        benefits for which there are factual bases in 
                        the rulemaking record to conclude that the 
                        benefits are likely to occur as the result of 
                        actions taken to comply with the new or revised 
                        air quality standard.
                            ``(ii) Quantifiable and nonquantifiable 
                        health benefits for which there are factual 
                        bases in the rulemaking record to conclude that 
                        the benefits are likely to occur from 
                        reductions in other related pollutants that may 
                        be attributed to compliance with the new or 
                        revised air quality standard, excluding 
                        benefits resulting from compliance with other 
                        proposed or promulgated regulations.
                            ``(iii) Quantifiable and nonquantifiable 
                        costs for which there is a factual basis in the 
                        rulemaking record to conclude that the costs 
                        are likely to occur as the result of actions 
                        taken to comply with or attain the new or 
                        revised air quality standard, which costs shall 
                        include monitoring, actions taken to comply 
                        with or attain the new or revised air quality 
                        standard, and other costs, and excluding costs 
                        resulting from compliance with other proposed 
                        or promulgated regulations.
                            ``(iv) The incremental costs and benefits 
                        associated with each alternative new or revised 
                        air quality standard considered.
                            ``(v) The effects of the air pollutant or 
                        pollutants for which a new or revised air 
                        quality standard is being considered on the 
                        general population, including, to the extent 
                        relevant and appropriate and where data are 
                        reasonably available, the effects on groups 
                        within the general population such as infants, 
                        children, pregnant women, the elderly, 
                        individuals with a history of serious illness, 
                        or other subpopulations that are identified as 
                        likely to be at greater risk of adverse health 
                        effects due to exposure to an air pollutant 
                        than the general population.
                            ``(vi) Any risk that may occur as the 
                        result of compliance with or attainment of the 
                        new or revised air quality standard, including 
                        risks associated with other related pollutants.
                            ``(vii) Other relevant factors, including 
                        the quality and extent of the information 
                        available concerning the new or revised air 
                        quality standard, the uncertainties in the 
                        analysis supporting clauses (i) through (vi), 
                        and factors with respect to the degree, and 
                        quantitative and qualitative descriptions of 
                        the nature, of any risk.
                    ``(B) Approaches to measure and value benefits.--
                The Administrator may identify valid approaches for the 
                measurement and valuation of benefits under this 
                paragraph, including approaches to identify consumer 
                willingness to pay for reductions in health risks from 
                air pollutants.
                    ``(C) Authorization of appropriations.--There is 
                authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator to 
                conduct studies, assessments, and analyses described in 
                this section $35,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2000 
                through 2003.

``SEC. 703. COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS.

    ``(a) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) Benefit.--The term `benefit' means the reasonably 
        identifiable significant favorable effects, quantifiable and 
        nonquantifiable, including social, health, safety, 
        environmental, and economic effects, that are expected to 
        result from implementation of, or compliance with, a new or 
revised air quality standard.
            ``(2) Cost.--The term `cost' means the reasonably 
        identifiable significant adverse effects, quantifiable and 
        nonquantifiable, including social, health, safety, 
        environmental, and economic effects, that are expected to 
        result from implementation of, or compliance with, a new or 
        revised air quality standard.
            ``(3) Cost-benefit analysis.--The term `cost-benefit 
        analysis' means an evaluation of the costs and benefits of a 
        new or revised air quality standard, quantified to the extent 
        feasible and appropriate and otherwise qualitatively described, 
        that is prepared in accordance with the requirements of this 
        section at the level of detail appropriate and practicable for 
reasoned decisionmaking on the matter involved, taking into 
consideration uncertainties, the significance and complexity of the 
decision, and the need to adequately inform the public.
    ``(b) Analysis.--For each new or revised air quality standard 
proposed, the Administrator--
            ``(1) shall conduct and publish, for public comment, a 
        cost-benefit analysis to determine whether the benefits of the 
        new or revised air quality standard justify, or do not justify, 
        the costs; and
            ``(2) may analyze the potential distributional effects of 
        the new or revised air quality standard.
    ``(c) Determination of Health Risk Reduction and Cost 
Considerations.--
            ``(1) Determination of no justification for cost.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Notwithstanding any other 
                provision of this Act, if the Administrator determines, 
                based on an analysis conducted under subsection (b), 
                that the benefits of a new or revised air quality 
                standard proposed or promulgated in accordance with 
                this Act do not justify the costs, the Administrator 
                may, after notice and opportunity for public comment, 
                promulgate an alternative new or revised air quality 
                standard at a cost that is justified by the benefits.
                    ``(B) Scope of consideration.--In making a 
                determination under subparagraph (A), the Administrator 
                shall consider--
                            ``(i) only public health benefits, with 
                        respect to a determination concerning a primary 
                        national ambient air quality standard; and
                            ``(ii) public health and environmental 
                        benefits, with respect to a determination 
                        concerning any air quality standard other than 
                        a national ambient air quality standard.
            ``(2) Judicial review.--A determination by the 
        Administrator under paragraph (1)--
                    ``(A) shall be reviewed by a court only as part of 
                a review of a final regulation that has been 
                promulgated based on the determination; and
                    ``(B) shall be set aside by a court if the court 
                finds that the determination is arbitrary and 
                capricious.
    ``(d) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated such sums as are necessary to carry out this section.''.
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