[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3133 Introduced in House (IH)]






108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3133

 To preserve the ability of States, Indian tribes, municipalities, and 
  air pollution control agencies to protect the public health and the 
   environment by affording them discretion as to whether or not to 
implement new source review revisions promulgated by the Environmental 
                 Protection Agency on August 27, 2003.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 17, 2003

   Mr. Udall of Colorado (for himself and Mr. Shays) introduced the 
   following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and 
                                Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To preserve the ability of States, Indian tribes, municipalities, and 
  air pollution control agencies to protect the public health and the 
   environment by affording them discretion as to whether or not to 
implement new source review revisions promulgated by the Environmental 
                 Protection Agency on August 27, 2003.

    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 ``Freedom to Establish State High Air 
Quality (FrESH AIR Quality) Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

    (a) Findings.--The Congress finds that--
            (1) on August 27, 2003, the United States Environmental 
        Protection Agency (EPA) finalized revisions to the new source 
        review regulations under the Clean Air Act excluding from 
        review equipment changes involving fixed capital costs and 
        repair costs that are 20 percent or less of the total 
        replacement value of the affected process unit;
            (2) there are serious concerns about the expected air 
        pollution consequences of the revisions to the new source 
        review regulations and it is estimated that 17,000 industrial 
        facilities nationwide are affected by the regulatory revisions;
            (3) in a report dated August 22, 2003, the United States 
        General Accounting Office found that EPA has relied on 
        anecdotal information from the industries most affected by the 
        new source review program to support its conclusion that the 
        program discouraged some energy efficiency projects because the 
        Agency lacked more comprehensive data;
            (4) the National Academy of Public Administrators, an 
        independent, nonpartisan organization chartered by Congress to 
        improve government, issued an April 21, 2003 report examining 
        the new source review program and recommended that efforts to 
        reform the program should ensure both that new source review 
        provides enhanced protection of health and the environment and 
        should carefully avoid creating even broader loopholes or more 
        exemptions from the program's requirements;
            (5) the EPA's August 27, 2003 final revisions to the new 
        source review regulations require adoption by states, Indian 
        tribes or municipalities having approved new source review 
        programs within three years and will automatically apply within 
        60 days of publication of the final revisions in states, Indian 
        tribes and municipalities not having an approved program;
            (6) the State and Territorial Air Pollution Program 
        Administrators and the Association of Local Air Pollution 
        Control Officials have stated that states and local governments 
        should be allowed to make their own choices regarding the 
        adoption of EPA's revisions to the new source review program 
        based upon the state's or locality's own judgment of what will 
        best serve its local air quality needs; and
            (7) States, Indian tribes, municipalities, and air 
        pollution control agencies should not be required to implement 
        EPA's August 27, 2003 new source review revisions if they 
        consider that the result would be to lessen the protection of 
        public health or the environment.
    (b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to preserve the ability of 
states, Indian tribes, municipalities, and air pollution control 
agencies to protect the public health and the environment by affording 
them discretion as to whether or not to implement the August 27, 2003 
new source review revisions.

SEC. 3. PRESERVATION OF STATE AND TRIBAL AUTHORITY.

    (a) Prohibitions.--(1) No State, Indian tribe, municipality, or air 
pollution control agency shall be required to implement or to have 
implemented in their jurisdiction, the Environmental Protection 
Agency's August 27, 2003 new source review revisions.
    (2) No revision of a Federal implementation plan pursuant to the 
August 27, 2003 new source review revisions shall take effect until the 
affected State, Indian tribe, municipality, or air pollution control 
agency notifies the Environmental Protection Agency that it agrees to 
such revision.
    (3) Failure of a State, Indian tribe, municipality, or air 
pollution control agency to implement the August 27, 2003 new source 
review revisions, or to consent to revision of a Federal implementation 
plan pursuant to the August 27, 2003 new source review revisions, shall 
not subject such State, tribe, municipality, or agency to sanctions, 
the revocation of an approved state implementation plan under the Clean 
Air Act, or imposition of a new or revised Federal implementation plan 
under the Clean Air Act.
    (b) Definitions.--For purposes of this Act:
            (1) The terms ``air pollution control agency'', ``State'', 
        ``municipality'', and ``Indian tribe'' shall have the same 
        meaning as provided in subsections (b), (d), (f), and (r) of 
        section 302 of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7602(b), (d), (f), 
        and (r)).
            (2) The term ``August 27, 2003 new source review 
        revisions'' means the exclusion to the new source review 
        requirements under the Clean Air Act entitled ``Prevention of 
        Significant Deterioration (PSD) and Nonattainment New Source 
        Review (NSR): Equipment Replacement Provision of the Routine 
        Maintenance, Repair and Replacement Exclusion'' promulgated by 
        the Environmental Protection Agency on August 27, 2003.
            (3) The term ``Federal implementation plan'' shall have the 
        same meaning as provided in subsection (c)(1) of section 110 of 
        the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7410(c)(1)) and subsection (y) of 
        section 302 of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7602(y)).
    (c) Effect of Act.--Nothing in this Act affects the retention of 
State authority under section 116 of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 
7416).
                                 <all>