Short title

This Act may be cited as the

United States Refinery Revitalization Act of 2004

Findings

The Congress finds the following: (1)It serves the national interest to increase refinery capacity for gasoline, heating oil, diesel fuel, and jet fuel wherever located within the United States, to bring more supply to the markets for use by the American people. Forty-eight percent of the crude oil in the United States is used for the production of gasoline. Production and use of refined petroleum products has a significant impact on interstate commerce. (2)United States demand for refined petroleum products, such as gasoline and heating oil, currently exceeds our domestic capacity to produce them. By 2025, United States gasoline consumption is projected to rise from 8,900,000 barrels per day to 13,300,000 barrels per day. Diesel fuel and home heating oil are becoming larger components of an increasing demand for refined petroleum supply. With the increase in air travel, jet fuel consumption is projected to be 760,000 barrels per day higher in 2025 than today. (3)The refinery industry is operating at nearly 100 percent of capacity during the peak gasoline consumption season and is producing record levels of needed products at other times. The excess demand has recently been met by increased imports. The United States currently is importing 7 percent of its refined petroleum products but few foreign refiners can produce the clean fuels required in the United States. (4)Refiners are subject to significant environmental and other regulations and face several new Clean Air Act requirements over the next decade. Today 153 refineries operate in the United States, down from 324 in 1981. Almost 25 percent of our Nation’s refining capacity is controlled by foreign ownership. Easily restored capacity at idled refineries amounted to 539,000 barrels a day in 2002, or 3.3 percent of the total operating capacity. No new refineries have been built in the United States since 1976. Most refineries are located on century-old sites. New Clean Air Act requirements will benefit the environment but will also require substantial capital investment and additional government permits. (5)Refiners have met growing demand by increasing the use of existing equipment and increasing the efficiency and capacity of existing plants. But refining capacity has begun to lag behind peak summer demand. (6)Heavy industry and manufacturing jobs have closed or relocated due to barriers to investment, burdensome regulation, and high costs of operation, among other reasons. (7)More regulatory certainty for refinery owners is needed to stimulate investment in increased refinery capacity. (8)Required procedures for Federal, State, and local regulatory approvals need to be streamlined to ensure that increased refinery capacity can be developed and operated in a safe, timely, and cost-effective manner.

Designation of Refinery Revitalization Zones

The Secretary of Energy shall designate as a Refinery Revitalization Zone any area— (1)that— (A)has experienced mass layoffs at manufacturing facilities, as determined by the Secretary of Labor; or (B)contains an idle refinery; and (2)that has an unemployment rate of at least 20 percent above the national average, as set forth by the Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, at the time of designation as a Refinery Revitalization Zone.

Compliance with all environmental regulations required

The best available control technology, as appropriate, shall be employed on all refineries located within a Refinery Revitalization Zone to comply with all applicable Federal, State, and local environmental regulations. Nothing in this Act shall be construed to waive or diminish in any manner the applicability to any refinery facility located within a Refinery Revitalization Zone existing or future environmental regulations.

Coordination and expeditious review of permitting process

(a)

Department of Energy lead agency

Upon request of an applicant for a Federal authorization related to the siting and operation of a refinery facility within a Refinery Revitalization Zone, the Department of Energy shall be the lead agency for coordinating all applicable Federal authorizations and related environmental reviews of the facility. To the maximum extent practicable under applicable Federal law, the Secretary of Energy shall coordinate this Federal authorization and review process with any Indian Tribes and State and local agencies responsible for conducting any separate permitting and environmental reviews of the facility, to ensure timely and efficient review and approval of any permit decisions. (b)

Authority to set deadlines

As lead agency, the Department of Energy, in consultation with agencies responsible for Federal authorizations and, as appropriate, with Indian Tribes and State or local agencies willing to coordinate their own separate permitting and environmental reviews with the Federal authorization and environmental reviews, shall establish prompt and binding intermediate and ultimate deadlines for the review of, and Federal authorization decisions relating to, the refinery facility. The Secretary of Energy shall ensure that once an application has been submitted with such data as the Secretary considers necessary, all permit decisions and related environmental reviews under all applicable Federal laws shall be completed within 6 months or, where circumstances require otherwise, as soon thereafter as is practicable. The Secretary of Energy also shall provide an expeditious preapplication mechanism for prospective applicants to confer with the agencies involved to have each such agency determine and communicate to the prospective applicant within 60 days after the prospective applicant submits a request for the information concerning— (1)the likelihood of approval for a potential facility; and (2)key issues of concern to the agencies and public. (c)

Consolidated environmental review and record of decision

As lead agency, the Department of Energy, in consultation with the affected agencies, shall prepare a single environmental review document, which shall be used as the basis for all decisions on the proposed project under Federal law. The document may be an environmental assessment or environmental impact statement under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 if warranted, or such other form of analysis as may be warranted, in the discretion of the Secretary. Such document shall include consideration by the relevant agencies of any applicable criteria or other matters as required under applicable laws. (d)

Appeals

In the event any agency has denied a Federal authorization required for a refinery facility within a Refinery Revitalization Zone, or has failed to act by the deadline established by the Secretary pursuant to this section for deciding whether to issue the authorization, the applicant or any State in which the facility would be located may file an appeal with the Secretary. Based on the overall record and in consultation with the affected agency, the Secretary may then either issue the necessary authorization with appropriate conditions, or deny the application. The Secretary shall issue a decision within 60 days after the filing of the appeal. In making a decision under this subsection, the Secretary shall comply with applicable requirements of Federal law, including any requirements of the Clean Air Act, the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, the Solid Waste Disposal Act, the Toxic Substances Control Act, the National Historic Preservation Act, and the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969. Any judicial appeal of the Secretary’s decision shall be to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. (e)

Conforming regulations and memoranda of understanding

Not later than 6 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Energy shall issue any regulations necessary to implement this section. Not later than 6 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary and the heads of all Federal agencies with authority to issue Federal authorizations shall enter into Memoranda of Understanding to ensure the timely and coordinated review and permitting of refinery facilities within a Refinery Revitalization Zone. The head of each Federal agency with authority to issue a Federal authorization shall designate a senior official responsible for, and dedicate sufficient other staff and resources to ensure, full implementation of the Department of Energy regulations and any Memoranda under this subsection. Interested Indian Tribes and State and local agencies may enter such Memoranda of Understanding.

Definitions

For purposes of this Act— (1)the term Federal authorization means any authorization required under Federal law (including the Clean Air Act, the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, the Solid Waste Disposal Act, the Toxic Substances Control Act, the National Historic Preservation Act, and the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969) in order to site, construct, upgrade, or operate a refinery facility within a Refinery Revitalization Zone, including such permits, special use authorizations, certifications, opinions, or other approvals as may be required, whether issued by a Federal, State or local agency; (2)the term idle refinery means any intact refinery facility that has not been in operation after June 1, 2004; and (3)the term refinery facility means any facility designed and operated to refine raw crude oil into gasoline, heating oil, diesel fuel, or jet fuel by any chemical or physical process, including distillation, fluid catalytic cracking, hydrocracking, coking, alkylation, etherification, polymerization, catalytic reforming, isomerization, hydrotreating, blending, and any combination thereof.