110 HR 204 IH: Right to Know About Airport
U.S. House of Representatives
2007-01-04
text/xml
EN
Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.
1.Short title; and table of
contents
(a)This Act may be cited
as the Right to Know About Airport
Pollution Act of 2007
.
(b)The table of contents for this Act is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; and table of contents.
Sec. 2. Findings and purpose.
Sec. 3. Definitions.
Sec. 4. Study of using airport bubbles.
Sec. 5. Study of emission standards for airplane
engines.
Sec. 6. Progress reports.
Sec. 7. Reporting of toxic chemical releases.
2.
(a)Congress
finds that—
(1)The serious ground
level ozone, noise, water pollution, and solid waste disposal problems
attendant to airport operations require a thorough evaluation of all
significant sources of pollution.
(2)The
Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7401 et
seq.)—
(A)requires each
State to reduce emissions contributing to ground level ozone problems and
maintain those reductions; and
(B)requires the
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to study, in addition to
other sources, the effects of sporadic, extreme noise (such as jet noise near
airports) on public health and welfare.
(3)The
Federal Water Pollution Control Act
(33 U.S.C. 1251 et
seq.) establishes a regulatory and enforcement program for
discharges of wastes into waters.
(4)The Safe Drinking
Water Act (42 U.S.C.
300f et seq.) establishes primary drinking water standards and
a ground water control program.
(5)The
Solid Waste Disposal Act
(42 U.S.C. 6901 et
seq.) regulates management and disposal of solid and hazardous
waste.
(6)A
study of air pollution problems in California—
(A)has determined that
airports are significant sources of air pollution; and
(B)has led to the
creation of an airport bubble concept.
(7)The airport bubble
concept is an approach that—
(A)treats an airport
and the area within a specific radius around the airport as a single source of
pollution that emits a range of pollutants, including air, noise, water, and
solid waste; and
(B)seeks, by
implementation of specific programs or regulations, to reduce the pollution
from each source within the bubble and thereby reduce the overall pollution in
that area.
(b)The
purpose of this Act is to require the Administrator to conduct—
(1)a
feasibility study for applying airport bubbles to airports as a method of
assessing and reducing, where appropriate, air, noise, water, and solid waste
pollution in and around the airports and improving overall environmental
quality; and
(2)a
study of air pollutant emission standards established by the Environmental
Protection Agency for airplane engines to determine whether it is feasible and
desirable to strengthen the standards.
3.In this Act:
(1)The
term Administrator means the Administrator of the Environmental
Protection Agency.
(2)The term airport bubble means an area—
(A)in and around an
airport (or other facility using aircraft) within which sources of pollution
and levels of pollution from those sources are to be identified and reduced;
and
(B)containing a variety
of types of air, noise, water, and solid waste sources of pollution in which
the aggregate of each type of pollutant from the respective sources is
regulated as if the various sources were a single source.
4.Study of using
airport bubbles
(a)The Administrator shall conduct a study to determine the
feasibility of regulating air, noise, water, and solid waste pollution from all
sources in and around airports using airport bubbles.
(b)In conducting the study, the Administrator shall establish
and consult with a working group comprised of—
(1)the Administrator
of the Federal Aviation Administration (or a designee);
(2)the Secretary of
Defense (or a designee);
(3)the Secretary of
Transportation (or a designee);
(4)a
representative of air quality districts;
(5)a
representative of environmental research groups;
(6)a
representative of State Audubon Societies;
(7)a
representative of the Sierra Club;
(8)a
representative of the Nature Conservancy;
(9)a
representative of port authorities of States;
(10)an airport
manager;
(11)a representative
of commanding officers of military air bases and stations;
(12)a representative
of the bus lines that serve airports who is familiar with the emissions testing
and repair records of those buses, the schedules of those lines, and any
problems with delays in service caused by traffic congestion;
(13)a
representative of the taxis and limousines that serve airports who is familiar
with the emissions testing and repair records of the taxis and limousines and
the volume of business generated by the taxis and limousines;
(14)a representative
of local law enforcement agencies or other entities responsible for traffic
conditions in and around airports;
(15)a representative
of the Air Transport Association;
(16)a representative
of the Airports Council International—North America;
(17)a
representative of environmental specialists from airport authorities;
and
(18)a representative
from an aviation union representing ground crews.
(c)In conducting the study, the Administrator shall—
(1)collect, analyze,
and consider information on the variety of stationary and mobile sources of
air, noise, water, and solid waste pollution within airport bubbles around
airports in the United States, including—
(A)aircraft,
vehicles, and equipment that service aircraft (including main and auxiliary
engines); and
(B)buses, taxis, and
limousines that serve airports;
(2)study a
statistically significant number of airports serving commercial aviation in a
manner designed to obtain a representative sampling of such airports;
(3)consider all
relevant information that is available, including State implementation plans
under the Clean Air Act
(42 U.S.C. 7401 et
seq.) and airport master plans;
(4)consider the air
quality implications of airport and ground and in-flight aircraft operations,
such as routing and delays;
(5)assess the role of
airports in interstate and international travel and commerce and the
environmental and economic impact of regulating airports as significant sources
of air, noise, water, and solid waste pollution;
(6)propose boundaries
of the areas to be included within airport bubbles;
(7)propose a
definition of air pollutant emissions for airport bubbles that includes
hydrocarbons, volatile organic compounds, and other ozone precursors targeted
for reduction under Federal air pollution law;
(8)develop an
inventory of each source of air, noise, water, and solid waste pollution to be
regulated within airport bubbles and the level of reduction for each
source;
(9)list and evaluate
programs that might be implemented to reduce air, noise, water, and solid waste
pollution within airport bubbles and the environmental and economic impact of
each of the programs, including any changes to Federal or State law (including
regulations) that would be required for implementation of each of the
programs;
(10)evaluate the
feasibility of regulating air, noise, water, and solid waste pollutants in and
around airports using airport bubbles and make recommendations regarding which
programs should be included in an effective implementation of airport bubble
methodology; and
(11)address the
issues of air and noise pollution source identification and regulation that are
unique to military air bases and stations.
(d)Not
later than 3 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administration
shall submit to Congress a report describing the results and recommendations of
the study required by this section.
5.Study of emission
standards for airplane engines
(a)The Administrator shall conduct a study of air pollutant
emission standards established by the Environmental Protection Agency for
airplane engines to determine whether it is feasible and desirable to
strengthen the standards.
(b)Not
later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator
shall submit to Congress a report describing the results and recommendations of
the study required by this section.
6.Not later than 1 year
after the enactment of this Act, and every year thereafter, the Administrator
shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report which details
the progress being made by the agency in complying with section 4 and section 5
of this Act.
7.Reporting of
toxic chemical releases
(a)Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of
this Act, the Administrator shall promulgate regulations requiring each airport
that regularly serves commercial or military jet aircraft to report, under
section 313 of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-To-Know Act of 1986
(42 U.S.C.
11023) and section 6607 of the Pollution Prevention Act of 1990
(42 U.S.C.
13106), releases and other waste management activities
associated with the manufacturing, processing, or other use of toxic chemicals
listed under section 313 of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-To-Know
Act of 1986 (42
U.S.C. 11023), including toxic chemicals manufactured,
processed, or otherwise used—
(1)during operation
and maintenance of aircraft and other motor vehicles at the airport; and
(2)in the course of
other airport and airline activities.
(b)For the purpose of subsection (a), an airport shall be
considered to be a facility as defined in section 329 of the Emergency Planning
and Community Right-To-Know Act of 1986 (42 U.S.C. 11049).