I 111th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 5118 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES April 22, 2010 Mr. Moran of Kansas introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To amend the Clean Air Act to require the exclusion of data of an exceedance or violation of a national ambient air quality standard caused by a prescribed fire in the Flint Hills Region, and for other purposes.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Flint Hills Preservation Act.

2.

Findings

Congress makes the following findings: (1)The Flint Hills Region of Kansas and Oklahoma contains the world’s largest share of the remaining tallgrass prairie, and is the only place where that habitat is in landscape proportions. Only 4 percent of North America’s presettlement tallgrass prairie survives to this day, and 80 percent is located in Kansas. (2)The Flint Hills Region is also home to certain declining avian species such as the greater prairie chicken and Henslow’s sparrow that cannot continue to exist without large expanses of native tallgrass prairie in an original state. Further, it is a significant corridor for migrating shorebirds such as the American golden plover, the buff-breasted sand-piper, and the upland sandpiper. (3)Beginning in the mid-19th century, cattlemen understood that the richness of the Flint Hills grasses depended on a good spring burn—something they learned from the Native Americans. Fire still thrives in the Flint Hills because the ranchers, and others using the land, know that the natural ecosystem depends on fire. (4)Ranchers, landowners, and conservation groups use prescribed burns to mimic the seasonal fires that have shaped the tallgrass prairie for thousands of years. Areas not burned for several years develop mature grasses and thicker, thatch-like vegetation, which habitat is preferred by invasive species. (5)The Flint Hills Region is one of the few places in the United States where the prevailing agricultural system works essentially in tandem with an ancestral native ecosystem, preserving most of its complexity and the dynamic processes that helped shape it. (6)Due to the uniqueness of the Flint Hills tallgrass prairie and the historic manner in which the tallgrass prairie has been managed by fire, existing prescribed burn practices should be allowed to continue and ambient air data resulting from fires used to manage the Flint Hills tallgrass prairie should be not be included in determinations of compliance with the Clean Air Act.

3.

Prescribed fires

The Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 329 the following:

330.

Prescribed fires in the Flint Hills Region

(a)

In general

In determining whether, with respect to a specific air pollutant, an exceedance or violation of a national ambient air quality standard has occurred for purposes of this Act, a State and the Administrator shall exclude data from a particular air quality monitoring location if emissions from one or more prescribed fires in the Flint Hills Region cause a concentration of the air pollutant at the location to be in excess of the standard. (b)

Specific limitations

If emissions data is excluded under subsection (a) from a particular air quality monitoring station because of emissions from one or more prescribed fires in the Flint Hills Region— (1)the Administrator shall not, as a result of such emissions, find under section 113 that a State has failed to enforce, or that a person has violated, a State implementation plan (for national primary or secondary ambient air quality standards) under section 110; and (2)a State shall not, as a result of such emissions, find that a person has violated, or bring an enforcement action for violation of, a State implementation plan (for national primary or secondary ambient air quality standards) under section 110. (c)

Prohibition against smoke management plans

The Administrator shall not require, and a State shall not adopt, a smoke management plan under this Act in connection with any prescribed fire in the Flint Hills Region. (d)

Not a stationary source

No building, structure, facility, or installation may be treated as a stationary source under section 111 as a result of one or more prescribed fires in the Flint Hills Region. (e)

No title V permit required

No person shall be required to obtain or modify a permit under title V in connection with a prescribed fire in the Flint Hills Region. (f)

Definition

In this section: (1)The term Flint Hills Region— (A)means the band of hills in eastern Kansas that stretch into north-central Oklahoma; and (B)includes— (i)Butler, Chase, Chautauqua, Clay, Cowley, Dickinson, Elk, Geary, Greenwood, Harvey, Jackson, Lyon, Marion, Marshall, Morris, Ottawa, Pottawatomie, Riley, Saline, Shawnee, Wabaunsee, Washington, and Woodson Counties in Kansas; and (ii)Osage, Tulsa, and Washington counties in Oklahoma. (2)The term prescribed fire means a fire that is set or managed by a person with the goal of enhancing a fire-dependent ecosystem or enhancing the productivity of agricultural grazing land, irrespective of the frequency with which the burn occurs.

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