[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 989 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 989

   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.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 12, 2011

 Mr. Moran (for himself and Mr. Inhofe) 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 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.

    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 ``Flint Hills Preservation Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (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 in which that habitat occurs in landscape 
        proportions;
            (2) only 4 percent of the presettlement tallgrass prairie 
        in North America survives to this day, and 80 percent of that 
        prairie is located in Kansas;
            (3) 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;
            (4) the Flint Hills Region is a significant corridor for 
        migrating shorebirds, such as the American golden plover, the 
        buff-breasted sandpiper, and the upland sandpiper;
            (5) 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;
            (6) fire still thrives in the Flint Hills because the 
        ranchers, and others using the land, understand that the 
        natural ecosystem depends on fire;
            (7) ranchers, landowners, and conservation groups use 
        prescribed burns to mimic the seasonal fires that have shaped 
        the tallgrass prairie for thousands of years;
            (8) areas not burned for several years develop mature 
        grasses and thicker, thatch-like vegetation, a habitat that is 
        preferred by invasive species;
            (9) the Flint Hills Region is a place in the United States 
        that is an example of the prevailing agricultural system 
        working essentially in tandem with an ancestral native 
        ecosystem, preserving most of the complexity and the dynamic 
        processes that helped shape the area; and
            (10) due to the uniqueness of the Flint Hills tallgrass 
        prairie and the historic manner in which the tallgrass prairie 
        has been managed by fire--
                    (A) prescribed burn practices used as of the date 
                of enactment of this Act to manage the Flint Hills 
                tallgrass prairie should be allowed to continue; and
                    (B) ambient air data resulting from fires used for 
                that management should be not be included in 
                determinations of compliance with the Clean Air Act (42 
                U.S.C. 7401 et seq.).

SEC. 3. PRESCRIBED FIRES.

    The Clean Air Act is amended by inserting after section 329 (42 
U.S.C. 7628) the following:

``SEC. 330. PRESCRIBED FIRES IN THE FLINT HILLS REGION.

    ``(a) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) Flint hills region.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The term `Flint Hills Region' 
                means the band of hills located in eastern Kansas and 
                north-central Oklahoma.
                    ``(B) Inclusions.--The term `Flint Hills Region' 
                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 the State of Kansas; and
                            ``(ii) Osage, Tulsa, and Washington 
                        counties in the State of Oklahoma.
            ``(2) Prescribed fire.--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.
    ``(b) Exclusion of Data.--In determining whether, with respect to a 
specific air pollutant, an exceedance or violation of a national 
ambient air quality standard has occurred, or for any other purpose 
under this Act, a State and the Administrator shall exclude data from a 
particular air quality monitoring location if emissions from 1 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.
    ``(c) Specific Limitations.--If emission data is excluded under 
subsection (b) from a particular air quality monitoring station because 
of emissions from 1 or more prescribed fires in the Flint Hills 
Region--
            ``(1) the Administrator shall not, as a result of the 
        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 the 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.
    ``(d) 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.
    ``(e) Not a Stationary Source.--No building, structure, facility, 
or installation may be treated as a stationary source under this Act as 
a result of 1 or more prescribed fires in the Flint Hills Region.
    ``(f) 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.''.
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