[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4000 Introduced in House (IH)]

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114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4000

 To harmonize requirements of the 2008 and 2015 ozone national ambient 
             air quality standards, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 16, 2015

  Mr. Flores introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To harmonize requirements of the 2008 and 2015 ozone national ambient 
             air quality standards, 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 ``Ozone National Ambient Air Quality 
Standard Deadline Harmonization Act of 2015''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) Ozone precursor emissions have been reduced by over 50 
        percent since 1980, resulting in a 33-percent improvement of 
        ozone air quality. The Environmental Protection Agency projects 
        this improvement will continue even under rules and programs 
        already in place.
            (2) States are just beginning to implement the 2008 ozone 
        standards, for which the Environmental Protection Agency 
        published State implementation plan requirements on February 
        13, 2015. Notwithstanding this delayed implementation of the 
        2008 ozone standards, the Environmental Protection Agency 
        published the 2015 ozone standards on October 26, 2015.
            (3) With publication of the 2015 ozone standards so early 
        in the implementation of the 2008 ozone standards, States face 
        the prospect of simultaneously implementing two national 
        ambient air quality standards for ozone.
            (4) In addition, counties face severe statutorily imposed 
        consequences if designated as nonattainment or for failing to 
        meet attainment deadlines, even if those counties would 
        ultimately achieve attainment with no further action.
            (5) If the 2008 and 2015 ozone standards implementation 
        schedules are not harmonized, already strained State resources 
        will be burdened by overlapping implementation schedules, and 
        counties that are projected to achieve necessary air quality 
        improvements will face significant and permanent sanctions.

SEC. 3. OZONE STANDARDS IMPLEMENTATION SCHEDULE HARMONIZATION.

    (a) Designation Submission.--Not later than October 26, 2024, the 
Governor of each State shall designate in accordance with section 
107(d) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7407(d)) all areas (or portions 
thereof) of the Governor's State as attainment, nonattainment, or 
unclassifiable with respect to the 2015 ozone standards.
    (b) Designation Promulgation.--Not later than October 26, 2025, the 
Administrator shall promulgate final designations under section 107(d) 
of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7407(d)) for all areas in all States 
with respect to the 2015 ozone standards, including any modifications 
to the designations submitted under subsection (a).
    (c) State Implementation Plans.--Not later than October 26, 2026, 
notwithstanding the deadline specified in section 110(a)(1) of the 
Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7410(d)(1)), each State shall submit the plan 
required by such section 110(a)(1) for the 2015 ozone standards.

SEC. 4. CERTAIN PRECONSTRUCTION PERMITS.

    (a) In General.--The 2015 ozone standards shall not apply to the 
review and disposition of a preconstruction permit application if--
            (1) the Administrator or the State, local, or tribal 
        permitting authority, as applicable, determines the application 
        to be complete on or before the date of promulgation of final 
        designations under section 3(b); or
            (2) the Administrator or the State, local, or tribal 
        permitting authority, as applicable, publishes a public notice 
        of a preliminary determination or draft permit for the 
        application before the date that is 60 days after the date of 
        promulgation of final designations under section 3(b).
    (b) Rules of Construction.--Nothing in this section shall be 
construed to--
            (1) eliminate the obligation of a preconstruction permit 
        applicant to install best available control technology and 
        lowest achievable emissions rate technology, as applicable; or
            (2) limit the authority of a State, local, or tribal 
        permitting authority to impose more stringent emissions 
        requirements pursuant to State, local, or tribal law than 
        Federal national ambient air quality standards established by 
        the Environmental Protection Agency.

SEC. 5. ADJUSTMENT OF 5-YEAR REVIEW CYCLE.

    (a) 10-Year Cycle for All Criteria Air Pollutants.--Paragraphs (1) 
and (2)(B) of section 109(d) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7409(d)) 
are amended by striking ``five-year intervals'' each place it appears 
and inserting ``ten-year intervals''.
    (b) Cycle for Next Review of Ozone Criteria and Standards.--
Notwithstanding section 109(d) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 
7409(d)), the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency 
shall not--
            (1) complete, before October 26, 2025, any review of the 
        criteria for ozone published under section 108 of such Act (42 
        U.S.C. 7408) or the national ambient air quality standard for 
        ozone promulgated under section 109 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 
        7409); or
            (2) propose, before such date, any revisions to such 
        criteria or standards.

SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) The term ``2008 ozone standards'' means the national 
        ambient air quality standards for ozone published in the 
        Federal Register on March 27, 2008 (73 Fed. Reg. 16436).
            (2) The term ``2015 ozone standards'' means the national 
        ambient air quality standards for ozone published in the 
        Federal Register on October 26, 2015 (80 Fed. Reg. 65292).
            (3) The term ``Administrator'' means the Administrator of 
        the Environmental Protection Agency.
            (4) The term ``best available control technology'' has the 
        meaning given to that term in section 169(3) of the Clean Air 
        Act (42 U.S.C. 7479(3)).
            (5) The term ``lowest achievable emissions rate'' has the 
        meaning given to that term in section 171(3) of the Clean Air 
        Act (42 U.S.C. 7501(3)).
            (6) The term ``preconstruction permit''--
                    (A) means a permit that is required under part C or 
                D of title I of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7470 et 
                seq.) for the construction or modification of a major 
                emitting facility or major stationary source; and
                    (B) includes any such permit issued by the 
                Environmental Protection Agency or a State, local, or 
                tribal permitting authority.
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