[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1948 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1948

 To direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to 
provide grants to air pollution control agencies to implement a cleaner 
               air space program, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 13, 2023

 Mr. Bennet (for himself, Mr. Merkley, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Whitehouse, 
   Ms. Cortez Masto, Mr. Wyden, and Mrs. Gillibrand) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                      Environment and Public Works

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to 
provide grants to air pollution control agencies to implement a cleaner 
               air space program, 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 ``Cleaner Air Spaces Act of 2023''.

SEC. 2. CLEANER AIR SPACE PROGRAM GRANTS.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the 
        Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
            (2) Air pollution control agency.--The term ``air pollution 
        control agency'' has the meaning the term given in section 302 
        of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7602).
            (3) Clean air center.--The term ``clean air center'' means 
        1 or more clean air rooms in a publicly accessible building.
            (4) Clean air room.--The term ``clean air room'' means a 
        room that is designed to keep levels of harmful air pollutants 
        as low as possible during wildland fire smoke events.
            (5) Covered household.--The term ``covered household'' 
        means a household that--
                    (A) is located in a low-income community; and
                    (B) includes a person who--
                            (i) is at high-risk of experiencing a 
                        wildland fire smoke event; and
                            (ii) is vulnerable to negative health 
                        effects caused by wildland fire smoke due to 
                        factors such as an underlying health condition, 
                        a disability, or age.
            (6) Eligible air filtration unit.--The term ``eligible air 
        filtration unit'' means an air filtration unit that--
                    (A) is certified by the Association of Home 
                Appliance Manufacturers to have a Clean Air Delivery 
                Rate of at least 97 for smoke;
                    (B) is certified under the Energy Star program 
                established by section 324A of the Energy Policy and 
                Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 6294a);
                    (C) does not emit ozone; and
                    (D) uses a true high-efficiency particulate air 
                filter rated to remove 99.97 percent of particles 
                measuring 0.3 micrometers or greater.
            (7) Low-income community.--The term ``low-income 
        community'' has the meaning given the term in section 45D(e) of 
        the Internal Revenue Code.
    (b) Grants Authorized.--Subject to the availability of 
appropriations, the Administrator shall provide grants to air pollution 
control agencies to implement a cleaner air space program in accordance 
with this section.
    (c) Grant Requirements.--
            (1) Amounts.--Under this section, the Administrator may not 
        provide a grant to an air pollution control agency in an amount 
        that exceeds $3,000,000.
            (2) Grants for tribes.--The Administrator shall provide at 
        least 1 grant under this section to a Tribal agency that has 
        jurisdiction over air quality.
    (d) Application.--
            (1) In general.--To apply for a grant under this section, 
        an air pollution control agency shall submit to the 
        Administrator an application at such time, in such manner, and 
        containing such information as the Administrator determines 
        appropriate, including a proposal for the implementation of a 
        cleaner air space program.
            (2) Proposal for cleaner air space program requirements.--A 
        proposal for the implementation of a cleaner air space program 
        of an air pollution control agency under paragraph (1) shall 
        include the following:
                    (A) Certification of partnering with a community-
                based organization.
                    (B) Details on the responsibilities of all parties 
                involved with the cleaner air space program, including 
                the responsibilities of--
                            (i) the air pollution control agency; and
                            (ii) any community-based organizations with 
                        which the air pollution control agency is 
                        partnering under subparagraph (A).
                    (C) Information with respect to which geographic 
                population or community of covered households may be 
                receiving eligible air filtration units under the 
                cleaner air space program.
                    (D) Information on how the air pollution control 
                agency plans--
                            (i) to distribute educational materials 
                        related to eligible air filtration units; and
                            (ii) to advertise the availability of clean 
                        air centers.
                    (E) Information on how the air pollution control 
                agency plans to establish a clean air center, 
                including--
                            (i) the facility in which a clean air 
                        center may be established; and
                            (ii) the capacity and ventilation 
                        characteristics of that facility.
                    (F) A description of the costs that may be 
                associated with the cleaner air space program, 
                including any administrative costs.
    (e) Cleaner Air Space Program Requirements.--Subject to 
satisfaction of the partnership requirement described in subsection 
(f), an air pollution control agency implementing a cleaner air space 
program pursuant to a grant provided under subsection (b) shall--
            (1) establish at least 1 clean air center that is--
                    (A) located in an area at risk of being exposed to 
                wildland fire smoke;
                    (B) accessible to individuals that reside in 
                covered households;
                    (C) open, accessible, and staffed during wildland 
                fire smoke events with the option of being open, 
                accessible, and staffed before or after wildland fire 
                smoke events;
            (2) advertise to the public--
                    (A) during a wildland fire smoke event, the 
                availability of a clean air center; and
                    (B) the cleaner air space program that the air 
                pollution control agency is implementing, including 
                information about the cleaner air space program, the 
                availability of free air filtration units (if 
                applicable), eligibility requirements to receive those 
                free air filtration units, and information on who to 
                contact for more information with respect to the 
                cleaner air space program;
            (3) at no cost to covered households--
                    (A) distribute not less than 1,000 eligible air 
                filtration units to those covered households; and
                    (B) provide 1 air filter replacement for each 
                eligible air filtration unit distributed under 
                subparagraph (A);
            (4) distribute educational materials that include 
        information with respect to how to best utilize an eligible air 
        filtration unit to create a clean air room in a home;
            (5) collect, and provide to the Administrator, information 
        on--
                    (A) each type of eligible air filtration unit 
                distributed under the cleaner air space program;
                    (B) the number of eligible air filtration units so 
                distributed; and
                    (C) the cost of each type of eligible air 
                filtration unit so distributed; and
            (6) not later than 6 months after providing an eligible air 
        filtration unit to a covered household, conduct an anonymous 
        survey of an individual of the covered household that received 
        the eligible air filtration unit through the cleaner air space 
        program with respect to--
                    (A) whether the individual understood how to 
                properly set up a clean air room and how to utilize the 
                air filtration unit;
                    (B) how often the individual utilized the air 
                filtration unit;
                    (C) the largest barriers to properly utilizing the 
                air filtration unit or creating a clean air room;
                    (D) whether the individual reported better air 
                conditions in the clean air room compared to other 
                parts of the home of that individual; and
                    (E) how the implementation of the cleaner air space 
                program could improve.
    (f) Partnership.--In implementing a cleaner air space program 
pursuant to a grant provided under subsection (b), an air pollution 
control agency shall partner with at least 1 community-based 
organization to carry out the requirements of the cleaner air space 
program described in subsection (e).
    (g) Report.--Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment of 
this Act, the Administrator shall submit to Congress a report that 
includes--
            (1) information on each cleaner air space program 
        implemented using a grant provided under subsection (b), 
        including--
                    (A) the name of the air pollution control agency 
                that received the grant; and
                    (B) the information described in subsection (e)(5) 
                collected by the air pollution control agency;
            (2) responses from the surveys described in subsection 
        (e)(6); and
            (3) recommendations with respect to--
                    (A) whether the grant program under this section 
                should be expanded; and
                    (B) how the grant program under this section can be 
                improved.
    (h) Authorization of Appropriations.--
            (1) In general.--There is authorized to be appropriated to 
        the Administrator to carry out this section $30,000,000 for the 
        period of fiscal years 2024 through 2026.
            (2) Administrative expenses.--Of the funds made available 
        under paragraph (1), the Administrator may use not more than 10 
        percent for expenses relating to administering the grant 
        program under this section.
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