Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Air Quality Standards Implementation Act of 2024”.
Air Quality Standards Implementation Act of 2024
A BILL
To facilitate efficient State implementation of national ambient air quality standards, and for other purposes.
Sec. 2 Facilitating State implementation of national ambient air quality standards
Timeline for review of national ambient air quality standards— 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 “10-year intervals”.
Consideration of attainability— Section 109(b)(1) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7409(b)(1)) is amended by inserting after the first sentence the following: “If the Administrator, in consultation with the independent scientific review committee appointed under subsection (d), finds that a range of levels of air quality for an air pollutant are requisite to protect public health with an adequate margin of safety, as described in the preceding sentence, the Administrator may, as a secondary consideration in establishing and revising the national primary ambient air quality standard for such air pollutant, consider likely attainability of the standard.”.
Composition of independent scientific review committee— Section 109(d)(2)(A) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7409(d)(2)(A)) is amended—
by striking “one person representing State air pollution control agencies” and inserting “three persons representing State air pollution control agencies”; and
by adding at the end the following: “The persons representing State air pollution control agencies shall be from geographically diverse areas with at least one person representing a State located in Region 1, 2, 3, or 5 of the Environmental Protection Agency, one person representing a State located in Region 4, 6, or 7 of the Environmental Protection Agency, and one person representing a State located in Region 8, 9, or 10 of the Environmental Protection Agency.”.
Consideration of adverse public health, welfare, social, economic, or energy effects— Section 109(d)(2) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7409(d)(2)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
“(D) Prior to establishing or revising a national ambient air quality standard, the Administrator shall request, and such committee, after receiving public comments, shall assess and provide advice under subparagraph (C)(iv) regarding any adverse public health, welfare, social, economic, or energy effects which may result from various strategies for attainment and maintenance of such national ambient air quality standard.”
Timely issuance of implementing regulations and guidance— Section 109 of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7409) is amended by adding at the end the following:
“(e) Timely issuance of implementing regulations and guidance
“(1) In general—In publishing any final rule establishing or revising a national ambient air quality standard, the Administrator shall, to assist States, permitting authorities, and permit applicants, concurrently publish regulations and guidance for implementing the standard, including information relating to submission and consideration of a preconstruction permit application under the new or revised standard.
“(2) Applicability of Standard to Preconstruction Permitting—If the Administrator fails to publish final regulations and guidance that include information relating to submission and consideration of a preconstruction permit application under a new or revised national ambient air quality standard concurrently with such standard, then such standard shall not apply to the review and disposition of a preconstruction permit application until the Administrator has published such final regulations and guidance.
“(3) Rules of Construction
“(A) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to preclude the Administrator from issuing regulations and guidance to assist States, permitting authorities, and permit applicants in implementing a national ambient air quality standard subsequent to publishing regulations and guidance for such standard under paragraph (1).
“(B) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to eliminate the obligation of a preconstruction permit applicant to install best available control technology and lowest achievable emission rate technology, as applicable.
“(C) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to 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 national ambient air quality standards.
“(4) Definitions—In this subsection:
“(A) The term best available control technology has the meaning given to that term in section 169(3).
“(B) The term lowest achievable emission rate has the meaning given to that term in section 171(3).
“(C) The term preconstruction permit—
“(i) means a permit that is required under this title for the construction or modification of a stationary source; and
“(ii) includes any such permit issued by the Environmental Protection Agency or a State, local, or Tribal permitting authority.”
Opportunity for States To correct deficiency prior to promulgation of Federal implementation plan— Section 110(c)(1) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7410(c)(1)) is amended—
by striking “at any time”; and
by adding at the end the following: “Before promulgating the Federal implementation plan, the Administrator shall give the State at least one year after such finding or disapproval to submit a plan or plan revision to correct the deficiency. If the State submits a plan or plan revision to correct the deficiency, the Administrator may, notwithstanding the 2-year deadline under this paragraph to promulgate a Federal implementation plan, choose to take up to 3 years after such finding or disapproval to promulgate a Federal implementation plan.”.
Contingency measures for extreme ozone nonattainment areas— Section 172(c)(9) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7502(c)(9)) is amended by adding at the end the following: “Notwithstanding the preceding sentences and any other provision of this Act, such measures shall not be required for any nonattainment area for ozone classified as an Extreme Area.”.
Plan submissions and requirements for ozone nonattainment areas— Section 182 of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7511a) is amended—
in subsection (b)(1)(A)(ii)(III), by inserting “and economic feasibility” after “technological achievability”;
in subsection (c)(2)(B)(ii), by inserting “and economic feasibility” after “technological achievability”;
in subsection (e), in the matter preceding paragraph (1)—
by striking “The provisions of clause (ii) of subsection (c)(2)(B) (relating to reductions of less than 3 percent), the provisions of paragaphs” and inserting “The provisions of paragraphs”; and
by striking “, and the provisions of clause (ii) of subsection (b)(1)(A) (relating to reductions of less than 15 percent)”; and
in paragraph (5) of subsection (e), by striking “, if the State demonstrates to the satisfaction of the Administrator that—” and all that follows through the end of the paragraph and inserting a period.
Plan revisions for milestones for particulate matter nonattainment areas— Section 189(c)(1) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7513a(c)(1)) is amended by inserting “, which take into account technological achievability and economic feasibility,” before “and which demonstrate reasonable further progress”.
in the subsection heading, by inserting “or actions To mitigate wildfire risk” after “Events”;
in paragraph (1)—
in the paragraph heading, by striking “Definition of exceptional event” and inserting “Definitions”;
in subparagraph (A), by redesignating clauses (i) through (iv), as subclauses (I) through (IV), respectively;
by striking “(A)” and all that follows through “an event that—” and inserting the following:
“(A) Exceptional event
“(i) In general—The term exceptional event means an event that—”
by amending clause (III) of subparagraph (A)(i), as redesignated, to read as follows:
“(III) is an event that is—
“(aa) a natural event;
“(bb) caused by a human activity that is intended to mirror the occurrence or reoccurrence of a natural event; or
“(cc) caused by a human activity that is unlikely to recur.”
by striking subparagraph (B) and inserting the following:
“(ii) Exclusions—In this subsection, the term exceptional event does not include—
“(I) ordinarily occurring stagnation of air masses;
“(II) meteorological inversions; or
“(III) air pollution relating to source noncompliance.”
by adding at the end the following:
“(B) Action to mitigate wildfire risk—The term action to mitigate wildfire risk means a prescribed fire or similar measure, undertaken in accordance with State approved practices, to reduce the risk and severity of wildfires.”
in paragraph (2)—
in subparagraph (A)—
by striking “March 1, 2006” and inserting “18 months after the date of enactment of the Air Quality Standards Implementation Act of 2024”;
by inserting “revisions to” before “regulations”; and
by adding “or actions to mitigate wildfire risk” before the period at the end;
in subparagraph (B)—
by inserting “or action to mitigate wildfire risk” after “an exceptional event”; and
by striking “paragraph (3)” and inserting “this section”;
by adding at the end the following:
“(C) Regional analysis—When more than one State notifies the Administrator of its intent to submit a petition for an exceptional event or an action to mitigate wildfire risk for the same air quality event, the Administrator shall conduct regional modeling and analysis, upon request by one or more States, to satisfy the analysis required for an exceptional event or an action to mitigate wildfire risk petition for such air quality event.
“(D) Transparency—Not later than 12 months after the date of enactment of the Air Quality Standards Implementation Act of 2024, the Administrator shall establish and update monthly a public website describing the status of all submitted petitions for exceptional events and actions to mitigate wildfire risk.”
in paragraph (3)(A)—
by redesignating clauses (ii) through (v) as clauses (iii) through (vi), respectively; and
by inserting after clause (i) the following:
“(ii) the principle that actions to mitigate wildfire risk can play an important role in reducing the magnitude and frequency of wildfires;”
in paragraph (3)(B)—
in clause (i), by inserting “or action to mitigate wildfire risk” before “must be”;
by amending clause (ii) to read as follows:
“(ii) a clear causal relationship must exist, or be reasonably expected to exist, between the measured exceedances of a national ambient air quality standard and the exceptional event or action to mitigate wildfire risk to demonstrate that the exceptional event or action to mitigate wildfire risk caused a specific air pollution concentration at a particular air quality monitoring location;”
by amending clause (iv) to read as follows:
“(iv) there are criteria and procedures for the Governor of a State to petition the Administrator to exclude air quality monitoring data that is directly due to exceptional events or actions to mitigate wildfire risk from use in determinations by the Administrator with respect to—
“(I) area or source exceedances or violations of the national ambient air quality standards;
“(II) the designation, redesignation, classification, or reclassification of an area;
“(III) the demonstration by a State of attainment of a national ambient air quality standard;
“(IV) attainment determinations;
“(V) attainment date extensions;
“(VI) finding a State implementation plan to be inadequate; or
“(VII) preconstruction demonstrations under section 165(a)(3).”
by striking paragraph (4).
Report on emissions emanating from outside the United States— Not later than 24 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator, in consultation with States, shall submit to the Congress a report on—
the extent to which foreign sources of air pollution, including emissions from sources located outside North America, impact—
designations of areas (or portions thereof) as nonattainment, attainment, or unclassifiable under section 107(d) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7407(d)); and
attainment and maintenance of national ambient air quality standards;
the Environmental Protection Agency’s procedures and timelines for disposing of petitions submitted pursuant to section 179B(b) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7509a(b));
the total number of petitions received by the Agency pursuant to such section 179B(b), and for each such petition the date initially submitted and the date of final disposition by the Agency; and
whether the Administrator recommends any statutory changes to facilitate the more efficient review and disposition of petitions submitted pursuant to such section 179B(b).
Study on ozone formation—
Study— The Administrator, in consultation with States and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, shall conduct a study on the atmospheric formation of ozone and effective control strategies, including—
the relative contribution of man-made and naturally occurring nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds, and other pollutants in ozone formation in urban and rural areas, including during wildfires, and the most cost-effective control strategies to reduce ozone; and
the science of wintertime ozone formation, including photochemical modeling of wintertime ozone formation, and approaches to cost-effectively reduce wintertime ozone levels.
Peer review— The Administrator shall have the study conducted under paragraph (1) peer reviewed by an independent panel of experts in accordance with the requirements applicable to a highly influential scientific assessment.
Report— The Administrator shall submit to Congress a report describing the results of the study conducted under paragraph (1), including the findings of the peer review panel.
Regulations and guidance— The Administrator shall incorporate the results of the study conducted under paragraph (1), including the findings of the peer review panel under paragraph (2), into any Federal rules and guidance implementing the 2015 ozone standards.
Sec. 3 Applicability of sanctions and fees if emissions beyond control
The Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 179B the following new section:
“179C. Applicability of sanctions and fees if emissions beyond control
“(a) In general—Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, with respect to any nonattainment area that is classified under section 181 as a Severe Area or an Extreme Area for ozone or under section 188 as a Serious Area for particulate matter, no sanction or fee under section 179 or 185 shall apply with respect to a State (or a local government or source therein) on the basis of a deficiency described in section 179(a), or the State’s failure to attain a national ambient air quality standard for ozone or particulate matter by the applicable attainment date, if the State demonstrates that the State would have avoided such deficiency or attained such standard but for one or more of the following:
“(1) Emissions emanating from outside the nonattainment area.
“(2) Emissions from an exceptional event (as defined in section 319(b)(1)).
“(3) Emissions from mobile sources to the extent the State demonstrates that—
“(A) such emissions are beyond the control of the State to reduce or eliminate; and
“(B) the State is fully implementing such measures as are within the authority of the State to control emissions from the mobile sources.
“(b) No effect on underlying standards—The inapplicability of sanctions or fees with respect to a State pursuant to subsection (a) does not affect the obligation of the State (and local governments and sources therein) under other provisions of this Act to establish and implement measures to attain a national ambient air quality standard for ozone or particulate matter.
“(c) Periodic renewal of demonstration—For subsection (a) to continue to apply with respect to a State (or local government or source therein), the State involved shall renew the demonstration required by subsection (a) at least once every 5 years.”
Sec. 4 Certain preconstruction permits
In general— The 2024 Primary Annual Particulate Matter2.5 Standard shall not apply to the review and disposition of a preconstruction permit application if—
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 the final designation of the area involved under section 107(d) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7407(d)) with respect to the 2024 Primary Annual Particulate Matter2.5 Standard; or
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 the final designation of the area involved under section 107(d) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7407(d)) with respect to the 2024 Primary Annual Particulate Matter2.5 Standard.
Rules of construction— Nothing in this section shall be construed to—
eliminate the obligation of a preconstruction permit applicant to install best available control technology and lowest achievable emission rate technology, as applicable; or
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 national ambient air quality standards.
Sec. 5 Definitions
In this Act:
Administrator— The term Administrator means the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
Best available control technology— 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)).
Highly influential scientific assessment— The term highly influential scientific assessment means a highly influential scientific assessment as defined in the publication of the Office of Management and Budget entitled “Final Information Quality Bulletin for Peer Review” (70 Fed. Reg. 2664 (January 14, 2005)).
Lowest achievable emission rate— The term lowest achievable emission rate has the meaning given to that term in section 171(3) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7501(3)).
National ambient air quality standard— The term national ambient air quality standard means a national ambient air quality standard promulgated under section 109 of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7409).
Preconstruction permit— The term preconstruction permit—
means a permit that is required under title I of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.) for the construction or modification of a stationary source; and
includes any such permit issued by the Environmental Protection Agency or a State, local, or Tribal permitting authority.
2015 ozone standards— 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).
2024 Primary Annual Particulate Matter2.5 Standard— The term 2024 Primary Annual Particulate Matter2.5 Standard means the final rule titled “Reconsideration of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Particulate Matter” published in the Federal Register on March 6, 2024 (89 Fed. Reg. 16202).