II

Calendar No. 430

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1053

[Report No. 106–228]

To amend the Clean Air Act to incorporate certain provisions of the

transportation conformity regulations, as in effect on March 1, 1999.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MAY 14, 1999

Mr. BOND (for himself, Mr. GRAMM, Mr. COVERDELL, Mr. ASHCROFT, Mr.

HELMS, Mr. ABRAHAM, Mr. WARNER, Mr. ROBERTS, Mr. INHOFE, Mrs.

HUTCHISON, Mr. MCCONNELL, Mr. COCHRAN, Mr. SESSIONS, Mr. LOTT,

Mr. HUTCHINSON, Mr. SMITH of New Hampshire, Mr. BENNETT, Mr.

CRAPO, Mr. SHELBY, Mr. MURKOWSKI, and Mr. BUNNING) introduced

the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee

on Environment and Public Works

FEBRUARY 2, 2000

Reported by Mr. SMITH of New Hampshire, with an amendment

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]

A BILL

To amend the Clean Air Act to incorporate certain provisions

of the transportation conformity regulations, as in effect

on March 1, 1999.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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1 SECTION 1. DETERMINATION OF TRANSPORTATION CON2 FORMITY.

3 Section 176(c) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C.

4 7506(c)) is amended by adding at the end the following:

5 ‘‘(6) DETERMINATION OF TRANSPORTATION

6 CONFORMITY.—Notwithstanding any other provision

7 of this section, the following provisions of title 40,

8 Code of Federal Regulations, as in effect on March

9 1, 1999, are incorporated in this Act: section

10 93.102(a)(1), section 93.102(c), section

11 93.118(e)(1), section 93.120(a)(2), section

12 93.121(a)(1), and section 93.124(b).’’

13 SECTION 1. INAPPLICABILITY OF TRANSPORTATION CON14 FORMITY FUNDING PROHIBITION TO CER15 TAIN TRANSPORTATION PROJECTS.

16 Section 176(c) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C.

17 7506(c)) is amended—

18 (1) in paragraph (1), by adding at the end the

19 following: ‘‘For the purpose of this subsection, esti20 mates of emissions from motor vehicles and necessary

21 emissions reductions contained in a submitted imple22 mentation plan may be used in lieu of an approved

23 implementation plan if no approved implementation

24 plan is available. If the Administrator does not deter25 mine the adequacy of any estimates of emissions sub26 mitted to the Administrator for use under the pre-
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1 ceding sentence within 90 days after the date of sub2 mission of the estimates, the estimates shall be deemed

3 to be adequate.’’;

4 (2) in paragraph (2), by adding at the end the

5 following:

6 ‘‘(E) EXTENSION OF CONFORMITY DETER7 MINATION AFTER APPROVAL OF CERTAIN TRANS8 PORTATION PROJECTS.—

9 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding

10 subparagraphs (C) and (D), any transpor11 tation project that received an approval de12 scribed in clause (iii), after compliance

13 with subparagraph (C) or (D), may be im14 plemented even if the Administrator subse15 quently determines that the conformity of

16 the applicable transportation plan and pro17 gram to the applicable implementation plan

18 has lapsed (referred to in this subsection as

19 a ‘conformity lapse’).

20 ‘‘(ii) TRANSITION PROVISION.—Not21 withstanding subparagraphs (C) and (D),

22 any transportation project that received an

23 approval described in clause (iii) before

24 March 2, 1999, may be implemented with-
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1 out any additional conformity determina2 tion.

3 ‘‘(iii) TYPES OF APPROVAL.—An ap4 proval described in this clause is—

5 ‘‘(I) an approval of plans, speci6 fications, and estimates under title 23,

7 United States Code;

8 ‘‘(II) a full funding grant agree9 ment under chapter 53 of title 49,

10 United States Code; or

11 ‘‘(III) an approval or authoriza12 tion equivalent to an approval or

13 agreement under subclause (I) or (II).

14 ‘‘(F) EXTENSION OF CONFORMITY DETER15 MINATION FOR REVIEWED PROJECTS.—Notwith16 standing subparagraphs (C) and (D), any trans17 portation project for which a review under the

18 National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42

19 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) has been completed within

20 the 2-year period preceding a conformity lapse

21 may be implemented for a period ending not

22 later than 1 year after the date of commencement

23 of the lapse.’’;

24 (3) in paragraph (4)—

25 (A) in subparagraph (A)—
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1 (i) by striking ‘‘(4)(A) No’’ and insert2 ing the following:

3 ‘‘(4) CRITERIA AND PROCEDURES FOR DETER4 MINING CONFORMITY.—

5 ‘‘(A) PROMULGATION.—

6 ‘‘(i) INITIAL PROMULGATION.—Not’’;

7 and

8 (ii) by adding at the end the following:

9 ‘‘(ii) SUBSEQUENT PROMULGATION.—

10 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Not later than

11 1 year after the date of enactment of

12 this clause, the Administrator shall

13 promulgate criteria and procedures for

14 demonstrating and ensuring con15 formity in the case of transportation

16 plans, programs, and projects.

17 ‘‘(II) EFFECTIVE DATE OF PRIOR

18 REGULATIONS.—Regulations promul19 gated under clause (i) and in effect be20 fore March 2, 1999, shall be in effect as

21 originally promulgated, notwith22 standing the decision of the court in

23 Environmental Defense Fund v. Envi24 ronmental Protection Agency, 167 F.3d

25 641 (D.C. Cir. 1999)—
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1 ‘‘(aa) beginning on the date

2 of enactment of this clause; and

3 ‘‘(bb) ending on the earlier of

4 the effective date of regulations

5 promulgated under this clause or

6 1 year after the date of enactment

7 of this clause.

8 ‘‘(III) APPLICABILITY OF REGULA9 TIONS.—

10 ‘‘(aa) INITIAL REGULA11 TIONS.—The regulations described

12 in subclause (II) shall apply to

13 any conformity lapse that occurs

14 before the effective date of regula15 tions promulgated under subclause

16 (I) but only until the date of pro17 mulgation of the regulations

18 under subclause (I).

19 ‘‘(bb) SUBSEQUENT REGULA20 TIONS.—The regulations promul21 gated under subclause (I) shall

22 apply to any conformity lapse

23 that occurs on or after the effective

24 date of regulations promulgated

25 under subclause (I).
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1 ‘‘(IV) ACTION TO COMPEL PRO2 MULGATION.—A civil action may be

3 brought against the Administrator

4 under section 304 to compel promulga5 tion of regulations under this clause.’’;

6 and

7 (B) in subparagraph (B)—

8 (i) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘and’’ at

9 the end;

10 (ii) in clause (iii), by striking the pe11 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

12 (iii) by adding at the end the fol13 lowing:

14 ‘‘(iv) provide for a period of 90 days between—

15 ‘‘(I) the date on which a State implementa16 tion plan under section 110 is disapproved; and

17 ‘‘(II) the effective date of the prohibition on

18 approval, acceptance, or funding under this sub19 section.’’; and

20 (4) by adding at the end the following:

21 ‘‘(6) ACTIVITY DURING A CONFORMITY LAPSE.—

22 ‘‘(A) ATTRIBUTION OF NON-FEDERAL

23 FUNDS.—In the case of a project for which a re24 view under the National Environmental Policy

25 Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) has been
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1 completed, non-Federal funds applied toward

2 right-of-way acquisition or design activities dur3 ing a period of conformity lapse may be attrib4 uted to a State’s obligated share of project fund5 ing under title 23 or title 49, United States

6 Code, at such time as a transportation plan or

7 transportation improvement program that in8 cludes the project is determined to conform to the

9 implementation plan.

10 ‘‘(B) MASS TRANSPORTATION PROJECTS.—

11 During a period of conformity lapse, the prohibi12 tion on approval, acceptance, or funding under

13 this subsection shall not apply to the funding of

14 any project for mass transportation (as defined

15 in section 5302 of title 49, United States

16 Code).’’.

17 SEC. 2. EFFECT OF REVISED OZONE STANDARD ON CON18 FORMITY DETERMINATIONS.

19 Section 176(c) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C.

20 7506(c)) (as amended by section 1(4)) is amended by add21 ing at the end the following:

22 ‘‘(7) EFFECT OF REVISED OZONE STANDARD.—

23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Until the date described

24 in subparagraph (B), notwithstanding any other

25 provision of law, an area shall not be considered
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1 to be out of conformity with an implementation

2 plan under this Act for the sole reason that the

3 area is a nonattainment area under section 107

4 with respect to a revised national ambient air

5 quality standard for ozone promulgated after

6 January 1, 1997.

7 ‘‘(B) DATE.—For any area, the date re8 ferred to in subparagraph (A) is the date that is

9 1 year after the date on which the Administrator

10 determines to be adequate, with respect to the

11 area, the estimates of emissions from motor vehi12 cles and necessary emissions reductions con13 tained in an implementation plan, regardless of

14 whether the implementation plan itself has been

15 approved.’’.
Calendar No. 430

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1053

[Report No. 106–228]

A BILL

To amend the Clean Air Act to incorporate certain

provisions of the transportation conformity regulations, as in effect on March 1, 1999.

FEBRUARY 2, 2000

Reported with an amendment