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106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 5305

To enhance the services provided by the Environmental Protection Agency

to small communities that are attempting to comply with national, State,

and local environmental regulations.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

SEPTEMBER 26, 2000

Ms. SLAUGHTER (for herself and Mr. BOEHLERT) introduced the following

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Commerce, and in addition

to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, for a period to

be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee

concerned

A BILL

To enhance the services provided by the Environmental Protection Agency to small communities that are attempting

to comply with national, State, and local environmental

regulations.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Community Assistance

5 Act of 2000’’.
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

2 Congress finds that—

3 (1) small communities are concerned about im4 proving the environmental quality of their sur5 roundings;

6 (2) many small communities are uncertain of

7 the specific requirements of environmental regula8 tions;

9 (3) the involvement of small communities in the

10 development of Federal environmental regulations

11 often occurs late, if at all, in the rulemaking process;

12 (4) small communities are often underrep13 resented in processes used to review regulations pro14 posed by the Environmental Protection Agency;

15 (5) the limited scientific, technical, and profes16 sional capacity of many small communities makes

17 understanding regulatory requirements very difficult;

18 (6) specific provisions in certain environmental

19 laws pose compliance problems for small commu20 nities; and

21 (7) the Small Town Environmental Planning

22 Task Force, established by section 109 of the Fed23 eral Facility Compliance Act of 1992 (42 U.S.C.

24 6908) to examine the relationship between the Envi25 ronmental Protection Agency and small commu26 nities, recommends additional efforts to improve the
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1 services offered by the Environmental Protection

2 Agency to small communities.

3 SEC. 3. PURPOSE.

4 The purpose of this Act is to foster a healthy environ5 ment in which people in small communities may enjoy a

6 sustainable and continually improving quality of life.

7 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

8 In this Act:

9 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis10 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ11 mental Protection Agency.

12 (2) ADVISORY COMMITTEE.—The term ‘‘advi13 sory committee’’ means the small community advi14 sory committee established under section 5.

15 (3) AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Agency’’ means the

16 Environmental Protection Agency.

17 (4) SMALL COMMUNITY.—The term ‘‘small

18 community’’ means a county, parish, borough, or in19 corporated or unincorporated municipality with a

20 population of fewer than 7,500 persons.

21 SEC. 5. SMALL COMMUNITY ADVISORY COMMITTEE.

22 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Administrator shall es23 tablish a small community advisory committee or reconsti24 tute an existing small community advisory committee.
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1 (b) MEMBERSHIP.—The advisory committee shall be

2 composed of representatives of—

3 (1) small communities and unincorporated

4 areas of the United States, including at least 1 small

5 community member from each of the 10 Agency re6 gions;

7 (2) Federal and State governmental agencies;

8 and

9 (3) public interest groups.

10 (c) DUTIES.—The advisory committee shall—

11 (1) identify means to improve the working rela12 tionship between the Agency and small communities;

13 (2) serve as a mechanism for involving small

14 communities as early as practicable in the process of

15 developing environmental regulations, guidance, and

16 policies;

17 (3) provide periodic reports to Congress on the

18 Agency’s success in meeting the needs of small com19 munities; and

20 (4) provide such other assistance to the Admin21 istrator as the Administrator considers appropriate.

22 SEC. 6. REGULATORY REVIEW PLAN.

23 The Administrator shall develop and implement a

24 plan to increase the involvement of small communities in

25 the regulatory review processes conducted under chapter
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1 6 of title 5, United States Code (commonly known as the

2 ‘‘Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980’’), the Small Business

3 Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996 (Public

4 Law 104–121; 5 U.S.C. 601 note), and title II of the Un5 funded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1531 et

6 seq.).

7 SEC. 7. REGIONAL OUTREACH TO SMALL COMMUNITIES.

8 (a) SMALL TOWN OMBUDSMAN OFFICE.—

9 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—To complement work on

10 small communities at Agency headquarters, each re11 gional office of the Agency shall establish and staff

12 a Small Town Ombudsman Office.

13 (2) DUTIES.—The primary responsibility of

14 each regional Small Town Ombudsman Office shall

15 be to serve as—

16 (A) an advocate for small communities;

17 and

18 (B) a facilitator for addressing small com19 munity concerns and programs.

20 (3) RESOURCES.—Using funds that are other21 wise available to the Agency, the Administrator shall

22 provide the regional Small Town Ombudsman Of23 fices with such human and capital resources as are

24 sufficient for the offices to carry out their functions

25 in a timely and efficient manner.
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1 (b) CONSULTATION PROCESS.—Each regional Small

2 Town Ombudsman Office shall establish a regular, on3 going consultation process with small communities in the

4 region, such as by use of a focus group, stakeholder net5 work, or advisory board, to—

6 (1) serve as a mechanism for involving small

7 communities in the process of implementing, cre8 ating, and informing the public about environmental

9 regulations, guidance, and policies; and

10 (2) provide such other assistance as the re11 gional office considers appropriate.

12 SEC. 8. SURVEY OF SMALL COMMUNITIES.

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Every 5 years, the Small Town

14 Ombudsman Office shall—

15 (1) conduct a survey of small communities; and

16 (2) publish the results of the survey.

17 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the survey shall be

18 to provide information to the Agency and others for use

19 in regulatory planning, development, and outreach.

20 (c) INFORMATION.—The survey shall collect informa21 tion on—

22 (1) information sources used by small commu23 nities to learn of and implement environmental regu24 lations;
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1 (2) the presence of facilities and activities af2 fecting environmental quality in small communities;

3 (3) the financial instruments used by small

4 communities to fund the costs of environmentally re5 lated services;

6 (4) persons in small communities that may be

7 contacted for information on environmental compli8 ance;

9 (5) specific topic areas of regulation particu10 larly relevant to small communities;

11 (6) innovative examples of how small commu12 nities have complied with national, State, and local

13 environmental regulations in order to protect envi14 ronmental and public health; and

15 (7) any other topic that the Administrator con16 siders appropriate.

17 SEC. 9. GUIDE FOR SMALL COMMUNITIES.

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 months after the

19 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall

20 produce and distribute to small communities a guide to

21 Federal environmental requirements for small commu22 nities.

23 (b) CONTENTS.—The guide shall—

24 (1) describe all mandated environmental re25 quirements applicable to small communities; and
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1 (2) provide Federal, regional, and State con2 tacts for all such environmental requirements.

3 (c) UPDATING.—Not less frequently than annually,

4 the Administrator shall—

5 (1) review and update any parts of the guide

6 that pertain to requirements that have changed; and

7 (2) distribute guide amendments to small com8 munities.

9 SEC. 10. FEEDBACK PLAN.

10 The Administrator shall develop and implement a

11 plan for periodically obtaining feedback from small com12 munities on the effectiveness of the Agency in—

13 (1) involving small communities in regulatory

14 development and implementation; and

15 (2) reaching out to small communities to pro16 vide educational and other assistance.

17 SEC. 11. NO IMPOSITION OF COSTS ON SMALL COMMU18 NITIES.

19 The Administrator shall not impose on any small

20 community any cost incurred in carrying out this Act.

21 SEC. 12. REPORT.

22 Not later than the date that is 2 years after the date

23 of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall submit

24 to Congress a report describing the regulatory review plan

25 developed under section 6, the feedback plan developed
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1 under section 10, and other activities conducted in car2 rying out this Act.

3 SEC. 13. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

4 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out

5 this Act $5,000,000.

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