II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1528 

To amend the Clean Air Act to limit Federal regulation of nuisance dust 

in areas in which that dust is regulated under State, tribal, or local 

law, to establish a temporary prohibition against revising any national 

ambient air quality standard applicable to coarse particulate matter, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 8, 2011 

Mr. JOHANNS (for himself, Mr. GRASSLEY, Mr. LUGAR, Mr. BOOZMAN, Mr. 

ROBERTS, Mr. VITTER, Mr. KIRK, Mr. INHOFE, Mr. PAUL, Mr. JOHNSON

of Wisconsin, Mr. SESSIONS, Mr. THUNE, Mr. ENZI, Mr. MORAN, Mr. 

ISAKSON, Mr. BLUNT, Mr. HOEVEN, Mr. CHAMBLISS, Mr. NELSON of 

Nebraska, and Mrs. MCCASKILL) introduced the following bill; which was 

read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public 

Works 

A BILL 

To amend the Clean Air Act to limit Federal regulation 

of nuisance dust in areas in which that dust is regulated 

under State, tribal, or local law, to establish a temporary 

prohibition against revising any national ambient air 

quality standard applicable to coarse particulate matter, 

and for other purposes. 

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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•S 1528 IS

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Farm Dust Regulation 

3 Prevention Act of 2011’’. 

4 SEC. 2. NUISANCE DUST. 

5 Part A of title I of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7401 

6 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 132. REGULATION OF NUISANCE DUST PRIMARILY BY 

8 STATE, TRIBAL, AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS. 

9 ‘‘(a) DEFINITION OF NUISANCE DUST.—In this sec10 tion, the term ‘nuisance dust’ means particulate matter— 

11 ‘‘(1) generated from natural sources, unpaved 

12 roads, agricultural activities, earth moving, or other 

13 activities typically conducted in rural areas; or 

14 ‘‘(2) consisting primarily of soil, windblown 

15 dust, or other natural or biological materials, or 

16 some combination of those materials. 

17 ‘‘(b) APPLICABILITY.—Except as provided in sub18 section (c), this Act does not apply to, and references in 

19 this Act to particulate matter are deemed to exclude, nui20 sance dust. 

21 ‘‘(c) EXCEPTION.—Subsection (b) does not apply 

22 with respect to any geographical area in which nuisance 

23 dust is not regulated under State, tribal, or local law to 

24 the extent that the Administrator finds that— 


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•S 1528 IS

1 ‘‘(1) nuisance dust (or any subcategory of nui2 sance dust) causes substantial adverse public health 

3 and welfare effects at ambient concentrations; and 

4 ‘‘(2) the benefits of applying standards and 

5 other requirements of this Act to nuisance dust (or 

6 such a subcategory of nuisance dust) outweigh the 

7 costs (including local and regional economic and em8 ployment impacts) of applying those standards and 

9 other requirements to nuisance dust (or such a sub10 category).’’. 

11 SEC. 3. TEMPORARY PROHIBITION AGAINST REVISING ANY 

12 NATIONAL AMBIENT AIR QUALITY STANDARD 

13 APPLICABLE TO COARSE PARTICULATE MAT14 TER. 

15 Before the date that is 1 year after the date of the 

16 enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the Environ17 mental Protection Agency may not propose, finalize, im18 plement, or enforce any regulation revising the national 

19 primary ambient air quality standard or the national sec20 ondary ambient air quality standard applicable to particu21 late matter with an aerodynamic diameter greater than 

22 2.5 micrometers under section 109 of the Clean Air Act 

23 (42 U.S.C. 7409). 

Æ 


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