I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1582 

To address the application of the national primary ambient air quality standard for ozone with respect to extreme nonattainment areas, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 15, 2011 

Mr. MCCARTHY of California (for himself, Mr. NUNES, Mr. DENHAM, and Mr. 

ISSA) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To address the application of the national primary ambient 

air quality standard for ozone with respect to extreme 

nonattainment areas, 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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Commonsense Ozone 

5 Regulation Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. EXCLUSIVE APPLICATION OF 8-HOUR NAAQS TO 

2 COVERED EXTREME OZONE NONATTAINMENT 

3 AREAS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section 172(e) of 

5 the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7502(e)), any covered ex6 treme ozone nonattainment area shall not be subject to 

7 any control (as defined in section 4(2)) pursuant to the 

8 1-hour national primary ambient air quality standard for 

9 ozone. 

10 (b) RETROACTIVE APPLICABILITY.—Subsection (a) 

11 applies as of the effective date of the classification of the 

12 area involved as extreme pursuant to the 8-hour national 

13 primary ambient air quality standard for ozone promul14 gated on July 18, 1997 (62 Fed. Reg. 38856). 

15 SEC. 3. POSTPONEMENT OF FUTURE OZONE STANDARDS 

16 FOR COVERED EXTREME OZONE NONATTAIN17 MENT AREAS. 

18 (a) POSTPONEMENT OF STANDARD.—With respect to 

19 any covered extreme ozone nonattainment area— 

20 (1) the Administrator may take such steps as 

21 are necessary to classify the area pursuant to any 

22 rule setting the level of the 8-hour national primary 

23 ambient air quality standard for ozone below 0.08 

24 parts per million; and 

25 (2) until the date that is 6 months after a re26 port on the feasability of compliance in the area with 


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1 the rule described in paragraph (1) is submitted to 

2 the Congress and the Administrator under sub3 section (b)(4)— 

4 (A) the rule described in paragraph (1) 

5 shall not otherwise apply; and 

6 (B) the 8-hour national primary ambient 

7 air quality standard for ozone in effect as of 

8 January 1, 2011, shall continue to apply. 

9 (b) LOCAL ADVISORY COMMITTEES.— 

10 (1) ESTABLISHMENT AND APPLICABILITY.— 

11 Subsection (a) applies with respect to a covered ex12 treme ozone nonattainment area only if the gov13 erning board of the responsible local air agency 

14 agrees to establish, in accordance with this sub15 section, a local advisory committee to study the fea16 sibility of compliance in such area with a rule de17 scribed in subsection (a)(1). 

18 (2) MEMBERS.—Each local advisory committee 

19 under this subsection shall be composed of the fol20 lowing members, to be appointed by the governing 

21 board of the responsible local air agency: 

22 (A) A representative of the governing 

23 board of the responsible local air agency. 

24 (B) A local representative of the energy in25 dustry. 


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1 (C) A local representative of the agri2 culture industry. 

3 (D) A local representative of the manufac4 turing and processing industry. 

5 (E) A local representative of the transpor6 tation industry. 

7 (F) A local representative of local govern8 ment. 

9 (G) A local representative of the health 

10 care industry. 

11 (H) A local environmental justice rep12 resentative. 

13 (3) STUDY.— 

14 (A) FEASIBILITY OF COMPLIANCE WITH

15 RULE.—Each local advisory committee under 

16 this subsection shall conduct a study on the 

17 feasability of compliance in the applicable cov18 ered extreme ozone nonattainment area with a 

19 rule described in subsection (a)(1), taking into 

20 account— 

21 (i) topography of the area; 

22 (ii) weather in the area; 

23 (iii) foreign sources of pollution (both 

24 stationary and mobile) that cause ozone 

25 formation in the area; 


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1 (iv) pass-through traffic and its im2 pact on ozone formation in the area; 

3 (v) exceptional events in the area; 

4 (vi) current and future technologies 

5 needed to bring the area into compliance 

6 with the rule; and 

7 (vii) natural ozone background levels 

8 in the area. 

9 (B) COSTS OF COMPLIANCE WITH RULE.— 

10 Each study described in subparagraph (A) shall 

11 address the potential adverse employment im12 pacts of, and the costs of compliance with, a 

13 rule described in subsection (a)(1) for local 

14 businesses, agriculture operations, and residents 

15 in the applicable covered extreme ozone non16 attainment area. 

17 (4) REPORT.—Not later than 5 years after a 

18 rule described in subsection (a)(1) is promulgated as 

19 final— 

20 (A) each local advisory committee under 

21 this subsection shall submit to the governing 

22 board of the responsible local air agency a re23 port on the results of the study by the com24 mittee under paragraph (3), including any findVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:27 Apr 20, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1582.IH H1582

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1 ings and recommendations of the committee; 

2 and 

3 (B) such governing board shall imme4 diately submit such report, without change, to 

5 the Congress and the Administrator. 

6 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis9 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ10 mental Protection Agency. 

11 (2) CONTROL.—The term ‘‘control’’ has the 

12 meaning given to such term for purposes of section 

13 172(e) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7502(e)) and 

14 includes any fee or penalty under section 185 of 

15 such Act (42 U.S.C. 7511d)). 

16 (3) COVERED EXTREME OZONE NONATTAIN17 MENT AREA.—The term ‘‘covered extreme ozone 

18 nonattainment area’’ means a nonattainment area 

19 for ozone classified as extreme as of January 1, 

20 2011, pursuant to the 8-hour national primary am21 bient air quality standard for ozone promulgated on 

22 July 18, 1997 (62 Fed. Reg. 38856). 

23 (4) EXCEPTIONAL EVENT.—The term ‘‘excep24 tional event’’ has the meaning given such term in 


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1 section 319(b) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 

2 7619(b)). 

3 (5) RESPONSIBLE LOCAL AIR AGENCY.—The 

4 term ‘‘responsible local air agency’’ means the local 

5 air district or other local government agency or au6 thority with responsibility for enforcing requirements 

7 relating to the prevention and regulation of air pol8 lution for the area involved. 

Æ 


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