II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 989 

To amend the Clean Air Act to require the exclusion of data of an exceedance 

or violation of a national ambient air quality standard caused by a 

prescribed fire in the Flint Hills Region, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 12, 2011 

Mr. MORAN (for himself and Mr. INHOFE) 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 require the exclusion of 

data of an exceedance or violation of a national ambient 

air quality standard caused by a prescribed fire in the 

Flint Hills Region, 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 ‘‘Flint Hills Preserva5 tion Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 


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1 (1) the Flint Hills Region of Kansas and Okla2 homa contains the world’s largest share of the re3 maining tallgrass prairie, and is the only place in 

4 which that habitat occurs in landscape proportions; 

5 (2) only 4 percent of the presettlement tallgrass 

6 prairie in North America survives to this day, and 

7 80 percent of that prairie is located in Kansas; 

8 (3) the Flint Hills Region is also home to cer9 tain declining avian species, such as the greater 

10 prairie chicken and Henslow’s sparrow, that cannot 

11 continue to exist without large expanses of native 

12 tallgrass prairie in an original state; 

13 (4) the Flint Hills Region is a significant cor14 ridor for migrating shorebirds, such as the American 

15 golden plover, the buff-breasted sandpiper, and the 

16 upland sandpiper; 

17 (5) beginning in the mid-19th century, cattle18 men understood that the richness of the Flint Hills 

19 grasses depended on a good spring burn—something 

20 they learned from the Native Americans; 

21 (6) fire still thrives in the Flint Hills because 

22 the ranchers, and others using the land, understand 

23 that the natural ecosystem depends on fire; 

24 (7) ranchers, landowners, and conservation 

25 groups use prescribed burns to mimic the seasonal 


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1 fires that have shaped the tallgrass prairie for thou2 sands of years; 

3 (8) areas not burned for several years develop 

4 mature grasses and thicker, thatch-like vegetation, a 

5 habitat that is preferred by invasive species; 

6 (9) the Flint Hills Region is a place in the 

7 United States that is an example of the prevailing 

8 agricultural system working essentially in tandem 

9 with an ancestral native ecosystem, preserving most 

10 of the complexity and the dynamic processes that 

11 helped shape the area; and 

12 (10) due to the uniqueness of the Flint Hills 

13 tallgrass prairie and the historic manner in which 

14 the tallgrass prairie has been managed by fire— 

15 (A) prescribed burn practices used as of 

16 the date of enactment of this Act to manage the 

17 Flint Hills tallgrass prairie should be allowed to 

18 continue; and 

19 (B) ambient air data resulting from fires 

20 used for that management should be not be in21 cluded in determinations of compliance with the 

22 Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.). 

23 SEC. 3. PRESCRIBED FIRES. 

24 The Clean Air Act is amended by inserting after sec25 tion 329 (42 U.S.C. 7628) the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 330. PRESCRIBED FIRES IN THE FLINT HILLS RE2 GION. 

3 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

4 ‘‘(1) FLINT HILLS REGION.— 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘Flint Hills 

6 Region’ means the band of hills located in east7 ern Kansas and north-central Oklahoma. 

8 ‘‘(B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘Flint Hills 

9 Region’ includes— 

10 ‘‘(i) Butler, Chase, Chautauqua, Clay, 

11 Cowley, Dickinson, Elk, Geary, Greenwood, 

12 Harvey, Jackson, Lyon, Marion, Marshall, 

13 Morris, Ottawa, Pottawatomie, Riley, Sa14 line, Shawnee, Wabaunsee, Washington, 

15 and Woodson Counties in the State of 

16 Kansas; and 

17 ‘‘(ii) Osage, Tulsa, and Washington 

18 counties in the State of Oklahoma. 

19 ‘‘(2) PRESCRIBED FIRE.—The term ‘prescribed 

20 fire’ means a fire that is set or managed by a person 

21 with the goal of enhancing a fire-dependent eco22 system or enhancing the productivity of agricultural 

23 grazing land, irrespective of the frequency with 

24 which the burn occurs. 

25 ‘‘(b) EXCLUSION OF DATA.—In determining whether, 

26 with respect to a specific air pollutant, an exceedance or 


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1 violation of a national ambient air quality standard has 

2 occurred, or for any other purpose under this Act, a State 

3 and the Administrator shall exclude data from a particular 

4 air quality monitoring location if emissions from 1 or more 

5 prescribed fires in the Flint Hills Region cause a con6 centration of the air pollutant at the location to be in ex7 cess of the standard. 

8 ‘‘(c) SPECIFIC LIMITATIONS.—If emission data is ex9 cluded under subsection (b) from a particular air quality 

10 monitoring station because of emissions from 1 or more 

11 prescribed fires in the Flint Hills Region— 

12 ‘‘(1) the Administrator shall not, as a result of 

13 the emissions, find under section 113 that a State 

14 has failed to enforce, or that a person has violated, 

15 a State implementation plan (for national primary 

16 or secondary ambient air quality standards) under 

17 section 110; and 

18 ‘‘(2) a State shall not, as a result of the emis19 sions, find that a person has violated, or bring an 

20 enforcement action for violation of, a State imple21 mentation plan (for national primary or secondary 

22 ambient air quality standards) under section 110. 

23 ‘‘(d) PROHIBITION AGAINST SMOKE MANAGEMENT

24 PLANS.—The Administrator shall not require, and a State 

25 shall not adopt, a smoke management plan under this Act 


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1 in connection with any prescribed fire in the Flint Hills 

2 Region. 

3 ‘‘(e) NOT A STATIONARY SOURCE.—No building, 

4 structure, facility, or installation may be treated as a sta5 tionary source under this Act as a result of 1 or more 

6 prescribed fires in the Flint Hills Region. 

7 ‘‘(f) NO TITLE V PERMIT REQUIRED.—No person 

8 shall be required to obtain or modify a permit under title 

9 V in connection with a prescribed fire in the Flint Hills 

10 Region.’’. 

Æ 


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