I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4656 

To direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to seek 

to enter an agreement with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to conduct a study on the science of background 

ozone in the United States and to provide research recommendations 

to better understand background ozone contributions to ground-level 

ozone, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 11, 2019 

Mr. MCADAMS (for himself and Mr. ROONEY of Florida) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and 

Technology 

A BILL 

To direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection 

Agency to seek to enter an agreement with the National 

Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to 

conduct a study on the science of background ozone 

in the United States and to provide research recommendations to better understand background ozone 

contributions to ground-level ozone, 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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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Background Ozone Re3 search Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) Ground-level ozone, a type of tropospheric 

7 ozone, is created when nitrogen oxides (NOX) and 

8 volatile organic compounds (VOCs), emitted by 

9 motor vehicles, power plants, other industrial proc10 esses, or natural processes like wildfires, chemically 

11 react in the presence of ultraviolet (UV) radiation 

12 from the Sun. 

13 (2) Ground-level ozone present in a given area 

14 may be attributed to either local, human produced 

15 sources or sources that are not local and human pro16 duced. 

17 (3) United States background ozone (hereafter 

18 referred to as ‘‘background ozone’’) is the ground19 level ozone that would exist in the absence of any 

20 human-produced emissions inside the United States. 

21 (4) Ground level ozone is considered a harmful 

22 pollutant due to its effects on people and the envi23 ronment and is the main component of smog. 

24 (5) The American Thoracic Society estimated 

25 the annual excess mortality due to ground-level 


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1 ozone in the United States at 3,880 individuals as 

2 of 2017. 

3 (6) Ground-level ozone has been linked to plant 

4 damages and thus diminished crop yields. 

5 (7) A number of cities and regions in the 

6 United States remain out of compliance with Envi7 ronmental Protection Agency (EPA) National Ambi8 ent Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for ground9 level ozone. 

10 (8) Further research would help to understand 

11 background ozone trends and how to mitigate back12 ground ozone. 

13 SEC. 3. STUDY ON BACKGROUND OZONE RESEARCH NEEDS. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days after the 

15 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the 

16 Environmental Protection Agency shall seek to enter an 

17 agreement with the National Academies of Sciences, Engi18 neering, and Medicine (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Na19 tional Academies’’) under which the National Academies 

20 shall conduct a study on the current and future research 

21 needs regarding background ozone. The study shall— 

22 (1) propose a framework of standard terms and 

23 definitions for types of non-local ground level ozone, 

24 including types of background ozone, to standardize 

25 research on ground-level ozone; 


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1 (2) examine the current understanding of back2 ground sources of ozone and the contribution of such 

3 sources to ground-level ozone in the United States to 

4 identify gaps in knowledge that need to be addressed 

5 with additional research; 

6 (3) examine challenges in quantifying the 

7 sources of background ozone and the contributions 

8 of each such source to ground-level ozone on a re9 gional scale in the United States and identifies spe10 cific research needs to address these challenges; 

11 (4) include an outline of a plan for a research 

12 and development program, including specifications 

13 for costs, timeframes, and responsible agencies, to 

14 support analysis and demonstration of background 

15 ozone trends, including by— 

16 (A) improving collection and observational 

17 infrastructure; 

18 (B) improving confidence in model outputs; 

19 (C) reducing uncertainties in estimates of 

20 background ozone; and 

21 (D) making background ozone research 

22 outputs more useful and accessible to decision23 makers; and 

24 (5) identify opportunities for international en25 gagement that may facilitate increased research colVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:43 Oct 12, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4656.IH H4656

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1 laborations that improve understanding of ozone 

2 trends. 

3 (b) REPORT.—As a condition of any agreement under 

4 subsection (a), the Administrator shall require that the 

5 National Academies transmit to Congress a report on the 

6 results of the study under subsection (a) not later than 

7 24 months after the date of enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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