II 

Calendar No. 1078 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3565 

[Report No. 110–500] 

To address the health and economic development impacts of nonattainment 

of federally mandated air quality standards in the San Joaquin Valley, 

California, by designating air quality empowerment zones. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 24 (legislative day, SEPTEMBER 17), 2008 

Mrs. BOXER, from the Committee on Environment and Public Works, reported the following original bill; which was read twice and placed on the 

calendar 

A BILL 

To address the health and economic development impacts 

of nonattainment of federally mandated air quality standards in the San Joaquin Valley, California, by designating air quality empowerment zones. 

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 ‘‘Air and Health Quality 

5 Empowerment Zone Designation Act of 2008’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

2 The purpose of this Act is to establish criteria 

3 through the use of which specific geographical areas— 

4 (1) shall be designated as air and health quality 

5 empowerment zones; and 

6 (2) may apply for grants authorized for the 

7 purpose of replacing or retrofitting polluting vehicles 

8 or engines (or both vehicles and engines) in order to 

9 improve the health of the population living in the 

10 zones. 

11 SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 

12 Congress finds that— 

13 (1) the San Joaquin Valley faces serious air 

14 quality challenges that impact the development, 

15 health, and economy of the Valley; 

16 (2) the Valley emits approximately 624 tons of 

17 nitrogen oxides per day, and attainment of the fed18 erally mandated 8-hour ozone standard under the 

19 Clean Air Act requires emissions of not more than 

20 160 tons of oxides of nitrogen per day; 

21 (3) the Valley does not attain the federally 

22 mandated standard for PM2.5; 

23 (4) the children of the Valley miss 188,000 

24 school days per year, which translates to 1 in 4 of 

25 those children experiencing a day of absence each 

26 year due to elevated ozone levels; 


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1 (5) approximately 460 residents of the Valley 

2 die earlier than they otherwise would due to elevated 

3 ozone levels, and Valley residents experience 23,300 

4 asthma attacks per year, a rate that equals 3 times 

5 the State average and 5 times the national average; 

6 (6) 1 in 5 children residing in the Valley have 

7 been diagnosed with asthma; 

8 (7) nonattainment of Federal air quality stand9 ards costs the Valley $3,200,000,000 annually; 

10 (8) the Valley experiences chronic double-digit 

11 unemployment rates; and 

12 (9) the Federal Government must partner with 

13 the Valley and the State to address air quality, 

14 health, and economic development for the residents 

15 of the Valley through the designation of the Valley 

16 as air quality empowerment zone that is eligible for 

17 Federal grants and technical assistance. 

18 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

19 In this Act: 

20 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis21 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ22 mental Protection Agency. 

23 (2) AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Agency’’ means the 

24 Environmental Protection Agency. 


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1 (3) CLEAN AIR ACT.—The term ‘‘Clean Air 

2 Act’’ means the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7401 et 

3 seq.). 

4 (4) PM2.5.—The term ‘‘PM2.5’’ means particu5 late matter with a diameter that does not exceed 2.5 

6 micrometers. 

7 (5) STRATEGIC PLAN.—The term ‘‘strategic 

8 plan’’ means, with respect to an area, the plan con9 tained in the application for designation of the area 

10 under section 5. 

11 (6) VALLEY.—The term ‘‘Valley’’ means the 

12 San Joaquin Valley, California. 

13 SEC. 5. AIR QUALITY EMPOWERMENT ZONE DESIGNATION 

14 PROCEDURES. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—From among the areas nominated 

16 for designation under this section, the Administrator may 

17 designate 1 or more areas as air and health quality em18 powerment zones. 

19 (b) PERIOD FOR WHICH DESIGNATION IS IN EF20 FECT.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Any designation under this 

22 section shall remain in effect during the period be23 ginning on the date of the designation and ending 

24 on the earlier of— 


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1 (A) the last day of the tenth calendar year 

2 beginning on the date of the designation; or 

3 (B) the date on which the Administrator 

4 revokes the designation. 

5 (2) REVOCATION OF DESIGNATION.—The Ad6 ministrator may revoke the designation under this 

7 section of an area if the Administrator determines 

8 that the local air pollution control district in which 

9 the designated area is located— 

10 (A) has been designated as being in attain11 ment with the national ambient air quality 

12 standard for PM2.5 and ozone promulgated 

13 under the Clean Air Act; or 

14 (B) is not complying substantially with, or 

15 fails to make progress in achieving the goals of, 

16 the strategic plan. 

17 (c) LIMITATIONS ON DESIGNATIONS.—No area may 

18 be designated under subsection (a) unless— 

19 (1) the area is nominated for designation by the 

20 air pollution control district with jurisdiction over 

21 the area; 

22 (2) the air pollution control district provides 

23 written assurances satisfactory to the Administrator 

24 that the strategic plan will be implemented; and 


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1 (3) the Administrator determines that any in2 formation provided is reasonably accurate. 

3 (d) APPLICATION.—No area may be designated under 

4 subsection (a) unless the application for the designation— 

5 (1) demonstrates that the nominated area satis6 fies the eligibility criteria described in section 6; and 

7 (2) includes a strategic plan for accomplishing 

8 the purposes of this Act that— 

9 (A) describes— 

10 (i) the process by which the nomi11 nated area is a full partner in the process 

12 of developing and implementing the plan; 

13 and 

14 (ii) the extent to which local institu15 tions and organizations have contributed to 

16 the planning process; 

17 (B) identifies— 

18 (i) the amount of State, local, and pri19 vate resources that will be available for the 

20 ominated area; and 

21 (ii) the private/public partnerships to 

22 be used (which may include participation 

23 by, and cooperation with, institutions of 

24 higher education, medical centers, and 

25 other private and public entities); 


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1 (C) identifies the funding requested under 

2 any Federal program in support of the purposes 

3 of this Act; 

4 (D) identifies baselines, methods, and 

5 benchmarks for measuring the success of car6 rying out the strategic plan; and 

7 (E) includes such other information as 

8 may be required by the Administrator. 

9 SEC. 6. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—A nominated area shall be eligible 

11 for designation under section 5(a) only if the area meets 

12 all of the following criteria: 

13 (1) NONATTAINMENT.—The nominated area 

14 has been designated as being— 

15 (A) in extreme nonattainment of the 8- 

16 hour ozone national ambient air quality stand17 ard promulgated by the Administrator under 

18 the Clean Air Act; and 

19 (B) in nonattainment of national ambient 

20 air quality standard for PM2.5 promulgated by 

21 the Administrator under that Act. 

22 (2) AGRICULTURAL SOURCES.—The nominated 

23 area has— 


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1 (A) emissions of oxides of nitrogen from 

2 farm equipment of at least 30 tons per day in 

3 calendar year 2010; or 

4 (B) emissions of volatile organic com5 pounds from farming operations of at least 40 

6 tons per day in calendar year 2010. 

7 (3) AIR-RELATED HEALTH EFFECTS.—As of 

8 the date of nomination, the nominated area— 

9 (A) meets or exceeds the national average 

10 per capita incidence of asthma; and 

11 (B) meets or exceeds the national average 

12 of school days missed due to the health impact 

13 of elevated ozone levels. 

14 (4) ECONOMIC IMPACT.—As of the date of nom15 ination, the nominated area experiences unemploy16 ment rates higher than the national average. 

17 (5) STATE MATCHING FUNDS.—The nominated 

18 area is located within a State and local area that 

will match at least 1 19 ⁄2 of the funds provided by the 

20 Federal Government under this Act. 

21 SEC. 7. ELIGIBLE GRANT APPLICANTS. 

22 Any air pollution control district or other local gov23 ernmental entity authorized to regulate air quality in a 

24 State under the Clean Air Act may apply for a grant 

25 under this Act. 


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1 SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF AIR AND HEALTH EMPOWER2 MENT GRANTS. 

3 (a) ELIGIBILITY.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each area designated as an 

5 air and health quality empowerment zone under sec6 tion 5(a) shall be eligible to receive 1 or more grants 

7 under this section. 

8 (2) AMOUNT OF GRANTS.—The amount of each 

9 grant awarded to a designated air and health quality 

10 empowerment zone shall be determined by the Ad11 ministrator based upon a review of— 

12 (A) the information contained in the appli13 cations required by section 5(d); and 

14 (B) the needs set forth in the applications 

15 by those designated as beneficiaries. 

16 (3) TIMING OF GRANTS.—With respect to each 

17 designated air and health quality empowerment 

18 zone, the Administrator shall make— 

19 (A) a grant under this section to each such 

20 zone on the date of designation of the zone 

21 under section 5(a); and 

22 (B) the grant under this section to each 

23 such zone available on the first day of the first 

24 fiscal year that begins after the date of designa25 tion of the zone. 


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1 (4) OVERSIGHT OF GRANTS.—The air pollution 

2 control district or other local government entity au3 thorized to regulate air quality in an area designated 

4 as an air and health safety empowerment zone under 

5 section 5(a) shall oversee the use of any grant funds 

6 provided to the zone under this section. 

7 (b) USE OF GRANTS.—Each air and health safety 

8 empowerment zone that receives a grant under this section 

9 shall use the grant solely— 

10 (1) to carry out activities that achieve the pur11 poses described in section 2; 

12 (2) in accordance with the strategic plan for the 

13 zone; and 

14 (3) for activities that benefit the residents of 

15 the zone for which the grant is made through im16 proved air quality and health. 

17 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

18 authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator to pro19 vide grants under this section $20,000,000 for each of fis20 cal years 2009 through 2013. 


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Calendar No. 1078 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3565 

[Report No. 110–500] 

A BILL 

To address the health and economic development 

ment zones. California, by designating air quality empowerair quality standards in the San Joaquin Valley, impacts of nonattainment of federally mandated 

SEPTEMBER 24 (legislative day, SEPTEMBER 17), 2008 

Read twice and placed on the calendar 


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