IIB 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4795 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 1, 2014 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and 

Public Works 

AN ACT 

To promote new manufacturing in the United States by 

providing for greater transparency and timeliness in obtaining necessary permits, 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 ‘‘Promoting New Manu3 facturing Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. BUILDING AND MANUFACTURING PROJECTS 

5 DASHBOARD. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall, with re7 spect to fiscal year 2008 and each subsequent fiscal year, 

8 publish in a readily accessible location on the Environ9 mental Protection Agency’s public Website the Agency’s 

10 estimate of the following: 

11 (1) The total number of preconstruction per12 mits issued during the fiscal year. 

13 (2) The percentage of such preconstruction per14 mits issued within one year after the date of filing 

15 of a completed application. 

16 (3) The average length of time for the Agency’s 

17 Environmental Appeals Board to issue a final deci18 sion on petitions appealing decisions to grant or 

19 deny a preconstruction permit application. 

20 (b) INITIAL PUBLICATION; UPDATES.—The Adminis21 trator shall— 

22 (1) make the publication required by subsection 

23 (a) for fiscal years 2008 through 2013 not later 

24 than 60 days after the date of enactment of this 

25 Act; and 


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1 (2) update such publication not less than annu2 ally. 

3 (c) SOURCES OF INFORMATION.—In carrying out this 

4 section: 

5 (1) With respect to information to be published 

6 for fiscal years 2008 through 2013, the Environ7 mental Protection Agency’s estimates shall be based 

8 on information that is in the Agency’s possession as 

9 of the date of enactment of this Act, including infor10 mation in the RACT/BACT/LAER Clearinghouse 

11 database. 

12 (2) With respect to information to be published 

13 for any fiscal year, nothing in the section compels 

14 the Environmental Protection Agency to seek or col15 lect any information in addition to the information 

16 that is voluntarily provided by States and local air 

17 agencies for the RACT/BACT/LAER Clearinghouse 

18 database. 

19 SEC. 3. TIMELY ISSUANCE OF REGULATIONS AND GUID20 ANCE TO ADDRESS NEW OR REVISED NA21 TIONAL AMBIENT AIR QUALITY STANDARDS 

22 IN PRECONSTRUCTION PERMITTING. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—In publishing any final rule estab24 lishing or revising a national ambient air quality standard, 

25 the Administrator shall, as the Administrator determines 


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1 necessary and appropriate to assist States, permitting au2 thorities, and permit applicants, concurrently publish reg3 ulations and guidance for implementing the standard, in4 cluding information relating to submission and consider5 ation of a preconstruction permit application under the 

6 new or revised standard. 

7 (b) APPLICABILITY OF STANDARD TO

8 PRECONSTRUCTION PERMITTING.—If the Administrator 

9 fails to publish final regulations and guidance that include 

10 information relating to submission and consideration of a 

11 preconstruction permit application under a new or revised 

12 national ambient air quality standard concurrently with 

13 such standard, then such standard shall not apply to the 

14 review and disposition of a preconstruction permit 

15 application until the Agency has published such final regu16 lations and guidance. 

17 (c) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.— 

18 (1) After publishing regulations and guidance 

19 for implementing national ambient air quality stand20 ards under subsection (a), nothing in this section 

21 shall preclude the Environmental Protection Agency 

22 from issuing subsequent regulations or guidance to 

23 assist States and facilities in implementing such 

24 standards. 


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1 (2) Nothing in this section shall be construed to 

2 eliminate the obligation of a preconstruction permit 

3 applicant to install best available control technology 

4 and lowest achievable emissions rate technology, as 

5 applicable. 

6 (3) Nothing in this section shall be construed to 

7 limit the authority of a State, local, or tribal permit8 ting authority to impose more stringent emissions 

9 requirements pursuant to State, local, or tribal law 

10 than Federal national ambient air quality standards 

11 established by the Environmental Protection Agency. 

12 SEC. 4. REPORT TO CONGRESS ON ACTIONS TO EXPEDITE 

13 REVIEW OF PRECONSTRUCTION PERMITS. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

15 date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, 

16 the Administrator shall submit to Congress a report— 

17 (1) identifying the activities being undertaken 

18 by the Environmental Protection Agency to increase 

19 the efficiency of the preconstruction permitting proc20 ess; 

21 (2) identifying the specific reasons for delays in 

22 issuing— 

23 (A) preconstruction permits required under 

24 part C of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7470 

25 et seq.) beyond the one-year statutory deadline 


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1 mandated by section 165(c) of the Clean Air 

2 Act (42 U.S.C. 7475(c)); or 

3 (B) preconstruction permits required under 

4 part D of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7501 

5 et seq.) beyond the one-year period beginning 

6 on the date on which the permit application is 

7 determined to be complete; 

8 (3) describing how the Agency is resolving 

9 delays in making completeness determinations for 

10 preconstruction permit applications; 

11 (4) describing how the Agency is resolving proc12 essing delays for preconstruction permits, including 

13 any increases in communication with State and local 

14 permitting authorities; and 

15 (5) summarizing and responding to public com16 ments concerning the report received under sub17 section (b). 

18 (b) PUBLIC COMMENT.—Before submitting each re19 port required by subsection (a), the Administrator shall 

20 publish a draft report on the Website of the Environ21 mental Protection Agency and provide the public with a 

22 period of at least 30 days to submit comments on the draft 

23 report. 

24 (c) SOURCES OF INFORMATION.—Nothing in this sec25 tion compels the Environmental Protection Agency to seek 


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1 or collect any information in addition to the information 

2 that is voluntarily provided by States and local air agen3 cies for the RACT/BACT/LAER Clearinghouse database. 

4 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 

5 In this Act: 

6 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis7 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ8 mental Protection Agency. 

9 (2) BEST AVAILABLE CONTROL TECH10 NOLOGY.—The term ‘‘best available control tech11 nology’’ has the meaning given to that term in sec12 tion 169(3) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 

13 7479(3)). 

14 (3) LOWEST ACHIEVABLE EMISSIONS RATE.— 

15 The term ‘‘lowest achievable emissions rate’’ has the 

16 meaning given to that term in section 171(3) of the 

17 Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7501(3)). 

18 (4) MAJOR EMITTING FACILITY; MAJOR STA19 TIONARY SOURCE.—The terms ‘‘major emitting fa20 cility’’ and ‘‘major stationary source’’ have the 

21 meaning given to those terms in section 302(j) of 

22 the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7602(j)). 

23 (5) NATIONAL AMBIENT AIR QUALITY STAND24 ARD.—The term ‘‘national ambient air quality 

25 standard’’ means a national ambient air quality 


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1 standard for an air pollutant under section 109 of 

2 the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7409) that is finalized 

3 on or after the date of enactment of this Act. 

4 (6) PRECONSTRUCTION PERMIT.—The term 

5 ‘‘preconstruction permit’’— 

6 (A) means a permit that is required under 

7 part C or D of title I of the Clean Air Act (42 

8 U.S.C. 7470 et seq.) for the construction or 

9 modification of a major emitting facility or 

10 major stationary source; and 

11 (B) includes any such permit issued by the 

12 Environmental Protection Agency or a State, 

13 local, or tribal permitting authority. 

14 (7) RACT/BACT/LAER CLEARINGHOUSE

15 DATABASE.—The term ‘‘RACT/BACT/LAER Clear16 inghouse database’’ means the central database of 

17 air pollution technology information that is posted 

18 on the Environmental Protection Agency’s Website. 

Passed the House of Representatives November 20, 

2014. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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