I 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4795 

To promote new manufacturing in the United States by providing for greater 

transparency and timeliness in obtaining necessary permits, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 30, 2014 

Mr. SCALISE (for himself, Mr. KINZINGER of Illinois, Mr. MCKINLEY, Mr. 

OLSON, Mr. BARTON, Mr. WHITFIELD, Mr. HALL, Mr. CASSIDY, Mr. 

LATTA, Mr. PITTS, Mr. POMPEO, and Mr. BILIRAKIS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Promoting New Manu5 facturing Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. BUILDING AND MANUFACTURING PROJECTS 

2 DASHBOARD. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall, with re4 spect to fiscal year 2008 and each subsequent fiscal year, 

5 publish in a readily accessible location on the Environ6 mental Protection Agency’s public Website the Agency’s 

7 estimate of the following: 

8 (1) The total number of preconstruction per9 mits issued during the fiscal year. 

10 (2) The percentage of such preconstruction per11 mits issued within one year after the date of filing 

12 of a completed application. 

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

14 Environmental Appeals Board to issue a final deci15 sion on petitions appealing decisions to grant or 

16 deny a preconstruction permit application. 

17 (b) INITIAL PUBLICATION; UPDATES.—The Adminis18 trator shall— 

19 (1) make the publication required by subsection 

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

21 than 60 days after the date of enactment of this 

22 Act; and 

23 (2) update such publication not less than annu24 ally. 

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

26 section: 


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1 (1) With respect to information to be published 

2 for fiscal years 2008 through 2013, the Environ3 mental Protection Agency’s estimates shall be based 

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

5 of the date of enactment of this Act, including infor6 mation in the RACT/BACT/LAER Clearinghouse 

7 database. 

8 (2) With respect to information to be published 

9 for any fiscal year, nothing in the section compels 

10 the Environmental Protection Agency to seek or col11 lect any information in addition to the information 

12 that is voluntarily provided by States and local air 

13 agencies for the RACT/BACT/LAER Clearinghouse 

14 database. 

15 SEC. 3. TIMELY ISSUANCE OF REGULATIONS AND GUID16 ANCE TO ADDRESS NEW OR REVISED NA17 TIONAL AMBIENT AIR QUALITY STANDARDS 

18 IN PRECONSTRUCTION PERMITTING. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—In publishing any final rule estab20 lishing or revising a national ambient air quality standard, 

21 the Administrator shall, as the Administrator determines 

22 necessary and appropriate to assist States, permitting au23 thorities, and permit applicants, concurrently publish reg24 ulations and guidance for implementing the standard, in25 cluding information relating to submission and considerVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:11 Jun 06, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4795.IH H4795

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1 ation of a preconstruction permit application under the 

2 new or revised standard. 

3 (b) APPLICABILITY OF STANDARD TO

4 PRECONSTRUCTION PERMITTING.—If the Administrator 

5 fails to publish final regulations and guidance that include 

6 information relating to submission and consideration of a 

7 preconstruction permit application under a new or revised 

8 national ambient air quality standard concurrently with 

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

10 review and disposition of a preconstruction permit 

11 application until the Agency has published such final regu12 lations and guidance. 

13 (c) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.— 

14 (1) After publishing regulations and guidance 

15 for implementing national ambient air quality stand16 ards under subsection (a), nothing in this section 

17 shall preclude the Environmental Protection Agency 

18 from issuing subsequent regulations or guidance to 

19 assist States and facilities in implementing such 

20 standards. 

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

22 eliminate the obligation of a preconstruction permit 

23 applicant to install best available control technology 

24 and lowest achievable emissions rate technology, as 

25 applicable. 


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

2 REVIEW OF PRECONSTRUCTION PERMITS. 

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

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

5 the Administrator shall submit to Congress a report— 

6 (1) identifying the activities being undertaken 

7 by the Environmental Protection Agency to increase 

8 the efficiency of the preconstruction permitting proc9 ess; 

10 (2) identifying the specific reasons for delays in 

11 issuing— 

12 (A) preconstruction permits required under 

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

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

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

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

17 (B) preconstruction permits required under 

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

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

20 on the date on which the permit application is 

21 determined to be complete; 

22 (3) describing how the Agency is resolving 

23 delays in making completeness determinations for 

24 preconstruction permit applications; 

25 (4) describing how the Agency is resolving proc26 essing delays for preconstruction permits, including 


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1 any increases in communication with State and local 

2 permitting authorities; and 

3 (5) summarizing and responding to public com4 ments concerning the report received under sub5 section (b). 

6 (b) PUBLIC COMMENT.—Before submitting each re7 port required by subsection (a), the Administrator shall 

8 publish a draft report on the Website of the Environ9 mental Protection Agency and provide the public with a 

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

11 report. 

12 (c) SOURCES OF INFORMATION.—Nothing in this sec13 tion compels the Environmental Protection Agency to seek 

14 or collect any information in addition to the information 

15 that is voluntarily provided by States and local air agen16 cies for the RACT/BACT/LAER Clearinghouse database. 

17 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 

18 In this Act: 

19 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis20 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ21 mental Protection Agency. 

22 (2) BEST AVAILABLE CONTROL TECH23 NOLOGY.—The term ‘‘best available control tech24 nology’’ has the meaning given to that term in secVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:11 Jun 06, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4795.IH H4795

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1 tion 169(3) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 

2 7479(3)). 

3 (3) LOWEST ACHIEVABLE EMISSIONS RATE.— 

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

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

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

7 (4) MAJOR EMITTING FACILITY; MAJOR STA8 TIONARY SOURCE.—The terms ‘‘major emitting fa9 cility’’ and ‘‘major stationary source’’ have the 

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

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

12 (5) NATIONAL AMBIENT AIR QUALITY STAND13 ARD.—The term ‘‘national ambient air quality 

14 standard’’ means a national ambient air quality 

15 standard for an air pollutant under section 109 of 

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

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

18 (6) PRECONSTRUCTION PERMIT.—The term 

19 ‘‘preconstruction permit’’— 

20 (A) means a permit that is required under 

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

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

23 modification of a major emitting facility or 

24 major stationary source; and 


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1 (B) includes any such permit issued by the 

2 Environmental Protection Agency or a State, 

3 local, or tribal permitting authority. 

4 (7) RACT/BACT/LAER CLEARINGHOUSE

5 DATABASE.—The term ‘‘RACT/BACT/LAER Clear6 inghouse database’’ means the central database of 

7 air pollution technology information that is posted 

8 on the Environmental Protection Agency’s Website. 

Æ 


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