I 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4957 

To amend the Clean Air Act with respect to exceptional event demonstrations, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 25, 2014 

Mr. OLSON (for himself, Mr. MCCARTHY of California, Mr. MCCLINTOCK, Mr. 

SCHWEIKERT, Mr. STOCKMAN, Mr. CHAFFETZ, Mr. PEARCE, Mr. 

POMPEO, Mr. CAMPBELL, Mr. TIPTON, Mr. SALMON, Mr. WEBER of 

Texas, Mr. DUNCAN of South Carolina, Mr. GOSAR, Mr. POE of Texas, 

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona, Mr. NEUGEBAUER, Mr. MARCHANT, Mr. CULBERSON, Mr. CONAWAY, Mr. LATTA, Mr. WILLIAMS, and Mr. KELLY of 

Pennsylvania) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the Clean Air Act with respect to exceptional 

event demonstrations, 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 ‘‘Commonsense Legisla5 tive Exceptional Events Reforms Act of 2014’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. CLEAN AIR ACT EXCEPTIONAL EVENTS. 

2 Section 319(b) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 

3 7619(b)) is amended— 

4 (1) in paragraph (1)(B)— 

5 (A) in clause (i)— 

6 (i) by striking ‘‘(i) stagnation of air 

7 masses or’’ and inserting ‘‘(i)(I) ordinarily 

8 occurring stagnation of air masses or 

9 (II)’’; and 

10 (ii) by inserting ‘‘or’’ after the semi11 colon; 

12 (B) by striking clause (ii); and 

13 (C) by redesignating clause (iii) as clause 

14 (ii); and 

15 (2) in paragraph (3)— 

16 (A) in subparagraph (B)(iv), by striking 

17 ‘‘to petition the Administrator to’’ and inserting 

18 ‘‘to submit a petition (in this section referred to 

19 as an ‘exceptional event demonstration’) to the 

20 Administrator to’’; and 

21 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(C) CRITERIA FOR DETERMINATION OF

23 EXCEPTIONAL EVENT DEMONSTRATION.— 

24 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The criteria for 

25 evidence, analyses, and documentation ap26 plicable to approval or disapproval of an 


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1 exceptional event demonstration under the 

2 regulations under this section shall be stat3 ed with specificity in order to minimize the 

4 discretion of the Administrator in approv5 ing or disapproving that demonstration. 

6 ‘‘(ii) STATE PARTICIPATION.—The 

7 Administrator shall develop the criteria in 

8 conjunction with input from the States. 

9 ‘‘(iii) CONTENTS.—The criteria shall 

10 reflect the varying levels of technical exper11 tise and resources available in State and 

12 local agencies and the varying availability 

13 of meteorological and other monitoring 

14 data in rural areas, and may vary with re15 spect to different regions. 

16 ‘‘(iv) CONSIDERATIONS.—In devel17 oping the criteria, the Administrator shall 

18 consider the use of an expedited or stream19 lined approval process and conditions 

20 under which exceptional event demonstra21 tions may be suitable for such a process. 

22 ‘‘(D) TIMING OF DETERMINATION OF EX23 CEPTIONAL EVENT DEMONSTRATION.— 

24 ‘‘(i) DEADLINE FOR DETERMINA25 TION.— 


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1 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Not later 

2 than 90 days after submission of an 

3 exceptional event demonstration, the 

4 Administrator shall approve, dis5 approve, or request additional infor6 mation from a State regarding the ex7 ceptional event demonstration. 

8 ‘‘(II) ADMINISTRATION.—If the 

9 Administrator does not approve, dis10 approve, or request additional infor11 mation relating to an exceptional 

12 event demonstration within the 90-day 

13 period described in subclause (I), the 

14 demonstration shall be considered to 

15 be approved on the day after the date 

16 on which that 90-day period ends. 

17 ‘‘(ii) DEADLINE IF ADDITIONAL IN18 FORMATION REQUESTED.— 

19 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—If the Ad20 ministrator requests additional infor21 mation from a State regarding an ex22 ceptional event demonstration under 

23 clause (i), not later than 90 days after 

24 the submission of that additional in25 formation, the Administrator shall apVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:10 Jul 01, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4957.IH H4957

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1 prove or disapprove the demonstra2 tion. 

3 ‘‘(II) ADMINISTRATION.—If the 

4 Administrator does not approve or 

5 disapprove a demonstration for which 

6 additional information is submitted 

7 within the 90-day period described in 

8 subclause (I), the demonstration shall 

9 be considered to be approved. 

10 ‘‘(E) BURDEN OF PROOF.—The regula11 tions promulgated under this section shall pro12 vide that— 

13 ‘‘(i) a determination by the Adminis14 trator with respect to approval or dis15 approval of an exceptional event dem16 onstration be based on a preponderance of 

17 the evidence; and 

18 ‘‘(ii) in making a determination, the 

19 Administrator— 

20 ‘‘(I) shall accord substantial def21 erence to the findings of the State ex22 ceptional event demonstration; and 

23 ‘‘(II) may develop and use anal24 yses and consider evidence not pro25 vided in the exceptional event demVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:10 Jul 01, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4957.IH H4957

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1 onstration, subject to the condition 

2 that the analyses are developed by the 

3 Environmental Protection Agency. 

4 ‘‘(F) APPEALS.— 

5 ‘‘(i) DISAPPROVAL.— 

6 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Subject to 

7 subclause (II), disapproval by the Ad8 ministrator of an exceptional event 

9 demonstration shall be considered 

10 final action subject to judicial review 

11 under section 307(b). 

12 ‘‘(II) LIMITATION.—Notwith13 standing subclause (I), disapproval by 

14 the Administrator of an exceptional 

15 event demonstration shall only be sub16 ject to appeal by the State that sub17 mitted the exceptional event dem18 onstration. 

19 ‘‘(ii) APPROVAL.—Approval by the 

20 Administrator of an exceptional event dem21 onstration shall not be subject to appeal or 

22 other judicial action.’’. 

23 SEC. 3. REVISION OF REGULATIONS. 

24 After providing for a notice and comment period, but 

25 not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of 


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1 this Act, the Administrator of the Environmental Protec2 tion Agency shall revise the regulations under section 

3 319(b) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7619(b)) to carry 

4 out the amendments made by this Act. 

Æ 


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