I 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5359 

To provide for the designation of, and the award of grant with respect 

to, air and health quality empowerment zones. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 31, 2014 

Mr. MCNERNEY (for himself and Mr. COSTA) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To provide for the designation of, and the award of grant 

with respect to, air and health 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 2013’’. 

6 SEC. 2. AIR AND HEALTH QUALITY EMPOWERMENT ZONES. 

7 (a) DESIGNATION OF AIR AND HEALTH QUALITY

8 EMPOWERMENT ZONES.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator may des2 ignate an area as an air and health quality em3 powerment zone if— 

4 (A) the air pollution control district or 

5 other local governmental entity authorized to 

6 regulate air quality for the area submits an ap7 plication under paragraph (2) nominating the 

8 area for such designation; and 

9 (B) the Administrator determines that— 

10 (i) the information in the application 

11 is reasonably accurate; and 

12 (ii) the nominated area satisfies the 

13 eligibility criteria described in paragraph 

14 (3). 

15 (2) NOMINATION.—To nominate an area for 

16 designation under paragraph (1), the air pollution 

17 control district or other local governmental entity 

18 authorized to regulate air quality for the area shall 

19 submit to the Administrator an application that— 

20 (A) demonstrates that the nominated area 

21 satisfies the eligibility criteria described in 

22 paragraph (3); and 

23 (B) includes a strategic plan that— 

24 (i) is designed for— 


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1 (I) addressing air quality chal2 lenges and achieving attainment of air 

3 quality standards in the area; and 

4 (II) improving the health of the 

5 population in the area; 

6 (ii) describes— 

7 (I) the process by which the dis8 trict or local governmental entity is a 

9 full partner in the process of devel10 oping and implementing the strategic 

11 plan; and 

12 (II) the extent to which local in13 stitutions and organizations have con14 tributed to the planning process; 

15 (iii) identifies— 

16 (I) the amount of State, local, 

17 and private resources that will be 

18 available for carrying out the strategic 

19 plan; and 

20 (II) the private and public part21 nerships to be used (which may in22 clude participation by, and coopera23 tion with, institutions of higher edu24 cation, medical centers, and other priVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:13 Aug 14, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5359.IH H5359

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1 vate and public entities) in carrying 

2 out the strategic plan; 

3 (iv) identifies the funding requested 

4 under any Federal program in support of 

5 the strategic plan; 

6 (v) identifies baselines, methods, and 

7 benchmarks for measuring the success of 

8 the strategic plan; and 

9 (vi) includes such other information 

10 as may be required by the Administrator; 

11 and 

12 (C) provides written assurances satisfac13 tory to the Administrator that the strategic 

14 plan will be implemented. 

15 (3) ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA.—To be eligible for 

16 designation under paragraph (1), an area must meet 

17 all of the following criteria: 

18 (A) NONATTAINMENT.—The area has been 

19 designated as being— 

20 (i) in extreme nonattainment of the 

21 national ambient air quality standard for 

22 ozone; and 

23 (ii) in nonattainment of the national 

24 ambient air quality standard for PM2.5. 

25 (B) UNIQUE SOURCES.—The area had— 


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1 (i) emissions of oxides of nitrogen 

2 from farm equipment of at least 30 tons 

3 per day in calendar year 2011; 

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

6 3 tons per day in calendar year 2010; or 

7 (iii) emissions of oxides of nitrogen 

8 from sources governed primarily through 

9 international law of at least 50 tons per 

10 day in calendar year 2010. 

11 (C) AIR QUALITY-RELATED HEALTH EF12 FECTS.—As of the date of designation, the area 

13 meets or exceeds the national average per cap14 ita incidence of asthma. 

15 (D) ECONOMIC IMPACT.—As of the date of 

16 designation, the area experiences unemployment 

17 rates higher than the national average. 

18 (E) MATCHING FUNDS.—The air pollution 

19 control district or other local governmental enti20 ty submitting the strategic plan under para21 graph (2) for the area agrees that it will make 

22 available (directly or through contributions 

23 from the State or other public or private enti24 ties) non-Federal contributions toward the ac25 tivities to be carried out under the strategic 


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1 plan in an amount equal to $1 for each $1 of 

2 Federal funds provided for such activities. Such 

3 non-Federal matching funds may be in cash or 

4 in-kind, fairly evaluated, including plant, equip5 ment, or services. 

6 (4) PERIOD OF DESIGNATION.—A designation 

7 under paragraph (1) shall remain in effect during 

8 the period beginning on the date of the designation 

9 and ending on the earlier of— 

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

11 ending after the date of the designation; or 

12 (B) the date on which the Administrator 

13 revokes the designation. 

14 (5) REVOCATION OF DESIGNATION.—The Ad15 ministrator may revoke the designation under para16 graph (1) of an area if the Administrator determines 

17 that— 

18 (A) the area is in attainment with the na19 tional ambient air quality standards for PM2.5

20 and ozone; or 

21 (B) the air pollution control district or 

22 other local governmental entity submitting the 

23 strategic plan under paragraph (2) for the area 

24 is not complying substantially with, or fails to 


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1 make progress in achieving the goals of, such 

2 strategic plan. 

3 (b) GRANTS FOR AIR AND HEALTH QUALITY EM4 POWERMENT ZONES.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—For the purpose described in 

6 paragraph (2), the Administrator may award one or 

7 more grants to the air pollution control district or 

8 local governmental entity submitting the application 

9 under subsection (a)(2) on behalf of each air and 

10 health quality empowerment zone designated under 

11 subsection (a)(1). 

12 (2) USE OF GRANTS.—A recipient of a grant 

13 under paragraph (1) shall use the grant solely for 

14 the purpose of carrying out the strategic plan sub15 mitted by the recipient under subsection (a)(2). 

16 (3) AMOUNT OF GRANTS.—The amount award17 ed under this subsection with respect to a designated 

18 air and health quality empowerment zone shall be 

19 determined by the Administrator based upon a re20 view of— 

21 (A) the information contained in the appli22 cation for the zone under subsection (a)(2); and 

23 (B) the needs set forth in the application 

24 for those anticipated to benefit from the stra25 tegic plan submitted for the zone. 


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1 (4) TIMING OF GRANTS.—To the extent and in 

2 the amount of appropriations made available in ad3 vance, the Administrator shall— 

4 (A) award a grant under this subsection 

5 with respect to each air and health quality em6 powerment zone on the date of designation of 

7 the zone under subsection (a)(1); and 

8 (B) make the grant funds available to the 

9 grantee on the first day of the first fiscal year 

10 that begins after the date of such designation. 

11 (5) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To 

12 carry out this subsection, there is authorized to be 

13 appropriated $20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 

14 2015 through 2018. 

15 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

16 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis17 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ18 mental Protection Agency. 

19 (2) PM2.5.—The term ‘‘PM2.5’’ means particu20 late matter with a diameter that does not exceed 2.5 

21 micrometers. 

22 SEC. 3. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 

23 Not later than 5 years after the date of the enact24 ment of this Act, the Administrator of the Environmental 

25 Protection Agency— 


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1 (1) shall submit a report to the Congress on the 

2 impact of this Act; and 

3 (2) may include in such report a description of 

4 the impact of this Act in regard to— 

5 (A) the reduction of particulate matter and 

6 nitrogen oxides emissions; 

7 (B) the reduction of asthma rates and 

8 other health indicators; and 

9 (C) economic indicators. 

Æ 


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