II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 638 

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

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 3, 2015 

Mr. FLAKE (for himself, Mr. MCCAIN, Mr. LEE, Mr. CRAPO, Mr. CORNYN, 

Mr. INHOFE, and Mr. VITTER) introduced the following bill; which was 

read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public 

Works 

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 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. CLEAN AIR ACT EXCEPTIONAL EVENTS. 

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

8 7619(b)) is amended— 

9 (1) in paragraph (1)(B)— 


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1 (A) in clause (i), by inserting ‘‘or’’ after 

2 the semicolon; 

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

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

5 (ii); and 

6 (2) in paragraph (3)— 

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

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

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

10 as an ‘exceptional event demonstration’) to the 

11 Administrator to’’; and 

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

13 ‘‘(C) CRITERIA FOR DETERMINATION OF

14 EXCEPTIONAL EVENT DEMONSTRATION.— 

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

16 evidence, analyses, and documentation ap17 plicable to approval or disapproval of an 

18 exceptional event demonstration under the 

19 regulations under this section shall be stat20 ed with specificity in order to minimize the 

21 discretion of the Administrator in approv22 ing or disapproving that demonstration. 

23 ‘‘(ii) STATE PARTICIPATION.—The 

24 Administrator shall develop the criteria in 

25 conjunction with input from the States. 


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

2 reflect the varying levels of technical exper3 tise and resources available in State and 

4 local agencies and the varying availability 

5 of meteorological and other monitoring 

6 data in rural areas, and may vary with re7 spect to different regions. 

8 ‘‘(iv) CONSIDERATIONS.—In devel9 oping the criteria, the Administrator shall 

10 consider the use of an expedited or stream11 lined approval process and conditions 

12 under which exceptional event demonstra13 tions may be suitable for such a process. 

14 ‘‘(D) TIMING OF DETERMINATION OF EX15 CEPTIONAL EVENT DEMONSTRATION.— 

16 ‘‘(i) DEADLINE FOR DETERMINA17 TION.— 

18 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Not later 

19 than 90 days after submission of an 

20 exceptional event demonstration, the 

21 Administrator shall approve, dis22 approve, or request additional infor23 mation from a State regarding the ex24 ceptional event demonstration. 


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1 ‘‘(II) ADMINISTRATION.—If the 

2 Administrator does not approve, dis3 approve, or request additional infor4 mation relating to an exceptional 

5 event demonstration within the 90-day 

6 period described in subclause (I), the 

7 demonstration shall be considered to 

8 be approved on the day after the date 

9 on which that 90-day period ends. 

10 ‘‘(ii) DEADLINE IF ADDITIONAL IN11 FORMATION REQUESTED.— 

12 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—If the Ad13 ministrator requests additional infor14 mation from a State regarding an ex15 ceptional event demonstration under 

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

17 the submission of that additional in18 formation, the Administrator shall ap19 prove or disapprove the demonstra20 tion. 

21 ‘‘(II) ADMINISTRATION.—If the 

22 Administrator does not approve or 

23 disapprove a demonstration for which 

24 additional information is submitted 

25 within the 90-day period described in 


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1 subclause (I), the demonstration shall 

2 be considered to be approved. 

3 ‘‘(E) BURDEN OF PROOF.—The regula4 tions promulgated under this section shall pro5 vide that— 

6 ‘‘(i) a determination by the Adminis7 trator with respect to approval or dis8 approval of an exceptional event dem9 onstration be based on a preponderance of 

10 the evidence; and 

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

12 Administrator— 

13 ‘‘(I) shall accord substantial def14 erence to the findings of the State ex15 ceptional event demonstration; and 

16 ‘‘(II) may develop and use anal17 yses and consider evidence not pro18 vided in the exceptional event dem19 onstration, subject to the condition 

20 that the analyses are developed by the 

21 Environmental Protection Agency. 

22 ‘‘(F) APPEALS.— 

23 ‘‘(i) DISAPPROVAL.— 

24 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Subject to 

25 subclause (II), disapproval by the AdVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:26 Mar 11, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S638.IS S638

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1 ministrator of an exceptional event 

2 demonstration shall be considered 

3 final action subject to judicial review 

4 under section 307(b). 

5 ‘‘(II) LIMITATION.—Notwith6 standing subclause (I), disapproval by 

7 the Administrator of an exceptional 

8 event demonstration shall only be sub9 ject to appeal by the State that sub10 mitted the exceptional event dem11 onstration. 

12 ‘‘(ii) APPROVAL.—Approval by the 

13 Administrator of an exceptional event dem14 onstration shall not be subject to appeal or 

15 other judicial action.’’. 

16 SEC. 3. REVISION OF REGULATIONS. 

17 After providing for a notice and comment period, but 

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

19 this Act, the Administrator of the Environmental Protec20 tion Agency shall revise the regulations under section 

21 319(b) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7619(b)) to carry 

22 out the amendments made by this Act. 

Æ 


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