Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘U.S. Agricultural Sec-
tor Relief Act of 2012’’. 
SEC. 2. ENSURING THE AVAILABILITY OF METHYL BRO-
MIDE FOR CRITICAL USES. 
(a) CRITICAL USE EXEMPTIONS AND EMERGENCY 
EVENTS.—Subsection (h) of section 604 of the Clean Air 
Act (42 U.S.C. 7671c(h)) is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘Notwithstanding’’ and insert-
ing the following: 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following new 
paragraph: 
‘‘(2) CRITICAL USE EXEMPTIONS AND EMER-
GENCY EVENTS.— 
‘‘(A) CRITICAL USE EXEMPTIONS.— 
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—For each calendar 
year, beginning with 2013, the Adminis-
trator, pursuant to an application sub-
mitted by any person, shall take all appro-
priate actions within the authority of the 
Environmental Protection Agency to seek a 
critical use exemption under the Montreal 
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Protocol in order to allow the production, 
importation, and consumption of methyl 
bromide— 
‘‘(I) for any use of methyl bro-
mide that— 
‘‘(aa) is an approved critical 
use; and 
‘‘(bb) is determined by the 
Administrator to be a critical use 
for the applicant; and 
‘‘(II) in the amount necessary for 
the use described in subclause (I). 
‘‘(ii) APPLICATIONS.—The Adminis-
trator shall not deny any application re-
ferred to in clause (i), or reduce the 
amount requested under any such applica-
tion, unless the Administrator— 
‘‘(I) has substantial evidence to 
establish that there is a technically 
and economically feasible alternative 
available to the applicant for the use 
of methyl bromide for which the appli-
cation was submitted; and 
‘‘(II) provides such evidence to 
the applicant in writing. 
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‘‘(iii) ALTERNATIVES.—The Adminis-
trator, when evaluating the technical and 
economic feasibility of any alternative pur-
suant to clause (ii), shall consider— 
‘‘(I) cost and commercial avail-
ability of the alternative to the appli-
cant; 
‘‘(II) demonstrated effectiveness 
of the alternative for the applicant’s 
specific intended use; 
‘‘(III) demonstrated effectiveness 
of the alternative in the geographic 
region of the applicant’s intended use; 
and 
‘‘(IV) State or local regulations 
that may restrict use of the alter-
native for the applicant’s intended 
use. 
‘‘(B) EMERGENCY EVENTS.— 
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—For each calendar 
year, beginning with 2013, the Adminis-
trator, pursuant to an application sub-
mitted by any person, shall allow the pro-
duction, importation, and consumption in 
the United States of methyl bromide— 
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‘‘(I) for any use described in sub-
paragraph (A)(i)(I) in response to an 
emergency event; and 
‘‘(II) in an amount necessary for 
such use. 
‘‘(ii) LIMITS ON USE PER EMERGENCY 
EVENT.—The amount of methyl bromide 
allowed pursuant to clause (i) for use per 
emergency event at a specific location shall 
not exceed 20 metric tons. 
‘‘(iii) 
LIMIT
ON
AGGREGATE 
AMOUNT.—The aggregate amount of meth-
yl bromide allowed pursuant to clause (i) 
for use in the United States in a calendar 
year shall not exceed the total amount au-
thorized by the parties to the Montreal 
Protocol pursuant to the Montreal Protocol 
process for critical uses in the United 
States in calendar year 2011. 
‘‘(C) INTERNATIONAL OBLIGATIONS.—The 
Administrator shall take such actions as may be 
necessary to carry out this paragraph in accord-
ance with the Montreal Protocol. 
‘‘(D) RESEARCH.—For each calendar year, 
beginning with 2013, the Administrator shall 
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take all appropriate actions within the authority 
of the Environmental Protection Agency to en-
sure that sufficient quantities of methyl bro-
mide are available for research on methyl bro-
mide alternatives for the agricultural sector. 
‘‘(E) ADJUSTMENTS
TO
CRITICAL
USE 
NOMINATIONS.—The Administrator shall review 
and, as appropriate, take action to adjust any 
critical use nomination that has been submitted 
to the Parties to the Montreal Protocol (for 
production, importation, or consumption of 
methyl bromide in the United States) if— 
‘‘(i) a methyl bromide alternative is 
removed from the United States market; 
and 
‘‘(ii) on the basis of the availability of 
such alternative, the Administrator denied, 
or reduced the amount requested under, 
any application for production, importa-
tion, or consumption of methyl bromide for 
the year covered by such nomination. 
‘‘(F) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph: 
‘‘(i) The term ‘approved critical use’ 
means a use that— 
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‘‘(I) as of January 1, 2005, was 
an approved critical use in appendix L 
to subpart A of part 82 of title 40, 
Code of Federal Regulations; or 
‘‘(II) during the period following 
such date and ending on the date of 
enactment of this clause, was added 
as an approved critical use in such ap-
pendix. 
‘‘(ii) The term ‘critical use’ means a 
circumstance in which— 
‘‘(I) there are no technically and 
economically feasible alternatives or 
substitutes for methyl bromide avail-
able that are acceptable from the 
standpoint of environment and health 
and are suitable to the crops and cir-
cumstances involved; and 
‘‘(II) the lack of availability of 
methyl bromide for a particular use 
would result in significant market dis-
ruption. 
‘‘(iii) The term ‘emergency event’ 
means a situation— 
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‘‘(I) that occurs at a farm, nurs-
ery, food processing facility, or com-
modities storage facility; 
‘‘(II) for which there is no crit-
ical use exemption in effect for such 
site, or for which there are not suffi-
cient quantities of methyl bromide 
available under an existing critical use 
exemption for such site, as described 
in subparagraph (A); and 
‘‘(III) that requires the use of 
methyl bromide to control a pest or 
disease because there is no technically 
and economically feasible alternative 
to methyl bromide available for such 
use.’’. 
(b) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 180 days after 
the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of 
the Environmental Protection Agency, acting through the 
Director of the Office of Pesticide Programs, and in con-
sultation with the Secretary of Agriculture, shall— 
(1) issue such final regulations as may be nec-
essary to implement the amendment made by sub-
section (a); and 
(2) include in such regulations— 
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(A) criteria for identifying an emergency 
event, as defined in section 604(h)(2)(D)(iii) of 
the Clean Air Act, as added by such amend-
ment; and 
(B) provisions to ensure that each applica-
tion for use of methyl bromide in response to 
an emergency event under section 604(h)(2)(B) 
of the Clean Air Act, as added by such amend-
ment, is approved or disapproved in a timely 
manner. 
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Union Calendar No. 491 
112TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6194 
[Report No. 112–679] 
A BILL 
To ensure the viability and competitiveness of the 
United States agricultural sector. 
SEPTEMBER 19, 2012 
Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 
State of the Union and ordered to be printed 
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