I 
110TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2853 
To require the Environmental Protection Agency to promptly notify State 
and local authorities and the public of certain enforcement actions under 
environmental laws. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 25, 2007 
Mr. PATRICK J. MURPHY of Pennsylvania introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition 
to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, for a period to 
be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider-
ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
concerned 
A BILL 
To require the Environmental Protection Agency to promptly 
notify State and local authorities and the public of cer-
tain enforcement actions under environmental laws. 
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 ‘‘Alerting Localities of 
Environmental Risks and Threats (ALERT) Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. EPA NOTICE REQUIREMENT. 
(a) MANDATORY NOTICE TO STATE AND LOCAL GOV-
ERNMENTS.—The Administrator of the Environmental 
Protection Agency shall promptly notify— 
(1) the Governor of the State whenever the Ad-
ministrator (or the Attorney General) takes any of 
the actions listed in subsection (b) with respect to 
any violation in, or directly affecting, that State; and 
(2) the head of each general purpose unit of 
local government with jurisdiction over a political 
subdivision in a State whenever the Administrator 
(or the Attorney General) takes any of the actions 
listed in subsection (b) with respect to any violation 
in, or directly affecting, that political subdivision. 
In the case of a violation that takes place in, or directly 
affects, more than one State or political subdivision, The 
Administrator shall notify the Governor of each such State 
and the head of each general purpose unit of local govern-
ment for each such political subdivision. 
(b) ACTIONS COVERED.—Each of the following ac-
tions taken with respect to any past, existing, or potential 
violation of, or failure to comply with, any law adminis-
tered by the Environmental Protection Agency shall re-
quire notice under subsection (a): 
(1) The Administrator makes an initial deter-
mination that it is more likely than not that an en-
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forcement action or remediation will be necessary 
with respect to the violation or failure. 
(2) The issuance or filing by the Administrator 
of an administrative order or complaint with respect 
to the violation or failure. 
(3) The determination by the Administrator 
that such an administrative order or complaint is 
final. 
(4) The settlement of an administrative com-
plaint or the date on which the Administrator deter-
mines that there has been compliance with an ad-
ministrative order. 
(5) The transmittal by the Administrator of a 
case relating to the violation or failure to the Attor-
ney General for enforcement action by the Attorney 
General. 
(6) The filing of a complaint or enforcement ac-
tion by the United States in any United States dis-
trict court or court of appeals. 
(7) The entry by a court of a final order, con-
sent decree, or settlement order. 
(8) The determination by the United States 
that no further action will be taken with respect to 
the violation concerned in any court of the United 
States. 
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(c) FORM AND CONTENT OF NOTICE.—The notice to 
State and local government officials under this Act shall 
be in the form of a letter sent by registered mail and, 
to the extent practicable, in the form of electronic mail. 
The notice shall contain a summary of the nature and 
scope of the violation concerned, the location of the viola-
tion (including the postal zip codes or codes affected by 
the violation), the officer or employee of the Environ-
mental Protection Agency responsible for providing public 
information with respect to the violation, notice of where 
additional information can be obtained with respect to the 
alleged violation and with respect to the corresponding ac-
tion referred to in subsection (b), and the date on which 
such action was taken. The notice shall not contain any 
confidential or proprietary information or any other infor-
mation that is not otherwise made public. 
(d) PUBLIC NOTICE.—Any person may request a 
copy of any notice sent to a State or local government 
under paragraph (2), (3), (4), (5), (6), (7), or (8) of sub-
section (b) by identifying the type of action referred to 
in subsection (b) for which notice is requested, the postal 
zip code or codes for the area concerned, and the electronic 
mail address of the requesting person. Following receipt 
of such a request, the Administrator shall promptly trans-
mit a copy of the notice to such person by electronic mail 
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for each such action taken after the receipt of such re-
quest. 
(e) SAVINGS PROVISIONS.—Nothing in this section, 
including the failure of the Administrator to comply with 
the requirements of this section, shall be construed to af-
fect the validity or invalidity of any action referred to in 
subsection (b), to create any legally enforceable duty or 
obligation on the part of the Administrator or any other 
person with respect to any such action, or to affect the 
liability of any person with regard to any violation of any 
law or regulation. 
(f) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Subsection (a) of this section 
shall take effect with respect to actions described in sub-
section (b) that are taken after the date of the enactment 
of this Act. 
Æ 
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