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Clean Air Act: A Summary of the Act and Its Major Requirements

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Order Code RL30853 Clean Air Act: A Summary of the Act and Its Major Requirements Updated November 26, 2008 James E. McCarthy, Coordinator, Claudia Copeland, Larry Parker, and Linda-Jo Schierow Specialists in Environmental, Resources, and Energy Policy Resources, Science, and Industry Division Clean Air Act: A Summary of the Act and Its Major Requirements and Its Major Requirements James E. McCarthy Specialist in Environmental Policy Claudia Copeland Specialist in Resources and Environmental Policy Larry Parker Specialist in Energy and Environmental Policy Linda-Jo Schierow Specialist in Environmental Policy January 6, 2011 Congressional Research Service 7-5700 www.crs.gov RL30853 CRS Report for Congress Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress Clean Air Act: A Summary of the Act and Its Major Requirements Summary This report summarizes the Clean Air Act and its major regulatory requirements. It excerpts, with minor modifications, the Clean Air Act chapter of CRS Report RL30798, which RL30798, Environmental Laws: Summaries of Major Statutes Administered by the Environmental Protection Agency, which summarizes a dozen environmental statutes that form the basis for the programs of the Environmental Protection Agency. This report will be updated at the end of each Congress, or sooner if Congress enacts a law that substantively changes the statute. The principal statute addressing air quality concerns, the Clean Air Act was first enacted in 1955, with major revisions in 1970, 1977, and 1990. The Act requires EPA to set health-based standards for ambient air quality, sets deadlines for the achievement of those standards by state and local governments, and requires EPA to set national emission standards for large or ubiquitous sources of air pollution, including motor vehicles, power plants, and other industrial sources. In addition, the the Act mandates emission controls for sources of 188187 hazardous air pollutants, requires establishes a capand-trade program to limit acid rain, requires the prevention of significant deterioration of air quality in areas with clean air, requires a program to restore visibility impaired by regional haze in national parks and wilderness areas, and implements the Montreal Protocol to phase out most ozone-depleting chemicals. This report describes the Act’s major provisions and provides tables listing all major amendments, with the year of enactment and Public Law number, and crossreferencingcross-referencing sections of the Act with the major U.S. Code sections of the codified statute. Contents Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 National Ambient Air Quality Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 State Implementation Plans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Nonattainment Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Requirements for Ozone Nonattainment Areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Requirements for Carbon Monoxide Nonattainment Areas . . . . . . . . . 7 Requirements for Particulate Nonattainment Areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Emission Standards for Mobile Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Hazardous Air Pollutants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 New Source Performance Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Solid Waste Incinerators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Prevention of Significant Deterioration / Regional Haze . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Acid Deposition Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Permits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Enforcement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Stratospheric Ozone Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Selected References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 List of Tables Table 1. Clean Air Act and Amendments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Table 2. Ozone Nonattainment Classifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Table 3. Major U.S. Code Sections of the Clean Air Act . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Clean Air Act: A Summary of the Act and Its Major Requirements Introduction The authorities and responsibilities of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) derive primarily from a dozen major environmental statutes. This report provides a concise summary of one of those statutes, the Clean Air Act. It provides a very brief history of federal involvement in air quality regulation and of the provisions added by legislation in 1970, 1977, and 1990; it explains major authorities contained in the Act; it defines key terms; and it lists references for more detailed information on the Act and its implementation. While this report attempts to present the essence of the Act, it is necessarily incomplete. Many details and secondary provisions are omitted. In addition, the report describes the statute largely without discussing its implementation. Statutory deadlines to control emissions and achieve particular mandates have often been missed as a result of delayed standard-setting by EPA, delayed action on implementation by states and local governments, or law suits brought by interested parties. Other CRS products, including CRS Report RL33776 (Clean Air Act Issues in the 110th Congress: Implementation and Oversight) and more than a dozen CRS reports discuss implementation concerns and current issues. Readers interested in a more comprehensive discussion of the history of the Act are referred to CRS Report 83-34 ENR, Environmental Protection: An Historical Review of the Legislation and Programs of the Environmental Protection Agency (available from James E. McCarthy). Overview The Clean Air Act, codified as 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq., seeks to protect human health and the environment from emissions that pollute ambient, or outdoor, air. It requires the Environmental Protection Agency to establish minimum national standards for air quality, and assigns primary responsibility to the states to assure compliance with the standards. Areas not meeting the standards, referred to as “nonattainment areas,” are required to implement specified air pollution control measures. The Act establishes federal standards for mobile sources of air pollution and their fuels, for sources of 188 hazardous air pollutants, and for the emissions that cause acid rain. It establishes a comprehensive permit system for all major sources of air pollution. It also addresses the prevention of pollution in areas with clean air and protection of the stratospheric ozone layer. CRS-2 Table 1. Clean Air Act and Amendments (codified generally as 42 U.S.C. 7401-7671) Year 1955 1959 1960 1963 1965 1966 1967 1970 1973 1974 1977 1980 1981 1987 1990 1995-96 1999 2004 2005 2007 Act Air Pollution Control Act Reauthorization Motor vehicle exhaust study Clean Air Act Amendments Motor Vehicle Air Pollution Control Act Clean Air Act Amendments of 1966 Air Quality Act of 1967 National Air Emission Standards Act Clean Air Act Amendments of 1970 Reauthorization Energy Supply and Environmental Coordination Act of 1974 Clean Air Act Amendments of 1977 Acid Precipitation Act of 1980 Steel Industry Compliance Extension Act of 1981 Clean Air Act 8-month Extension Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 Relatively minor laws amending the Act Chemical Safety Information, Site Security and Fuels Regulatory Relief Act Amendments to §209 re small engines Energy Policy Act of 2005 (amended §211 re fuels) Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (amended §211 re fuels) Public Law Number P.L. 84-159 P.L. 86-353 P.L. 86-493 P.L. 88-206 P.L. 89-272, Title I P.L. 89-675 P.L. 90-148 P.L. 91-604 P.L. 93-13 P.L. 93-319 P.L. 95-95 P.L. 96-294, Title VII P.L. 97-23 P.L. 100-202 P.L. 101-549 P.L. 104-6, 59, 70, 260 P.L. 106-40 P.L. 108-199, Division G, Title IV, Section 428 P.L. 109-58 P.L. 110-140 Like many other programs administered by the Environmental Protection Agency, federal efforts to control air pollution have gone through several phases, beginning with information collection, research, and technical assistance, before being strengthened to establish federal standards and enforcement. Federal legislation addressing air pollution was first passed in 1955, prior to which air pollution was the exclusive responsibility of state and local levels of government. The federal role was strengthened in subsequent amendments, notably the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1970, 1977, and 1990. The 1970 amendments established the procedures under which EPA sets national standards for air quality, required a 90% reduction in emissions from new automobiles by 1975, established a program to require the best available control technology at major new sources of air pollution, established a program to regulate air toxics, and greatly strengthened federal enforcement authority. The 1977 amendments adjusted the auto emission standards, extended deadlines for the attainment of air quality standards, and added the Prevention of Significant Deterioration program to protect air cleaner than national standards. CRS-3 Changes to the Act in 1990 included provisions to (1) classify most nonattainment areas according to the extent to which they exceed the standard, tailoring deadlines, planning, and controls to each area’s status; (2) tighten auto and other mobile source emission standards; (3) require reformulated and alternative fuels in the most polluted areas; (4) revise the air toxics section, establishing a new program of technology-based standards and addressing the problem of sudden, catastrophic releases of toxics; (5) establish an acid rain control program, with a marketable allowance scheme to provide flexibility in implementation; (6) require a state-run permit program for the operation of major sources of air pollutants; (7) implement the Montreal Protocol to phase out most ozone-depleting chemicals; and (8) update the enforcement provisions so that they parallel those in other pollution control acts, including authority for EPA to assess administrative penalties. The 1990 amendments also authorized appropriations for clean air programs through FY1998. The Act has not been reauthorized since then. House rules require enactment of an authorization before an appropriation bill can be considered; but this requirement can be waived and frequently has been. Thus, while authorization of appropriations in the Clean Air Act (and most other environmental statutes) have expired, programs have continued and have been funded. The Act’s other legal authorities, to issue and enforce regulations, are, for the most part, permanent and are not affected by the lack of authorization. The remainder of this report describes major programs required by the Act, with an emphasis on the changes established by the 1990 amendments. National Ambient Air Quality Standards In section 109, the Act requires EPA to establish National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for air pollutants that endanger public health or welfare, in the Administrator’s judgment, and whose presence in ambient air results from numerous or diverse sources. The NAAQS must be designed to protect public health and welfare with an adequate margin of safety. Using this authority, EPA has promulgated NAAQS for six air pollutants: sulfur dioxide (SO2), particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), carbon monoxide (CO), ozone,1 and lead. The Act requires EPA to review the scientific data upon which the standards are based, and revise the standards, if necessary, every five years. More often than not, however, EPA has taken more than five years in reviewing and revising the standards. Originally, the Act required that the NAAQS be attained by 1977 at the latest, but the states experienced widespread difficulty in complying with these deadlines. As a result, the deadlines have been extended several times. Under the 1990 amendments, most areas not in attainment with NAAQS must meet special compliance schedules, staggered according to the severity of an area’s air pollution 1 Unlike the other NAAQS pollutants, ozone is not directly emitted, but rather is formed in the atmosphere by the interaction of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) in the presence of sunlight. The control of ozone is, thus, based on regulating emissions of VOCs and NOx. CRS-4 problem. The amendments also established specific requirements for each nonattainment category, as described below. State Implementation Plans While the Act authorizes the EPA to set NAAQS, the states are responsible for establishing procedures to attain and maintain the standards. Under Section 110 of the Act, the states adopt plans, known as State Implementation Plans (SIPs), and submit them to EPA to ensure that they are adequate to meet statutory requirements. SIPs are based on emission inventories and computer models to determine whether air quality violations will occur. If these data show that standards would be exceeded, the state imposes additional controls on existing sources to ensure that emissions do not cause “exceedances” of the standards. Proposed new and modified sources must obtain state construction permits in which the applicant shows how the anticipated emissions will not exceed allowable limits. In nonattainment areas, emissions from new or modified sources must also be offset by reductions in emissions from existing sources. The 1990 amendments require EPA to impose sanctions in areas which fail to submit a SIP, fail to submit an adequate SIP, or fail to implement a SIP: unless the state corrects such failures, a 2-to-1 emissions offset for the construction of new polluting sources is imposed 18 months after notification to the state, and a ban on most new federal highway grants is imposed six months later. An additional ban on air quality grants is discretionary. Ultimately, a Federal Implementation Plan may be imposed if the state fails to submit or implement an adequate SIP. The amendments also require that, in nonattainment areas, no federal permits or financial assistance may be granted for activities that do not “conform” to a State Implementation Plan. This requirement can cause a temporary suspension in funding for most new highway and transit projects if an area fails to demonstrate that the emissions caused by such projects are consistent with attainment and maintenance of ambient air quality standards. Demonstrating conformity of transportation plans and SIPs is required in nonattainment areas whenever new plans are submitted. Nonattainment Requirements In a major departure from the prior law, the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments grouped most nonattainment areas into classifications based on the extent to which the NAAQS was exceeded, and established specific pollution controls and attainment dates for each classification. These requirements are described here as spelled out in Sections 181-193 of the Act.2 2 EPA modified the ozone standard, specified in the statute as 0.12 parts per million (ppm) averaged over a 1-hour period, to 0.08 ppm averaged over an 8-hour period, through regulations promulgated in July 1997. In April 2004, the agency promulgated an implementation rule for the new 8-hour standard. Under this rule, the 1-hour standard was revoked as of June 15, 2005, and areas that had not yet attained it were converted to new (continued...) CRS-5 Nonattainment areas are classified on the basis of a “design value,” which is derived from the pollutant concentration (in parts per million or micrograms per cubic meter) recorded by air quality monitoring devices. The design value for the 1hour ozone standard was the fourth highest hourly reading measured during the most recent three-year period. Using these design values, the Act created five classes of ozone nonattainment, as shown in Table 2. Only Los Angeles fell into the “extreme” class, but 97 other areas were classified in one of the other four ozone categories. A simpler classification system established moderate and serious nonattainment areas for carbon monoxide and particulate matter with correspondingly more stringent control requirements for the more polluted class. Table 2. Ozone Nonattainment Classifications Class Marginal Moderate Serious Severe Extreme Deadline 1993 1996 1999 2005-2007* 2010 Areas** 42 areas 32 areas 14 areas 9 areas 1 area Design Value 0.121 ppm0.138 ppm 0.138 ppm0.160 ppm 0.160 ppm0.180 ppm 0.180 ppm0.280 ppm >0.280 ppm *Areas with a 1988 design value between 0.190 and 0.280 ppm have 17 years to attain; others have 15 years. ** Number of areas in each category as of the date of enactment. As shown in the table, the deadlines for attainment for ozone nonattainment areas stretched from 1993 to 2010, depending on the severity of the problem. (Under the 8-hour ozone standard, which replaced the 1-hour standard in 2004, these deadlines are changed to 2007 to 2021.) For carbon monoxide, the attainment date for moderate areas was December 31, 1995, and for serious areas, December 31, 2000. For particulate matter, the deadline for areas designated moderate nonattainment as of 1990 was December 31, 1994; for those areas subsequently designated as moderate, the deadline is six years after designation. For serious areas, the respective deadlines are December 31, 2001 or 10 years after designation. Requirements for Ozone Nonattainment Areas. Although areas with more severe air pollution problems have a longer time to meet the standards, more stringent control requirements are imposed in areas with worse pollution. A 2 (...continued) classifications depending on their 8-hour concentration of ozone. As a result of court challenges, the ramifications of this conversion to the 8-hour standard are still unfolding, but in general the former 1-hour nonattainment areas remain subject to the controls specified for their 1-hour category. New nonattainment areas that did not exceed the 1-hour standard, but do violate the 8-hour standard, in general are subject to more flexible controls under Subpart 1 (Sections 171-179B) of the act. The standard was revised again in March 2008, to 0.075 ppm averaged over 8 hours. Nonattainment areas for the 2008 revision are expected to be designated in 2010. CRS-6 summary of the primary ozone control requirements for each nonattainment category follows. Marginal Areas ! Inventory emissions sources (to be updated every three years). ! Require 1.1 to 1 offsets (i.e., new major emission sources of volatile organic compounds [VOCs] must reduce VOC emissions from existing facilities in the area by 10% more than the emissions of the new facility). ! Impose reasonably available control technology (RACT) on all major sources emitting more than 100 tons per year for the nine industrial categories where EPA had already issued control technique guidelines describing RACT prior to 1990. Moderate Areas ! Meet all requirements for marginal areas. ! Impose a 15% reduction in VOC emissions in six years. ! Adopt a basic vehicle inspection and maintenance program. ! Impose RACT on all major sources emitting more than 100 tons per year for all additional industrial categories where EPA will issue control technique guidelines describing RACT. ! Require vapor recovery at gas stations selling more than 10,000 gallons per month. ! Require 1.15 to 1 offsets. Serious Areas ! Meet all requirements for moderate areas. ! Reduce definition of a major source of VOCs from emissions of 100 tons per year to 50 tons per year for the purpose of imposing RACT. ! Reduce VOCs 3% annually for years 7 to 9 after the 15% reduction already required by year 6. ! Improve monitoring. ! Adopt an enhanced vehicle inspection and maintenance program. ! Require fleet vehicles to use clean alternative fuels. CRS-7 ! Adopt transportation control measures if the number of vehicle miles traveled in the area is greater than expected. ! Require 1.2 to 1 offsets. ! Adopt contingency measures if the area does not meet required VOC reductions. Severe Areas ! Meet all requirements for serious areas. ! Reduce definition of a major source of VOCs from emissions of 50 tons per year to 25 tons per year for the purpose of imposing RACT. ! Adopt specified transportation control measures. ! Implement a reformulated gasoline program. ! Require 1.3 to 1 offsets. ! Impose $5,000 per ton penalties on major sources if the area does not meet required reductions. Extreme Areas ! Meet all requirements for severe areas. ! Reduce definition of a major source of VOCs from emissions of 25 tons per year to 10 tons per year for the purpose of imposing RACT. ! Require clean fuels or advanced control technology for boilers emitting more than 25 tons per year of NOx. ! Require 1.5 to 1 offsets. As noted, EPA promulgated a new, 8-hour ozone standard in July 1997. Following extensive court challenges, the agency designated nonattainment areas for the new standard on April 30, 2004. State Implementation Plans were required to be submitted in 2007. Requirements for Carbon Monoxide Nonattainment Areas. As with ozone nonattainment areas, carbon monoxide (CO) nonattainment areas are subjected to specified control requirements, with more stringent requirements in Serious nonattainment areas. A summary of the primary CO control requirements for each nonattainment category follows. Moderate Areas ! Conduct an inventory of emissions sources. CRS-8 ! Forecast total vehicle miles traveled in the area. ! Adopt an enhanced vehicle inspection and maintenance program. ! Demonstrate annual improvements sufficient to attain the standard. Serious Areas ! Adopt specified transportation control measures. ! Implement an oxygenated fuels program for all vehicles in the area. ! Reduce definition of a major source of CO from emissions of 100 tons per year to 50 tons per year if stationary sources contribute significantly to the CO problem. Serious areas failing to attain the standard by the deadline have to revise their SIP and demonstrate reductions of 5% per year until the standard is attained. Requirements for Particulate Nonattainment Areas. Particulate (PM10) nonattainment areas are also subject to specified control requirements. These are: Moderate Areas ! Require permits for new and modified major stationary sources of PM10. ! Impose reasonably available control measures (RACM). Serious Areas ! Impose best available control measures (BACM). ! Reduce definition of a major source of PM10 from 100 tons per year to 70 tons per year. In July 1997, EPA promulgated new standards for fine particulates (PM2.5). The PM2.5 standards were also subject to court challenges. The absence of a monitoring network capable of measuring the pollutant delayed implementation as well. Nonattainment areas for PM2.5 were designated on April 14, 2005. States had three years subsequent to designation to submit State Implementation Plans. Revisions to the NAAQS promulgated in October 2006 strengthened the PM2.5 standard. Emission Standards for Mobile Sources Title II of the Clean Air Act has required emission standards for automobiles since 1968. The 1990 amendments significantly tightened these standards: for cars, the hydrocarbon standard was reduced by 40% and the nitrogen oxides (NOx) CRS-9 standard by 50%. The standards — referred to as “Tier 1” standards — were phased in over the 1994-1996 model years. The amendments envisioned a further set of reductions (“Tier 2” standards), but not before model year 2004. For Tier 2 standards to be promulgated, the agency was first required to report to Congress concerning the need for further emission reductions, the availability of technology to achieve such reductions, and the costeffectiveness of such controls compared to other means of attaining air quality standards. EPA submitted this report to Congress in August 1998, concluding that further emission reductions were needed and that technology to achieve such reductions was available and cost-effective. Tier 2 standards, requiring emission reductions of 77% to 95% from cars and light trucks were promulgated in February 2000, and were phased in over the 2004-2009 model years. To facilitate the use of more effective emission controls, the standards also require a more than 90% reduction in the sulfur content of gasoline, beginning in 2004. The 1990 amendments also required that oxygenated gasoline, designed to reduce emissions of carbon monoxide, be sold in the worst CO nonattainment areas and that “reformulated” gasoline (RFG), designed to reduce emissions of volatile organic compounds and toxic air pollutants, be sold in the nine worst ozone nonattainment areas (Los Angeles, San Diego, Houston, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, Hartford, Chicago, and Milwaukee); metropolitan Washington, D.C., and four areas in California were added to the mandatory list later. Other ozone nonattainment areas can opt in to the RFG program; as of 2006, additional areas in 11 states had done so. The fuels provisions were modified by the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPACT), removing the requirement that RFG contain oxygenates. Instead, EPACT required the use of increasing amounts of renewable fuel, most likely to be ethanol, in motor fuels, beginning in 2006. The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 further strengthened the renewable fuel requirements. Use of alternative fuels and development of cleaner engines was also to be stimulated by the Clean-Fuel Fleet Program. In all of the most seriously polluted ozone and CO nonattainment areas, centrally fueled fleets of 10 or more passenger cars and light-duty trucks must purchase at least 30% clean-fuel vehicles when they add new vehicles to existing fleets, starting in 1999. (The Act originally required the program to begin in 1998, but the start was delayed by a year.) The percentage rose to 50% in 2000 and 70% in 2001. Heavy-duty fleets are required to purchase at least 50% clean-fuel vehicles annually. A clean fuel vehicle is one which meets Low Emission Vehicle (LEV) standards and operates on reformulated gasoline, reformulated diesel, methanol, ethanol, natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas, hydrogen, or electricity. In addition to the above program, California’s Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) program also is intended to promote the development of alternative fuels and vehicles. Section 209(b) of the Clean Air Act grants California the authority to develop its own vehicle emissions standards if those standards are at least as stringent as the federal standards. In addition to setting more stringent standards for all vehicles, California used this authority to establish a program requiring auto CRS-10 manufacturers to sell ZEVs (electric or hydrogen fuel cell vehicles) in the state beginning in 2003. This program has been substantially modified since it was enacted, and now allows credit for hybrid and partial ZEV vehicles in addition to true ZEVs, but it has served as an incubator for lower emission technologies since its adoption. Section 177 of the Act allows other states to adopt California’s stricter standards: at least ten states (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington) have already adopted them or are in the process of doing so. The 1990 amendments also imposed tighter requirements on certification (an auto’s useful life is defined as 100,000 miles instead of the earlier 50,000 miles), on emissions allowed during refueling, on low temperature CO emissions, on in-use performance over time, and on warranties for the most expensive emission control components (8 years/80,000 miles for the catalytic converter, electronic emissions control unit, and onboard emissions diagnostic unit). Regulations were also extended to include nonroad fuels and engines. Standards for trucks and buses using diesel engines were also strengthened. The 1990 amendments required new urban buses to reduce emissions of diesel particulates 92% by 1996, and all other heavy-duty diesel engines to achieve an 83% reduction by the same year. NOx emissions must also be reduced, 33% by 1998. Authority to further strengthen these standards led to promulgation in January 2001 of new emission standards requiring a further 90%-95% reduction in emissions phased in over the 2007-2010 model years, and a reduction of 97% in the allowable amount of sulfur in highway diesel fuel. These regulations were followed in May 2004 by similar requirements for nonroad diesel equipment, which will be phased in between 2007 and 2015. Hazardous Air Pollutants3 Completely rewritten by the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, Section 112 of the Act establishes programs for protecting public health and the environment from exposure to toxic air pollutants. As revised by the 1990 amendments, the section contains four major provisions: Maximum Achievable Control Technology (MACT) requirements; health-based standards; standards for stationary “area sources” (small, but numerous sources, such as gas stations or dry cleaners, that collectively emit significant quantities of hazardous pollutants); and requirements for the prevention of catastrophic releases. First, EPA is to establish technology-based emission standards, called MACT standards, for sources of 188 pollutants listed in the legislation, and to specify categories of sources subject to the emission standards.4 EPA is to revise the 3 This section of the report was written by Linda-Jo Schierow, Specialist in Environmental Policy. 4 The 1990 amendments specified 189 pollutants, but Public Law 102-187, enacted on December 4, 1991, deleted hydrogen sulfide from the list of toxic pollutants, leaving only 188. CRS-11 standards periodically (at least every eight years). EPA can, on its initiative or in response to a petition, add or delete substances or source categories from the lists. Section 112 establishes a presumption in favor of regulation for the designated chemicals; it requires regulation of a designated pollutant unless EPA or a petitioner is able to show “that there is adequate data on the health and environmental effects of the substance to determine that emissions, ambient concentrations, bioaccumulation or deposition of the substance may not reasonably be anticipated to cause any adverse effects to human health or adverse environmental effects.” EPA is required to set standards for sources of the listed pollutants that achieve “the maximum degree of reduction in emissions” taking into account cost and other non-air-quality factors. These MACT standards for new sources “shall not be less stringent than the most stringent emissions level that is achieved in practice by the best controlled similar source.” The standards for existing sources may be less stringent than those for new sources, but must be no less stringent than the emission limitations achieved by either the best performing 12% of existing sources (if there are more than 30 such sources in the category or subcategory) or the best performing 5 similar sources (if there are fewer than 30). Existing sources are given three years following promulgation of standards to achieve compliance, with a possible one-year extension; additional extensions may be available for special circumstances or for certain categories of sources. Existing sources that achieve voluntary early emissions reductions will receive a six-year extension for compliance with MACT. The second major provision of Section 112 directs EPA to set health-based standards to address situations in which a significant residual risk of adverse health effects or a threat of adverse environmental effects remains after installation of MACT. This provision requires that EPA, after consultation with the Surgeon General of the United States, submit a report to Congress on the public health significance of residual risks, and recommend legislation regarding such risks. If Congress does not legislate in response to EPA’s recommendations, then EPA is required to issue standards for categories of sources of hazardous air pollutants as necessary to protect the public health with an ample margin of safety or to prevent an adverse environmental effect. A residual risk standard is required for any source emitting a cancer-causing pollutant that poses an added risk to the most exposed person of more than one-in-a-million. Residual risk standards are due eight years after promulgation of MACT for the affected source category. Existing sources have 90 days to comply with a residual risk standard, with a possible two-year extension. In general, residual risk standards do not apply to area sources. The law directed EPA to contract with the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) for a study of risk assessment methodology, and created a Risk Assessment and Management Commission to investigate and report on policy implications and appropriate uses of risk assessment and risk management. In 1994 NAS published its report, Science and Judgment in Risk Assessment. The Commission study, Framework for Environmental Health Risk Management, was released in 1997. Third, in addition to the technology-based and health-based programs for major sources of hazardous air pollution, EPA is to establish standards for stationary “area sources” determined to present a threat of adverse effects to human health or the CRS-12 environment. The provision requires EPA to regulate the stationary area sources responsible for 90% of the emissions of the 30 hazardous air pollutants that present the greatest risk to public health in the largest number of urban areas. In setting the standard, EPA can impose less stringent “generally available” control technologies, rather than MACT. Finally, Section 112 addresses prevention of sudden, catastrophic releases of air toxics by establishing an independent Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board. The Board is responsible for investigating accidents involving releases of hazardous substances, conducting studies, and preparing reports on the handling of toxic materials and measures to reduce the risk of accidents. EPA is also directed to issue prevention, detection, and correction requirements for catastrophic releases of air toxics by major sources. Section 112(r) requires owners and operators to prepare risk management plans including hazard assessments, measures to prevent releases, and a response program. New Source Performance Standards5 Section 111 of the Act requires EPA to establish nationally uniform, technology-based standards (called New Source Performance Standards, or NSPS) for categories of new industrial facilities. These standards accomplish two goals: first, they establish a consistent baseline for pollution control that competing firms must meet, and thereby remove any incentive for states or communities to weaken air pollution standards in order to attract polluting industry; and second, they preserve clean air to accommodate future growth, as well as for its own benefits. NSPS establish maximum emission levels for new major stationary sources — powerplants, steel mills, and smelters, for example — with the emission levels determined by the best “adequately demonstrated” continuous control technology available, taking costs into account. EPA must regularly revise and update NSPS applicable to designated sources as new technology becomes available, since the goal is to prevent new pollution problems from developing and to force the installation of new control technology. The standards also apply to modifications of existing facilities, through a process called New Source Review (NSR). The law’s ambiguity regarding what constitutes a modification (subject to NSR) as opposed to routine maintenance of a facility has led to litigation, with EPA proposing in recent years to modify its interpretation of the requirements of this section. Solid Waste Incinerators Prior to 1990, solid waste incinerators, which emit a wide range of pollutants, were subject to varying degrees of state and federal regulation depending on their size, age, and the type of waste burned. In a new Section 129, the 1990 amendments 5 This section of the report was written by Larry B. Parker, Specialist in Energy and Environmental Policy. CRS-13 established more consistent federal requirements specifying that emissions of 10 categories of pollutants be regulated at new and existing incinerators burning municipal solid waste, medical waste, and commercial and industrial waste. The amendments also established emissions monitoring and operator training requirements. Prevention of Significant Deterioration / Regional Haze6 Sections 160-169 of the act establish requirements for the prevention of significant deterioration of air quality (PSD). The PSD program reflects the principle that areas where air quality is better than that required by NAAQS should be protected from significant new air pollution even if NAAQS would not be violated. The Act divides clean air areas into three classes, and specifies the increments of SO2 and particulate pollution allowed in each. Class I areas include international and national parks, wilderness and other pristine areas; allowable increments of new pollution are very small. Class II areas include all attainment and not classifiable areas, not designated as Class I; allowable increments of new pollution are modest. Class III represents selected areas that states may designate for development; allowable increments of new pollution are large (but not exceeding NAAQS). Through an elaborate hearing and review process, a state can have regions redesignated from Class II to Class III (although none have yet been so redesignated). While the 1977 amendments only stipulated PSD standards for two pollutants, SO2 and particulates, EPA is supposed to establish standards for other criteria pollutants. Thus far, only one of the other four (NO2) has been addressed: the agency promulgated standards for NO2 in 1988. Newly constructed polluting sources in PSD areas must install best available control technology (BACT) that may be more strict than that required by NSPS. The justifications of the policy are that it protects air quality, provides an added margin of health protection, preserves clean air for future development, and prevents firms from gaining a competitive edge by “shopping” for clean air to pollute. In Sections 169A and B, the Act also sets a national goal of preventing and remedying impairment of visibility in national parks and wilderness areas, and requires EPA to promulgate regulations to assure reasonable progress toward that goal. In the 1990 Amendments, Congress strengthened these provisions, which had not been implemented. The amendments required EPA to establish a Grand Canyon Visibility Transport Commission, composed of Governors from each state in the affected region, an EPA designee, and a representative of each of the national parks or wilderness areas in the region. Other visibility transport commissions can be established upon EPA’s discretion or upon petition from at least two states. Within 18 months of receiving a report from one of these commissions, EPA is required to promulgate regulations 6 This section of the report was written by Larry B. Parker, Specialist in Energy and Environmental Policy and James E. McCarthy, Specialist in Environmental Policy. CRS-14 to assure reasonable progress toward the visibility goal, including requirements that states update their State Implementation Plans to contain emission limits, schedules of compliance, and other measures necessary to make reasonable progress. Specifically mentioned is a requirement that states impose Best Available Retrofit Technology on existing sources of emissions impairing visibility. The Grand Canyon Commission delivered a set of recommendations to EPA in June 1996, and the agency subsequently promulgated a “regional haze” program applicable to all 50 states under this authority. Acid Deposition Control7 The Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 added an acid deposition control program (Title IV) to the Act. It sets goals for the year 2000 of reducing annual SO2 emissions by 10 million tons from 1980 levels and reducing annual NOx emissions by 2 million tons, also from 1980 levels. The SO2 reductions are imposed in two steps. Under Phase 1, owners/operators of 111 electric generating facilities listed in the law that are larger than 100 megawatts had to meet tonnage emission limitations by January 1, 1995. This would reduce SO2 emission by about 3.5 million tons. Phase 2 included facilities larger than 75 megawatts, with a deadline of January 1, 2000. So far, compliance has been 100%. To introduce some flexibility in the distribution and timing of reductions, the Act creates a comprehensive permit and emissions allowance system. An allowance is a limited authorization to emit a ton of SO2. Issued by EPA, the allowances would be allocated to Phase 1 and Phase 2 units in accordance with baseline emissions estimates. Powerplants which commence operation after November 15, 1990 would not receive any allowances. These new units would have to obtain allowances (offsets) from holders of existing allowances. Allowances may be traded nationally during either phase. The law also permits industrial sources and powerplants to sell allowances to utility systems under regulations to be developed by EPA. Allowances may be banked by a utility for future use or sale. The Act provided for two types of sales to improve the liquidity of the allowance system and to ensure the availability of allowances for utilities and independent power producers who need them. First, a special reserve fund consisting of 2.8% of Phase 1 and Phase 2 allowance allocations has been set aside for sale. Allowances from this fund (25,000 annually from 1993-1999 and 50,000 thereafter) are sold at a fixed price of $1,500 an allowance. Independent power producers have guaranteed rights to these allowances under certain conditions. Second, an annual, open auction sold allowances (150,000 from 1993-1995, and 250,000 from 19961999) with no minimum price. Utilities with excess allowances may have them auctioned off at this auction, and any person may buy allowances. 7 This section of the report was written by Larry B. Parker, Specialist in Energy and Environmental Policy. CRS-15 The Act essentially caps SO2 emissions at individual existing sources through a tonnage limitation, and at future plants through the allowance system. First, emissions from most existing sources are capped at a specified emission rate times an historic baseline level. Second, for plants commencing operation after November 15, 1990, emissions must be completely offset with additional reductions at existing facilities beginning after Phase 2 compliance. However, as noted above, the law provides some allowances to future powerplants which meet certain criteria. The utility SO2 emission cap is set at 8.9 million tons, with some exceptions. The Act provides that if an affected unit does not have sufficient allowances to cover its emissions, it is subject to an excess emission penalty of $2,000 per ton of SO2 and required to reduce an additional ton of SO2 the next year for each ton of excess pollutant emitted. The Act also requires EPA to inventory industrial emissions of SO2 and to report every five years, beginning in 1995. If the inventory shows that industrial emissions may reach levels above 5.60 million tons per year, then EPA is to take action under the Act to ensure that the 5.60 million ton cap is not exceeded. The Act requires EPA to set specific NOx emission rate limitations — 0.45 lb. per million Btu for tangentially-fired boilers and 0.50 lb. per million Btu for wallfired boilers — unless those rates can not be achieved by low-NOx burner technology. Tangentially and wall-fired boilers affected by Phase 1 SO2 controls must also meet NOx requirements. EPA was to set emission limitations for other types of boilers by 1997 based on low-NOx burner costs, which EPA did. In addition, EPA was to propose and promulgate a revised new source performance standard for NOx from fossil fuel steam generating units, which EPA also did, in 1998. Permits8 The Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 added a Title V to the Act which requires states to administer a comprehensive permit program for the operation of sources emitting air pollutants. These requirements are modeled after similar provisions in the Clean Water Act. Previously, the Clean Air Act contained limited provision for permits, requiring only new or modified major stationary sources to obtain construction permits (under Section 165 of the Act). Sources subject to the permit requirements generally include major sources that emit or have the potential to emit 100 tons per year of any regulated pollutant, plus stationary and area sources that emit or have potential to emit lesser specified amounts of hazardous air pollutants. However, in nonattainment areas, the permit requirements also include sources which emit as little as 50, 25, or 10 tons per year of VOCs, depending on the severity of the region’s nonattainment status (serious, severe, or extreme). 8 This section of the report was written by Claudia Copeland, Specialist in Environmental Policy. CRS-16 States were required to develop permit programs and to submit those programs for EPA approval by November 15, 1993. EPA had one year to approve or disapprove a state’s submission in whole or in part. After the effective date of a state plan, sources had 12 months to submit an actual permit application. States are to collect annual fees from sources sufficient to cover the “reasonable costs” of administering the permit program, with revenues to be used to support the agency’s air pollution control program. The fee must be at least $25 per ton of regulated pollutants (excluding carbon monoxide). Permitting authorities have discretion not to collect fees on emissions in excess of 4,000 tons per year and may collect other fee amounts, if appropriate. The permit states how much of which air pollutants a source is allowed to emit. As a part of the permit process, a source must prepare a compliance plan and certify compliance. The term of permits is limited to no more than five years; sources are required to renew permits at that time. State permit authorities must notify contiguous states of permit applications that may affect them; the application and any comments of contiguous states must be forwarded to EPA for review. EPA can veto a permit; however, this authority is essentially limited to major permit changes. EPA review need not include permits which simply codify elements of a state’s overall clean air plan, and EPA has discretion to not review permits for small sources. Holding a permit to some extent shields a source from enforcement actions: the Act provides that a source cannot be held in violation if it is complying with explicit requirements addressed in a permit, or if the state finds that certain provisions do not apply to that source. Enforcement Section 113 of the Act, which was also strengthened by the 1990 amendments, covers enforcement. The section establishes federal authority to issue agency and court orders requiring compliance and to impose penalties for violations of Act requirements. Section 114 authorizes EPA to require sources to submit reports, monitor emissions, and certify compliance with the Act’s requirements, and authorizes EPA personnel to conduct inspections. Like most federal environmental statutes, the Clean Air Act is enforced primarily by states or local governments; they issue most permits, monitor compliance, and conduct the majority of inspections. The federal government functions as a backstop, with authority to review state actions. The agency may act independently or may file its own enforcement action in cases where it concludes that a state’s response was inadequate. The Act also provides for citizen suits both against persons (including corporations or government agencies) alleged to have violated emissions standards or permit requirements, and against EPA in cases where the Administrator has failed to perform an action that is not discretionary under the Act. Citizen groups have often used the latter provision to compel the Administrator to promulgate regulations required by the statute. CRS-17 The 1990 Amendments elevated penalties for some knowing violations from misdemeanors to felonies; removed the ability of a source to avoid an enforcement order or civil penalty by ceasing a violation within 60 days of notice; gave authority to EPA to assess administrative penalties; and authorized $10,000 awards to persons supplying information leading to convictions under the Act. Stratospheric Ozone Protection9 Title VI of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments represents the United States’ primary response on the domestic front to the ozone depletion issue. It also implements the U.S. international responsibilities under the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (and its amendments). Indeed, Section 606(a)(3) provides that the Environmental Protection Agency shall adjust phase-out schedules for ozone-depleting substances in accordance with any future changes in Montreal Protocol schedules. As a result, the phase-out schedules contained in Title VI for various ozone-depleting compounds have now been superseded by subsequent amendments to the Montreal Protocol. Since passage of Title VI, depleting substances such as CFCs, methyl chloroform, carbon tetrachloride, and halons (referred to as Class 1 substances) have been phased out by industrial countries, including the United States. New uses of hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) (called Class 2 substances under Title VI) are banned beginning January 1, 2015, unless the HCFCs are recycled, used as a feedstock, or used as a refrigerant for appliances manufactured prior to January 1, 2020. Production of HCFCs is to be frozen January 1, 2015 and phased out by January 1, 2030. Exemptions consistent with the Montreal Protocol are allowed. The EPA is required to add any substance with an ozone depletion potential (ODP) of 0.2 or greater to the list of Class 1 substances and set a phase-out schedule of no more than seven years. For example, methyl bromide (ODP estimated by EPA at 0.7) was added to the list in December 1993, requiring its phaseout by January 1, 2001; this decision was altered by Congress in 1998 to harmonize the U.S. methyl bromide phase-out schedule with the 2005 deadline set by the parties to the Montreal Protocol in 1997. Also, EPA is required to add any substance that is known or may be reasonably anticipated to harm the stratosphere to the list of Class 2 substances and set a phase-out schedule of no more than ten years. Title VI contains several implementing strategies to avoid releases of ozonedepleting chemicals to the atmosphere, including (1) for Class 1 substances used as refrigerant — lowest achievable level of use and emissions, maximum recycling, and safe disposal required by July 1, 1992; (2) for servicing or disposing refrigeration equipment containing Class 1 and 2 substances — venting banned as of July 1, 1992; (3) for motor vehicle air conditioners containing Class 1 or 2 substances — recycling required by January 1, 1992 (smaller shops by January 1, 1993); (4) sale of small containers of class 1 and 2 substances — banned within two years of enactment; and (5) nonessential products — banned within two years of enactment. 9 This section of the report was written by Larry B. Parker, Specialist in Energy and Environmental Policy. CRS-18 Selected References U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards. Air Trends. Research Triangle Park, NC. Compiled annually, and available at [http://www.epa.gov/airtrends/]. Martineau, Robert J., Jr. and Novello, David P. (eds.). The Clean Air Act Handbook. 2nd edition. Chicago: American Bar Association, 2004. 728 p. For recent issues, see CRS Report RL33776, Clean Air Act Issues in the 110th Congress: Implementation and Oversight. A similar report discussing clean air issues in the 111th Congress is forthcoming. Table 3. Major U.S. Code Sections of the Clean Air Act10 (codified generally as 42 U.S.C. 7401-7671) Clean Air Act, as amended 42 U.S.C. Section Title Subchapter I - Programs and Activities Part A - Air Quality Emissions and Limitations 7401 Findings, purpose Sec. 101 7402 Cooperative activities Sec. 102 7403 Research, investigation, training Sec. 103 7404 Research relating to fuels and vehicles Sec. 104 7405 Grants for air pollution planning and control programs Sec. 105 7406 Interstate air quality agencies; program cost limitations Sec. 106 7407 Air quality control regions Sec. 107 7408 Air quality criteria and control techniques Sec. 108 7409 National primary and secondary air quality standards Sec. 109 7410 SIPs for national primary and secondary air quality standards Sec. 110 7411 Standards of performance for new stationary sources Sec. 111 7412 Hazardous air pollutants Sec. 112 7413 Federal enforcement Sec. 113 10 NOTE: This tables shows only the major U.S. Code sections. For more detail and to determine when a section was added, the reader should consult the official printed version of the U.S. Code. CRS-19 Clean Air Act, as amended 42 U.S.C. Section Title 7414 Recordkeeping, inspections, monitoring, and entry Sec. 114 7415 International air pollution Sec. 115 7416 Retention of state authority Sec. 116 7417 Advisory committees Sec. 117 7418 Control of pollution from federal facilities Sec. 118 7419 Primary nonferrous smelter orders Sec. 119 7420 Noncompliance penalty Sec. 120 7421 Consultation Sec. 121 7422 Listing of certain unregulated pollutants Sec. 122 7423 Stack heights Sec. 123 7424 Assurance of adequacy of state plans Sec. 124 7425 Measures to prevent economic disruption/unemployment Sec. 125 7426 Interstate pollution abatement Sec. 126 7427 Public notification Sec. 127 7428 State boards Sec. 128 7429 Solid waste combustion Sec. 129 7430 Emission factors Sec. 130 7431 Land use authority Sec. 131 Part B - Ozone Protection (repealed — new provisions related to stratospheric ozone protection are found at 42 U.S.C. 7671 et seq., below) Part C - Prevention of Significant Deterioration of Air Quality Subpart I - Clean Air 7470 Congressional declaration of purpose Sec. 160 7471 Plan requirements Sec. 161 7472 Initial classifications Sec. 162 7473 Increments and ceilings Sec. 163 7474 Area redesignation Sec. 164 7475 Preconstruction requirements Sec. 165 7476 Other pollutants Sec. 166 7477 Enforcement Sec. 167 7478 Period before plan approval Sec. 168 CRS-20 Clean Air Act, as amended 42 U.S.C. Section Title 7479 Definitions Subpart II - Visibility Protection 7491 Visibility protection for federal class I areas Sec. 169A 7492 Visibility Sec. 169B Part D - Plan Requirements for Nonattainment Areas Subpart 1 - Nonattainment Areas in General 7501 Definitions Sec. 171 7502 Nonattainment plan provisions in general Sec. 172 7503 Permit requirements Sec. 173 7504 Planning procedures Sec. 174 7505 Environmental Protection Agency grants Sec. 175 7505a Maintenance plans 7506 Limitations on certain federal assistance 7506a Interstate transport commissions 7507 New motor vehicle emission standards in nonattainment areas Sec. 177 7508 Guidance documents Sec. 178 7509 Sanctions and consequences of failure to attain Sec. 179 7509a International border areas Subpart 2 - Additional Provisions for Ozone Nonattainment Areas 7511 Classifications and attainment dates Sec. 181 7511a Plan submissions and requirements Sec. 182 7511b Federal ozone measures Sec. 183 7511c Control of interstate ozone air pollution Sec. 184 7511d Enforcement for Severe and Extreme ozone nonattainment areas for failure to attain Sec. 185 7511e Transitional areas Sec. 185A 7511f NOx and VOC study Sec. 185B Subpart 3 - Additional Provisions for Carbon Monoxide Nonattainment Areas 7512 Classification and attainment dates Sec. 169 Sec. 175A Sec. 176 Sec. 176A Sec. 179B Sec. 186 CRS-21 Clean Air Act, as amended 42 U.S.C. Section Title 7512a Plan submissions and requirements Subpart 4 - Additional Provisions for Particulate Matter Nonattainment Areas 7513 Classifications and attainment dates Sec. 188 7513a Plan provisions and schedules for plan submissions Sec. 189 7513b Issuance of RACM and BACM guidance Sec. 190 Subpart 5 - Additional Provisions for Areas Designated Nonattainment for Sulfur Oxides, Nitrogen Dioxide, or Lead 7514 Plan submission deadlines Sec. 191 7514a Attainment dates Sec. 192 Subpart 6 - Savings Provisions 7515 General savings clause Subchapter II - Emission Standards for Moving Sources Part A - Motor Vehicle Emission and Fuel Standards 7521 Emission standards for new motor vehicles or engines Sec. 202 7522 Prohibited acts Sec. 203 7523 Actions to restrain violations Sec. 204 7524 Civil penalties Sec. 205 7525 Motor vehicle and engines testing and certification Sec. 206 7541 Compliance by vehicles and engines in actual use Sec. 207 7542 Information collection Sec. 208 7543 State standards Sec. 209 7544 State grants Sec. 210 7545 Regulation of fuels Sec. 211 7547 Nonroad engines and vehicles Sec. 213 7548 Study of particulate emissions from motor vehicles Sec. 214 7549 High altitude performance adjustments Sec. 215 7550 Definitions Sec. 216 Sec. 187 Sec. 193 CRS-22 Clean Air Act, as amended 42 U.S.C. Section Title 7551 Study and report on fuel consumption of CAAA of 1977 Sec. 203 7552 Motor vehicle compliance program fees Sec. 217 7553 Prohibition on production of engines requiring leaded gasoline Sec. 218 7554 Urban bus standards Sec. 219 Part B - Aircraft Emissions Standards 7571 Establishment of standards Sec. 231 7572 Enforcement of standards Sec. 232 7573 State standards and controls Sec. 233 7574 Definitions Sec. 234 Part C - Clean Fuel Vehicles 7581 Definitions Sec. 241 7582 Requirements applicable to clean-fuel vehicles Sec. 242 7583 Standards for light-duty clean-fuel vehicles Sec. 243 7584 Administration and enforcement as per California standards Sec. 244 7585 Standards for heavy-duty clean-fuel vehicles Sec. 245 7586 Centrally fueled fleets Sec. 246 7587 Vehicle conversions Sec. 247 7588 Federal agency fleets Sec. 248 7589 California pilot test program Sec. 249 7590 General provisions Sec. 250 Subchapter III - General Provisions 7601 Administration Sec. 301 7602 Definitions Sec. 302 7603 Emergency powers Sec. 303 7604 Citizen suits Sec. 304 7605 Representation in litigation Sec. 305 7606 Federal procurement Sec. 306 7607 Administrative proceedings and judicial review Sec. 307 CRS-23 Clean Air Act, as amended 42 U.S.C. Section Title 7608 Mandatory licensing Sec. 308 7609 Policy review Sec. 309 7610 Other authority Sec. 310 7611 Records and audits Sec. 311 7612 Economic impact analyses Sec. 312 7614 Labor standards Sec. 314 7615 Separability Sec. 315 7616 Sewage treatment plants Sec. 316 7617 Economic impact assessment Sec. 317 7619 Air quality monitoring Sec. 319 7620 Standardized air quality modeling Sec. 320 7621 Employment effects Sec. 321 7622 Employee protection Sec. 322 7624 Cost of vapor recovery equipment Sec. 323 7625 Vapor recovery for small business marketers of petroleum products Sec. 324 7625-1 Exemptions for certain territories Sec. 325 7625a Statutory construction Sec. 326 7626 Authorization of appropriations Sec. 327 7627 Air pollution from Outer Continental Shelf activities Sec. 328 Subchapter IV-A Acid Deposition Control 7651 Findings and purposes Sec. 401 7651a Definitions Sec. 402 7651b Sulfur dioxide allowance program for existing and new units Sec. 403 7651c Phase I sulfur dioxide requirements Sec. 404 7651d Phase II sulfur dioxide requirements Sec. 405 7651e Allowances for states with emissions rates at or below 0.80 lbs./mmBtu Sec. 406 7651f Nitrogen oxides emission reduction program Sec. 407 7651g Permits and compliance plans Sec. 408 7651h Repowered sources Sec. 409 7651i Election for additional sources Sec. 410 7651j Excess emissions penalty Sec. 411 CRS-24 Clean Air Act, as amended 42 U.S.C. Section Title 7651k Monitoring, reporting, and recordkeeping requirements Sec. 412 7651l General compliance with other provisions Sec. 413 7651m Enforcement Sec. 414 7651n Clean coal technology regulatory incentives Sec. 415 7651o Contingency guarantee, auctions, reserve Sec. 416 Subchapter V - Permits 7661 Definitions Sec. 501 7661a Permit programs Sec. 502 7661b Permit applications Sec. 503 7661c Permit requirements and conditions Sec. 504 7661d Notification to administrator and contiguous states Sec. 505 7661e Other authorities Sec. 506 7661f Small business stationary source technical and environmental compliance assistance program Sec. 507 Subchapter VI - Stratospheric Ozone Protection 7671 Definitions Sec. 601 7671a Listing of class I and class II substances Sec. 602 7671b Monitoring and reporting requirements Sec. 603 7671c Phase-out of production and consumption of class I substances Sec. 604 7671d Phase-out of production and consumption of class II substances Sec. 605 7671e Accelerated schedule Sec. 606 7671f Exchange authority Sec. 607 7671g National recycling and emission reduction program Sec. 608 7671h Servicing of motor vehicle air conditioners Sec. 609 7671i Nonessential products containing chlorofluorocarbons Sec. 610 7671j Labeling Sec. 611 7671k Safe alternatives policy Sec. 612 7671l Federal procurement Sec. 613 7671m Relationship to other laws Sec. 614 CRS-25 Clean Air Act, as amended 42 U.S.C. Section Title 7671n Authority of Administrator Sec. 615 7671o Transfers among parties to Montreal Protocol Sec. 616 7671p International cooperation Sec. 617 7671q Miscellaneous provisions Sec. 618 [29 U.S.C. 655] Chemical Process Safety Management [29 U.S.C. 1662e] Clean Air Employment Transition Assistance Sec. 304 of CAA of 1990 Sec.1101 of CAA of 1990 statute. Congressional Research Service Clean Air Act: A Summary of the Act and Its Major Requirements Contents Introduction ................................................................................................................................1 Overview ....................................................................................................................................1 National Ambient Air Quality Standards......................................................................................3 State Implementation Plans .........................................................................................................3 Nonattainment Requirements ......................................................................................................4 Requirements for Ozone Nonattainment Areas ......................................................................5 Requirements for Carbon Monoxide Nonattainment Areas ....................................................7 Requirements for Particulate Nonattainment Areas ................................................................7 Transported Air Pollution ............................................................................................................8 Emission Standards for Mobile Sources.......................................................................................8 Hazardous Air Pollutants........................................................................................................... 10 New Source Performance Standards .......................................................................................... 12 Solid Waste Incinerators............................................................................................................ 12 Prevention of Significant Deterioration / Regional Haze............................................................ 12 Acid Deposition Control ........................................................................................................... 13 Permits ..................................................................................................................................... 15 Enforcement ............................................................................................................................. 15 Stratospheric Ozone Protection ................................................................................................. 16 Selected References .................................................................................................................. 17 Tables Table 1. Clean Air Act and Amendments .....................................................................................2 Table 2. Ozone Nonattainment Classifications .............................................................................5 Table 3. Major U.S. Code Sections of the Clean Air Act ............................................................ 18 Contacts Author Contact Information ...................................................................................................... 24 Congressional Research Service Clean Air Act: A Summary of the Act and Its Major Requirements Introduction The authorities and responsibilities of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) derive primarily from a dozen major environmental statutes. This report provides a concise summary of one of those statutes, the Clean Air Act. It provides a very brief history of federal involvement in air quality regulation and of the provisions added by legislation in 1970, 1977, and 1990; it explains major authorities contained in the Act; it defines key terms; and it lists references for more detailed information on the Act and its implementation. While this report attempts to present the essence of the Act, it is necessarily incomplete. Many details and secondary provisions are omitted. In addition, the report describes the statute largely without discussing its implementation. Statutory deadlines to control emissions and achieve particular mandates have often been missed as a result of delayed standard-setting by EPA, delayed action on implementation by states and local governments, or law suits brought by interested parties. Other CRS products, including CRS Report R41563, Clean Air Issues in the 112th Congress, by James E. McCarthy, and more than a dozen other CRS reports, discuss implementation concerns and current issues. Readers interested in a more comprehensive discussion of the history of the Act are referred to CRS Report 83-34, Environmental Protection: An Historical Review of the Legislation and Programs of the Environmental Protection Agency (available by request). Overview The Clean Air Act, codified as 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq., seeks to protect human health and the environment from emissions that pollute ambient, or outdoor, air. It requires the Environmental Protection Agency to establish minimum national standards for air quality, and assigns primary responsibility to the states to assure compliance with the standards. Areas not meeting the standards, referred to as “nonattainment areas,” are required to implement specified air pollution control measures. The Act establishes federal standards for mobile sources of air pollution and their fuels and for sources of 187 hazardous air pollutants, and it establishes a cap-and-trade program for the emissions that cause acid rain. It establishes a comprehensive permit system for all major sources of air pollution. It also addresses the prevention of pollution in areas with clean air and protection of the stratospheric ozone layer. Like many other programs administered by the Environmental Protection Agency, federal efforts to control air pollution have gone through several phases, beginning with information collection, research, and technical assistance, before being strengthened to establish federal standards and enforcement. Federal legislation addressing air pollution was first passed in 1955, prior to which air pollution was the exclusive responsibility of state and local levels of government. The federal role was strengthened in subsequent amendments, notably the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1970, 1977, and 1990. The 1970 amendments established the procedures under which EPA sets national standards for air quality, required a 90% reduction in emissions from new automobiles by 1975, established a program to require the best available control technology at major new sources of air pollution, established a program to regulate air toxics, and greatly strengthened federal enforcement authority. The 1977 amendments adjusted the auto emission standards, extended deadlines for the attainment of air quality standards, and added the Prevention of Significant Deterioration program to protect air cleaner than national standards. Congressional Research Service 1 Clean Air Act: A Summary of the Act and Its Major Requirements Table 1. Clean Air Act and Amendments (codified generally as 42 U.S.C. 7401-7671) Year Act Public Law Number 1955 Air Pollution Control Act P.L. 84-159 1959 Reauthorization P.L. 86-353 1960 Motor vehicle exhaust study P.L. 86-493 1963 Clean Air Act Amendments P.L. 88-206 1965 Motor Vehicle Air Pollution Control Act P.L. 89-272, Title I 1966 Clean Air Act Amendments of 1966 P.L. 89-675 1967 Air Quality Act of 1967 National Air Emission Standards Act P.L. 90-148 1970 Clean Air Act Amendments of 1970 P.L. 91-604 1973 Reauthorization P.L. 93-13 1974 Energy Supply and Environmental Coordination Act of 1974 P.L. 93-319 1977 Clean Air Act Amendments of 1977 P.L. 95-95 1980 Acid Precipitation Act of 1980 P.L. 96-294, Title VII 1981 Steel Industry Compliance Extension Act of 1981 P.L. 97-23 1987 Clean Air Act 8-month Extension P.L. 100-202 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 P.L. 101-549 1991 Technical correction to list of hazardous air pollutants P.L. 102-187 1995-96 Relatively minor laws amending the Act P.L. 104-6, 59, 70, 260 1998 Amended § 604 re methyl bromide P.L. 105-277, Section 764 1998 Border Smog Reduction Act of 1998 P.L. 105-286 1999 Chemical Safety Information, Site Security and Fuels Regulatory Relief Act P.L. 106-40 2004 Amendments to §209 re small engines P.L. 108-199, Division G, Title IV, Section 428 2005 Energy Policy Act of 2005 (amended §211 re fuels) P.L. 109-58 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (amended §211 re fuels) P.L. 110-140 Changes to the Act in 1990 included provisions to (1) classify most nonattainment areas according to the extent to which they exceed the standard, tailoring deadlines, planning, and controls to each area’s status; (2) tighten auto and other mobile source emission standards; (3) require reformulated and alternative fuels in the most polluted areas; (4) revise the air toxics section, establishing a new program of technology-based standards and addressing the problem of sudden, catastrophic releases of air toxics; (5) establish an acid rain control program, with a marketable allowance scheme to provide flexibility in implementation; (6) require a state-run permit program for the operation of major sources of air pollutants; (7) implement the Montreal Protocol to phase out most ozone-depleting chemicals; and (8) update the enforcement provisions so that they parallel those in other pollution control acts, including authority for EPA to assess administrative penalties. Congressional Research Service 2 Clean Air Act: A Summary of the Act and Its Major Requirements The 1990 amendments also authorized appropriations for clean air programs through FY1998. The Act has not been reauthorized since then. House rules require enactment of an authorization before an appropriation bill can be considered; but this requirement can be waived and frequently has been. Thus, while authorization of appropriations in the Clean Air Act (and most other environmental statutes) has expired, programs have continued and have been funded. The Act’s other legal authorities, to issue and enforce regulations, are, for the most part, permanent and are not affected by the lack of authorization. The remainder of this report describes major programs required by the Act, with an emphasis on the changes established by the 1990 amendments. National Ambient Air Quality Standards In section 109, the Act requires EPA to establish National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for air pollutants that endanger public health or welfare, in the Administrator’s judgment, and whose presence in ambient air results from numerous or diverse sources. The NAAQS must be designed to protect public health and welfare with an adequate margin of safety. Using this authority, EPA has promulgated NAAQS for six air pollutants: sulfur dioxide (SO2), particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), carbon monoxide (CO), ozone, 1 and lead. The Act requires EPA to review the scientific data upon which the standards are based, and revise the standards, if necessary, every five years. More often than not, however, EPA has taken more than five years in reviewing and revising the standards. Originally, the Act required that the NAAQS be attained by 1977 at the latest, but the states experienced widespread difficulty in complying with this deadline. As a result, the deadlines for achieving NAAQS have been extended several times. Under the 1990 amendments, most areas not in attainment with NAAQS must meet special compliance schedules, staggered according to the severity of an area’s air pollution problem. The amendments also established specific requirements for each nonattainment category, as described below. State Implementation Plans While the Act authorizes the EPA to set NAAQS, the states are responsible for establishing procedures to attain and maintain the standards. Under Section 110 of the Act, the states adopt plans, known as State Implementation Plans (SIPs), and submit them to EPA to ensure that they are adequate to meet statutory requirements. SIPs are based on emission inventories and computer models to determine whether air quality violations will occur. If these data show that standards would be exceeded, the state must impose additional controls on existing sources to ensure that emissions do not cause “exceedances” of the standards. Proposed new and modified sources must obtain state construction permits in which the applicant shows how the anticipated emissions will not exceed allowable limits. In 1 Unlike the other NAAQS pollutants, ozone is not directly emitted, but rather is formed in the atmosphere by the interaction of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) in the presence of sunlight. The control of ozone is, thus, based on regulating emissions of VOCs and NOx. Congressional Research Service 3 Clean Air Act: A Summary of the Act and Its Major Requirements nonattainment areas, emissions from new or modified sources must also be offset by reductions in emissions from existing sources. The 1990 amendments require EPA to impose sanctions in areas which fail to submit a SIP, fail to submit an adequate SIP, or fail to implement a SIP: unless the state corrects such failures, a 2-to-1 emissions offset for the construction of new polluting sources is imposed 18 months after notification to the state, and a ban on most new federal highway grants is imposed six months later. An additional ban on air quality grants is discretionary. Ultimately, a Federal Implementation Plan may be imposed if the state fails to submit or implement an adequate SIP. The amendments also require that, in nonattainment areas, no federal permits or financial assistance may be granted for activities that do not “conform” to a State Implementation Plan. This requirement can cause a temporary suspension in funding for most new highway and transit projects if an area fails to demonstrate that the emissions caused by such projects are consistent with attainment and maintenance of ambient air quality standards. Demonstrating conformity of transportation plans and SIPs is required in nonattainment areas whenever new plans are submitted. Nonattainment Requirements In a major departure from the prior law, the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments grouped most nonattainment areas into classifications based on the extent to which the NAAQS was exceeded, and established specific pollution controls and attainment dates for each classification. These requirements are described here as spelled out in Sections 181-193 of the Act. 2 Nonattainment areas are classified on the basis of a “design value,” which is derived from the pollutant concentration (in parts per million or micrograms per cubic meter) recorded by air quality monitoring devices. The design value for the 1-hour ozone standard was the fourth highest hourly reading measured during the most recent three-year period. Using these design values, the Act created five classes of ozone nonattainment, as shown in Table 2. Only Los Angeles fell into the “extreme” class, but 97 other areas were classified in one of the other four ozone categories. A simpler classification system established moderate and serious nonattainment areas for carbon monoxide and particulate matter with correspondingly more stringent control requirements for the more polluted class. 2 EPA modified the ozone standard, specified in the statute as 0.12 parts per million (ppm) averaged over a 1-hour period, to 0.08 ppm averaged over an 8-hour period, through regulations promulgated in July 1997. In April 2004, the agency promulgated an implementation rule for the new 8-hour standard. Under this rule, the 1-hour standard was revoked as of June 15, 2005, and areas that had not yet attained it were converted to new classifications depending on their 8-hour concentration of ozone. As a result of court challenges, the ramifications of this conversion to the 8-hour standard are still unfolding, but in general the former 1-hour nonattainment areas remain subject to the controls specified for their 1-hour category. New nonattainment areas that did not exceed the 1-hour standard, but do violate the 8-hour standard, in general are subject to more flexible controls under Subpart 1 (Sections 171-179B) of the act. The standard was revised again in March 2008, to 0.075 ppm averaged over 8 hours, but EPA subsequently agreed to reconsider the 2008 standard, a task it expects to complete in 2011. Nonattainment areas for the new standard would be designated following its promulgation. Congressional Research Service 4 Clean Air Act: A Summary of the Act and Its Major Requirements Table 2. Ozone Nonattainment Classifications Class Marginal Moderate Serious Severe Extreme 1993 1996 1999 2005-2007a 2010 42 areas 0.121 ppm0.138 ppm 32 areas 0.138 ppm0.160 ppm 14 areas 0.160 ppm0.180 ppm 9 areas 0.180 ppm0.280 ppm 1 area Deadline Areasb Design Value >0.280 ppm a. Areas with a 1988 design value between 0.190 and 0.280 ppm have 17 years to attain; others have 15 years. b. Number of areas in each category as of the date of enactment. As shown in the table, the deadlines for attainment for ozone nonattainment areas stretched from 1993 to 2010, depending on the severity of the problem. (Under the 8-hour ozone standard, which replaced the 1-hour standard in 2004, these deadlines are changed to 2007 to 2021.) For carbon monoxide, the attainment date for moderate areas was December 31, 1995, and for serious areas, December 31, 2000. For particulate matter, the deadline for areas designated moderate nonattainment as of 1990 was December 31, 1994; for those areas subsequently designated as moderate, the deadline is six years after designation. For serious areas, the respective deadlines are December 31, 2001 or 10 years after designation. Requirements for Ozone Nonattainment Areas Although areas with more severe air pollution problems have a longer time to meet the standards, more stringent control requirements are imposed in areas with worse pollution. A summary of the primary ozone control requirements for each nonattainment category follows. Marginal Areas • Inventory emissions sources (to be updated every three years). • Require 1.1 to 1 offsets (i.e., new major emission sources of volatile organic compounds [VOCs] must reduce VOC emissions from existing facilities in the area by 10% more than the emissions of the new facility). • Impose reasonably available control technology (RACT) on all major sources emitting more than 100 tons per year for the nine industrial categories where EPA had already issued control technique guidelines describing RACT prior to 1990. Moderate Areas • Meet all requirements for marginal areas. • Impose a 15% reduction in VOC emissions in six years. • Adopt a basic vehicle inspection and maintenance program. • Impose RACT on all major sources emitting more than 100 tons per year for all additional industrial categories where EPA will issue control technique guidelines describing RACT. • Require vapor recovery at gas stations selling more than 10,000 gallons per month. • Require 1.15 to 1 offsets. Congressional Research Service 5 Clean Air Act: A Summary of the Act and Its Major Requirements Serious Areas • Meet all requirements for moderate areas. • Reduce definition of a major source of VOCs from emissions of 100 tons per year to 50 tons per year for the purpose of imposing RACT. • Reduce VOCs 3% annually for years 7 to 9 after the 15% reduction already required by year 6. • Improve monitoring. • Adopt an enhanced vehicle inspection and maintenance program. • Require fleet vehicles to use clean alternative fuels. • Adopt transportation control measures if the number of vehicle miles traveled in the area is greater than expected. • Require 1.2 to 1 offsets. • Adopt contingency measures if the area does not meet required VOC reductions. Severe Areas • Meet all requirements for serious areas. • Reduce definition of a major source of VOCs from emissions of 50 tons per year to 25 tons per year for the purpose of imposing RACT. • Adopt specified transportation control measures. • Implement a reformulated gasoline program. • Require 1.3 to 1 offsets. • Impose $5,000 per ton penalties on major sources if the area does not meet required reductions. Extreme Areas • Meet all requirements for severe areas. • Reduce definition of a major source of VOCs from emissions of 25 tons per year to 10 tons per year for the purpose of imposing RACT. • Require clean fuels or advanced control technology for boilers emitting more than 25 tons per year of NOx. • Require 1.5 to 1 offsets. As noted, EPA promulgated a new, 8-hour ozone standard in July 1997. Following extensive court challenges, the agency designated nonattainment areas for the new standard on April 30, 2004. State Implementation Plans were required to be submitted in 2007. Congressional Research Service 6 Clean Air Act: A Summary of the Act and Its Major Requirements Requirements for Carbon Monoxide Nonattainment Areas As with ozone nonattainment areas, carbon monoxide (CO) nonattainment areas are subjected to specified control requirements, with more stringent requirements in Serious nonattainment areas. A summary of the primary CO control requirements for each nonattainment category follows. Moderate Areas • Conduct an inventory of emissions sources. • Forecast total vehicle miles traveled in the area. • Adopt an enhanced vehicle inspection and maintenance program. • Demonstrate annual improvements sufficient to attain the standard. Serious Areas • Adopt specified transportation control measures. • Implement an oxygenated fuels program for all vehicles in the area. • Reduce definition of a major source of CO from emissions of 100 tons per year to 50 tons per year if stationary sources contribute significantly to the CO problem. Serious areas failing to attain the standard by the deadline have to revise their SIP and demonstrate reductions of 5% per year until the standard is attained. Requirements for Particulate Nonattainment Areas Particulate (PM10) nonattainment areas are also subject to specified control requirements. These are: Moderate Areas • Require permits for new and modified major stationary sources of PM10. • Impose reasonably available control measures (RACM). Serious Areas • Impose best available control measures (BACM). • Reduce definition of a major source of PM10 from 100 tons per year to 70 tons per year. In July 1997, EPA promulgated new standards for fine particulates (PM2.5). The PM2.5 standards were also subject to court challenges. The absence of a monitoring network capable of measuring the pollutant delayed implementation as well. Nonattainment areas for PM2.5 were designated on April 14, 2005. States had three years subsequent to designation to submit State Implementation Plans. Revisions to the NAAQS promulgated in October 2006 strengthened the PM2.5 standard. Congressional Research Service 7 Clean Air Act: A Summary of the Act and Its Major Requirements Transported Air Pollution Meeting the nation’s clean air standards can be complicated as air pollution is no respecter of political boundaries or subdivisions. This problem of transported air pollutants has come into particular focus as states and EPA attempt to develop effective compliance strategies to achieve both the ozone and the PM2.5 NAAQS. Under Section 110(a)(2)(D), SIPs must include adequate provisions to prevent sources within that state from contributing significantly to nonattainment in one or more downwind states. If EPA finds a SIP inadequate to achieve a NAAQS, it must require the affected state to submit a revised SIP that includes sufficient measures to bring that state into compliance. This is known as a “SIP Call.” The 1990 Clean Air Act amendments provided EPA and the states with new tools to address the transport problem through this provision. One of those tools is Section 176A, a provision that permits the EPA, either on its own or by petition from any state, to establish a transport region to address regional pollution problems contributing to violations of a primary NAAQS. A commission of EPA and state officials is constituted to make recommendations to EPA on appropriate mitigation strategies. Based on the commission’s findings and recommendations, EPA is then required under section 110(k)(5) to notify affected states of inadequacies in their current state implementation plans and to establish deadlines (not to exceed 18 months) for submitting necessary revisions (i.e., a SIP call). Besides authorizing administratively-created transport regions, the 1990 amendments statutorily created an Ozone Transport Region (OTR) in the Northeast. This provision (Section 184 of the act) required specific additional controls for all areas (not only nonattainment areas) in that region, and established the Ozone Transport Commission for the purpose of recommending to EPA regionwide controls affecting all areas in the region. The transport issue may also be addressed by affected downwind states through a Section 126 petition. As amended by the 1990 Clean Air Act amendments, under Section 126(b) any state or political subdivision may petition EPA for a finding that a major source or group of stationary sources located in another state is emitting pollutants that “significantly contribute” to the nonattainment of a NAAQS by their state. EPA is to respond to the petition within 60 days. If the petition is granted, the offending sources must cease operations within three months unless the sources comply with emission controls and the compliance schedules as determined by EPA to bring them into compliance with the section. Section 126 has rarely been used, although it has proven useful to EPA in some cases as backup authority where there might be challenges to a SIP call. Emission Standards for Mobile Sources Title II of the Clean Air Act has required emission standards for automobiles since 1968. The 1990 amendments significantly tightened these standards: for cars, the hydrocarbon standard was reduced by 40% and the nitrogen oxides (NOx) standard by 50%. These standards—referred to as “Tier 1” standards—were phased in over the 1994-1996 model years. The amendments envisioned a further set of reductions (“Tier 2” standards), but not before model year 2004. For Tier 2 standards to be promulgated, the agency was first required to report to Congress concerning the need for further emission reductions, the availability of technology to achieve such reductions, and the cost-effectiveness of such controls compared to other means of Congressional Research Service 8 Clean Air Act: A Summary of the Act and Its Major Requirements attaining air quality standards. EPA submitted this report to Congress in August 1998, concluding that further emission reductions were needed and that technology to achieve such reductions was available and cost-effective. Tier 2 standards, requiring emission reductions of 77% to 95% from cars and light trucks were promulgated in February 2000, and were phased in over the 2004-2009 model years. To facilitate the use of more effective emission controls, the standards also require a more than 90% reduction in the sulfur content of gasoline, beginning in 2004. The 1990 amendments also required that oxygenated gasoline, designed to reduce emissions of carbon monoxide, be sold in the worst CO nonattainment areas and that “reformulated” gasoline (RFG), designed to reduce emissions of volatile organic compounds and toxic air pollutants, be sold in the nine worst ozone nonattainment areas (Los Angeles, San Diego, Houston, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, Hartford, Chicago, and Milwaukee); metropolitan Washington, DC; and four areas in California were added to the mandatory list later. Other ozone nonattainment areas can opt in to the RFG program; as of 2006, additional areas in 11 states had done so. The fuels provisions were modified by the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPACT), removing the requirement that RFG contain oxygenates. Instead, EPACT required the use of increasing amounts of renewable fuel, most likely to be ethanol, in motor fuels, beginning in 2006. The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 further strengthened the renewable fuel requirements. Use of alternative fuels and development of cleaner engines was also to be stimulated by the Clean-Fuel Fleet Program. In all of the most seriously polluted ozone and CO nonattainment areas, centrally fueled fleets of 10 or more passenger cars and light-duty trucks must purchase at least 30% clean-fuel vehicles when they add new vehicles to existing fleets, starting in 1999. (The Act originally required the program to begin in 1998, but the start was delayed by a year.) The percentage rose to 50% in 2000 and 70% in 2001. Heavy-duty fleets are required to purchase at least 50% clean-fuel vehicles annually. A clean fuel vehicle is one which meets Low Emission Vehicle (LEV) standards and operates on reformulated gasoline, reformulated diesel, methanol, ethanol, natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas, hydrogen, or electricity. In addition to the above program, California’s Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) program also is intended to promote the development of alternative fuels and vehicles. Section 209(b) of the Clean Air Act allows the EPA Administrator to grant California the authority to develop its own vehicle emissions standards if those standards are at least as stringent as the federal standards and if the state demonstrates that it needs the standards to meet compelling and extraordinary conditions. In addition to setting more stringent standards for all vehicles, California used this authority to establish a program requiring auto manufacturers to sell ZEVs (electric or hydrogen fuel cell vehicles) in the state beginning in 2003. This program has been substantially modified since it was enacted, and now allows credit for hybrid and partial ZEV vehicles in addition to true ZEVs, but it has served as an incubator for lower emission technologies since its adoption. Section 177 of the Act allows other states to adopt California’s stricter standards: at least ten states (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington) have already adopted them or are in the process of doing so. The 1990 amendments also imposed tighter requirements on certification (an auto’s useful life is defined as 100,000 miles instead of the earlier 50,000 miles), on emissions allowed during refueling, on low temperature CO emissions, on in-use performance over time, and on warranties for the most expensive emission control components (8 years/80,000 miles for the catalytic Congressional Research Service 9 Clean Air Act: A Summary of the Act and Its Major Requirements converter, electronic emissions control unit, and onboard emissions diagnostic unit). Regulations were also extended to include nonroad fuels and engines. Standards for trucks and buses using diesel engines were also strengthened. The 1990 amendments required new urban buses to reduce emissions of diesel particulates 92% by 1996, and all other heavy-duty diesel engines to achieve an 83% reduction by the same year. NOx emissions must also be reduced, 33% by 1998. Authority to further strengthen these standards led to promulgation in January 2001 of new emission standards requiring a further 90%-95% reduction in emissions phased in over the 2007-2010 model years, and a reduction of 97% in the allowable amount of sulfur in highway diesel fuel. These regulations were followed in May 2004 by similar requirements for nonroad diesel equipment, which will be phased in between 2007 and 2015. Hazardous Air Pollutants3 Completely rewritten by the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, Section 112 of the Act establishes programs for protecting public health and the environment from exposure to toxic air pollutants. As revised by the 1990 amendments, the section contains four major provisions: Maximum Achievable Control Technology (MACT) requirements; health-based standards; standards for stationary “area sources” (small, but numerous sources, such as gas stations or dry cleaners, that collectively emit significant quantities of hazardous pollutants); and requirements for the prevention of catastrophic releases. First, EPA is to establish technology-based emission standards, called MACT standards, for sources of 187 pollutants listed in the legislation, and to specify categories of sources subject to the emission standards.4 EPA is to revise the standards periodically (at least every eight years). EPA can, on its own initiative or in response to a petition, add or delete substances or source categories from the lists. Section 112 establishes a presumption in favor of regulation for the designated chemicals; it requires regulation of a designated pollutant unless EPA or a petitioner is able to show “that there is adequate data on the health and environmental effects of the substance to determine that emissions, ambient concentrations, bioaccumulation or deposition of the substance may not reasonably be anticipated to cause any adverse effects to human health or adverse environmental effects.” EPA is required to set standards for sources of the listed pollutants that achieve “the maximum degree of reduction in emissions” taking into account cost and other non-air-quality factors. These MACT standards for new sources “shall not be less stringent than the most stringent emissions level that is achieved in practice by the best controlled similar source.” The standards for existing sources may be less stringent than those for new sources, but must be no less stringent than the emission limitations achieved by either the best performing 12% of existing sources (if there are more than 30 such sources in the category or subcategory) or the best 3 This section of the report was written by Linda-Jo Schierow, Specialist in Environmental Policy. 4 The 1990 amendments specified 189 pollutants, but P.L. 102-187, enacted on December 4, 1991, deleted hydrogen sulfide from the list of toxic pollutants, leaving only 188. On December 19, 2005, EPA removed methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) from the list of toxic air pollutants. The total number of listed air toxics is now 187. Congressional Research Service 10 Clean Air Act: A Summary of the Act and Its Major Requirements performing 5 similar sources (if there are fewer than 30). Existing sources are given three years following promulgation of standards to achieve compliance, with a possible one-year extension; additional extensions may be available for special circumstances or for certain categories of sources. Existing sources that achieve voluntary early emissions reductions will receive a six-year extension for compliance with MACT. The second major provision of Section 112 directs EPA to set health-based standards to address situations in which a significant residual risk of adverse health effects or a threat of adverse environmental effects remains after installation of MACT. This provision requires that EPA, after consultation with the Surgeon General of the United States, submit a report to Congress on the public health significance of residual risks, and recommend legislation regarding such risks. If Congress does not legislate in response to EPA’s recommendations, then EPA is required to issue standards for categories of sources of hazardous air pollutants as necessary to protect the public health with an ample margin of safety or to prevent an adverse environmental effect. A residual risk standard is required for any source emitting a cancer-causing pollutant that poses an added risk to the most exposed person of more than one-in-a-million. Residual risk standards are due eight years after promulgation of MACT for the affected source category. Existing sources have 90 days to comply with a residual risk standard, with a possible two-year extension. In general, residual risk standards do not apply to area sources. The law directed EPA to contract with the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) for a study of risk assessment methodology, and created a Risk Assessment and Management Commission to investigate and report on policy implications and appropriate uses of risk assessment and risk management. In 1994 NAS published its report, Science and Judgment in Risk Assessment. The Commission study, Framework for Environmental Health Risk Management, was released in 1997. Third, in addition to the technology-based and health-based programs for major sources of hazardous air pollution, EPA is to establish standards for stationary “area sources” determined to present a threat of adverse effects to human health or the environment. The provision requires EPA to regulate the stationary area sources responsible for 90% of the emissions of the 30 hazardous air pollutants that present the greatest risk to public health in the largest number of urban areas. In setting the standard, EPA can impose less stringent “generally available” control technologies, rather than MACT. Finally, Section 112 addresses prevention of sudden, catastrophic releases of air toxics by establishing an independent Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board. The Board is responsible for investigating accidents involving releases of hazardous substances, conducting studies, and preparing reports on the handling of toxic materials and measures to reduce the risk of accidents. EPA is also directed to issue prevention, detection, and correction requirements for catastrophic releases of air toxics by major sources. Section 112(r) requires owners and operators to prepare risk management plans including hazard assessments, measures to prevent releases, and a response program. Congressional Research Service 11 Clean Air Act: A Summary of the Act and Its Major Requirements New Source Performance Standards5 Section 111 of the Act requires EPA to establish nationally uniform, technology-based standards (called New Source Performance Standards, or NSPS) for categories of new industrial facilities. These standards accomplish two goals: first, they establish a consistent baseline for pollution control that competing firms must meet, and thereby remove any incentive for states or communities to weaken air pollution standards in order to attract polluting industry; and second, they preserve clean air to accommodate future growth, as well as for its own benefits. NSPS establish maximum emission levels for new major stationary sources—powerplants, steel mills, and smelters, for example—with the emission levels determined by the best “adequately demonstrated” continuous control technology available, taking costs into account. EPA must regularly revise and update NSPS applicable to designated sources as new technology becomes available, since the goal is to prevent new pollution problems from developing and to force the installation of new control technology. The standards also apply to modifications of existing facilities, through a process called New Source Review (NSR). The law’s ambiguity regarding what constitutes a modification (subject to NSR) as opposed to routine maintenance of a facility has led to litigation, with EPA proposing in recent years to modify its interpretation of the requirements of this section. Solid Waste Incinerators Prior to 1990, solid waste incinerators, which emit a wide range of pollutants, were subject to varying degrees of state and federal regulation depending on their size, age, and the type of waste burned. In a new Section 129, the 1990 amendments established more consistent federal requirements specifying that emissions of 10 categories of pollutants be regulated at new and existing incinerators burning municipal solid waste, medical waste, and commercial and industrial waste. The amendments also established emissions monitoring and operator training requirements. Prevention of Significant Deterioration / Regional Haze6 Sections 160-169 of the act establish requirements for the prevention of significant deterioration of air quality (PSD). The PSD program reflects the principle that areas where air quality is better than that required by NAAQS should be protected from significant new air pollution even if NAAQS would not be violated. The Act divides clean air areas into three classes, and specifies the increments of SO2 and particulate pollution allowed in each. Class I areas include international and national parks, 5 This section of the report was written by Larry B. Parker, Specialist in Energy and Environmental Policy. This section of the report was written by Larry B. Parker, Specialist in Energy and Environmental Policy and James E. McCarthy, Specialist in Environmental Policy. 6 Congressional Research Service 12 Clean Air Act: A Summary of the Act and Its Major Requirements wilderness and other pristine areas; allowable increments of new pollution are very small. Class II areas include all attainment and not classifiable areas, not designated as Class I; allowable increments of new pollution are modest. Class III represents selected areas that states may designate for development; allowable increments of new pollution are large (but not exceeding NAAQS). Through an elaborate hearing and review process, a state can have regions redesignated from Class II to Class III (although none have yet been so redesignated). While the 1977 amendments only stipulated PSD standards for two pollutants, SO2 and particulates, EPA is supposed to establish standards for other criteria pollutants. Thus far, only one of the other four (NO2) has been addressed: the agency promulgated standards for NO2 in 1988. Newly constructed polluting sources in PSD areas must install best available control technology (BACT) that may be more strict than that required by NSPS. The justifications of the policy are that it protects air quality, provides an added margin of health protection, preserves clean air for future development, and prevents firms from gaining a competitive edge by “shopping” for clean air to pollute. In Sections 169A and B, the Act also sets a national goal of preventing and remedying impairment of visibility in national parks and wilderness areas, and requires EPA to promulgate regulations to assure reasonable progress toward that goal. In the 1990 Amendments, Congress strengthened these provisions, which had not been implemented. The amendments required EPA to establish a Grand Canyon Visibility Transport Commission, composed of Governors from each state in the affected region, an EPA designee, and a representative of each of the national parks or wilderness areas in the region. Other visibility transport commissions can be established upon EPA’s discretion or upon petition from at least two states. Within 18 months of receiving a report from one of these commissions, EPA is required to promulgate regulations to assure reasonable progress toward the visibility goal, including requirements that states update their State Implementation Plans to contain emission limits, schedules of compliance, and other measures necessary to make reasonable progress. Specifically mentioned is a requirement that states impose Best Available Retrofit Technology on existing sources of emissions impairing visibility. The Grand Canyon Commission delivered a set of recommendations to EPA in June 1996, and the agency subsequently promulgated a “regional haze” program applicable to all 50 states under this authority. Acid Deposition Control7 The Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 added an acid deposition control program (Title IV) to the Act. It set goals for the year 2000 of reducing annual SO2 emissions by 10 million tons from 1980 levels and reducing annual NOx emissions by 2 million tons, also from 1980 levels. The SO2 reductions were imposed in two steps. Under Phase 1, owners/operators of 111 electric generating facilities listed in the law that are larger than 100 megawatts had to meet tonnage 7 This section of the report was written by Larry B. Parker, Specialist in Energy and Environmental Policy. Congressional Research Service 13 Clean Air Act: A Summary of the Act and Its Major Requirements emission limitations by January 1, 1995. This would reduce SO2 emission by about 3.5 million tons. Phase 2 included facilities larger than 75 megawatts, with a deadline of January 1, 2000. Compliance has been 100%. To introduce some flexibility in the distribution and timing of reductions, the Act creates a comprehensive permit and emissions allowance system. An allowance is a limited authorization to emit a ton of SO2. Issued by EPA, the allowances would be allocated to Phase 1 and Phase 2 units in accordance with baseline emissions estimates. Powerplants which commence operation after November 15, 1990 would not receive any allowances. These new units would have to obtain allowances (offsets) from holders of existing allowances. Allowances may be traded nationally during either phase. The law also permitted industrial sources and powerplants to sell allowances to utility systems under regulations developed by EPA. Allowances may be banked by a utility for future use or sale. The Act provided for two types of sales to improve the liquidity of the allowance system and to ensure the availability of allowances for utilities and independent power producers who need them. First, a special reserve fund consisting of 2.8% of Phase 1 and Phase 2 allowance allocations has been set aside for sale. Allowances from this fund (25,000 annually from 19931999 and 50,000 thereafter) are sold at a fixed price of $1,500 an allowance. Independent power producers have guaranteed rights to these allowances under certain conditions. Second, an annual, open auction sold allowances (150,000 from 1993-1995, and 250,000 from 1996-1999) with no minimum price. Utilities with excess allowances may have them auctioned off at this auction, and any person may buy allowances. The Act essentially caps SO2 emissions at individual existing sources through a tonnage limitation, and at future plants through the allowance system. First, emissions from most existing sources are capped at a specified emission rate times an historic baseline level. Second, for plants commencing operation after November 15, 1990, emissions must be completely offset with additional reductions at existing facilities beginning after Phase 2 compliance. However, as noted above, the law provides some allowances to future powerplants which meet certain criteria. The utility SO2 emission cap was set at 8.9 million tons, with some exceptions. The Act provides that if an affected unit does not have sufficient allowances to cover its emissions, it is subject to an excess emission penalty of $2,000 per ton of SO2 and required to reduce an additional ton of SO2 the next year for each ton of excess pollutant emitted. The Act also requires EPA to inventory industrial emissions of SO2 and to report every five years, beginning in 1995. If the inventory shows that industrial emissions may reach levels above 5.60 million tons per year, then EPA is to take action under the Act to ensure that the 5.60 million ton cap is not exceeded. The Act requires EPA to set specific NOx emission rate limitations—0.45 lb. per million Btu for tangentially-fired boilers and 0.50 lb. per million Btu for wall-fired boilers—unless those rates can not be achieved by low-NOx burner technology. Tangentially and wall-fired boilers affected by Phase 1 SO2 controls must also meet NOx requirements. EPA was to set emission limitations for other types of boilers by 1997 based on low-NOx burner costs, which EPA did. In addition, EPA was to propose and promulgate a revised new source performance standard for NOx from fossil fuel steam generating units, which EPA also did, in 1998. Congressional Research Service 14 Clean Air Act: A Summary of the Act and Its Major Requirements Permits8 The Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 added a Title V to the Act which requires states to administer a comprehensive permit program for the operation of sources emitting air pollutants. These requirements are modeled after similar provisions in the Clean Water Act. Previously, the Clean Air Act contained limited provision for permits, requiring only new or modified major stationary sources to obtain construction permits (under Section 165 of the Act). Sources subject to the permit requirements generally include major sources that emit or have the potential to emit 100 tons per year of any regulated pollutant, plus stationary and area sources that emit or have potential to emit lesser specified amounts of hazardous air pollutants. However, in nonattainment areas, the permit requirements also include sources which emit as little as 50, 25, or 10 tons per year of VOCs, depending on the severity of the region’s nonattainment status (serious, severe, or extreme). States were required to develop permit programs and to submit those programs for EPA approval by November 15, 1993. EPA had one year to approve or disapprove a state’s submission in whole or in part. After the effective date of a state plan, sources had 12 months to submit an actual permit application. States are to collect annual fees from sources sufficient to cover the “reasonable costs” of administering the permit program, with revenues to be used to support the agency’s air pollution control program. The fee must be at least $25 per ton of regulated pollutants (excluding carbon monoxide). Permitting authorities have discretion not to collect fees on emissions in excess of 4,000 tons per year and may collect other fee amounts, if appropriate. The permit states how much of which air pollutants a source is allowed to emit. As a part of the permit process, a source must prepare a compliance plan and certify compliance. The term of permits is limited to no more than five years; sources are required to renew permits at that time. State permit authorities must notify contiguous states of permit applications that may affect them; the application and any comments of contiguous states must be forwarded to EPA for review. EPA can veto a permit; however, this authority is essentially limited to major permit changes. EPA review need not include permits which simply codify elements of a state’s overall clean air plan, and EPA has discretion to not review permits for small sources. Holding a permit to some extent shields a source from enforcement actions: the Act provides that a source cannot be held in violation if it is complying with explicit requirements addressed in a permit, or if the state finds that certain provisions do not apply to that source. Enforcement Section 113 of the Act, which was also strengthened by the 1990 amendments, covers enforcement. The section establishes federal authority to issue agency and court orders requiring compliance and to impose penalties for violations of Act requirements. Section 114 authorizes EPA to require sources to submit reports, monitor emissions, and certify compliance with the Act’s requirements, and authorizes EPA personnel to conduct inspections. 8 This section of the report was written by Claudia Copeland, Specialist in Environmental Policy. Congressional Research Service 15 Clean Air Act: A Summary of the Act and Its Major Requirements Like most federal environmental statutes, the Clean Air Act is enforced primarily by states or local governments; they issue most permits, monitor compliance, and conduct the majority of inspections. The federal government functions as a backstop, with authority to review state actions. The agency may act independently or may file its own enforcement action in cases where it concludes that a state’s response was inadequate. The Act also provides for citizen suits both against persons (including corporations or government agencies) alleged to have violated emissions standards or permit requirements, and against EPA in cases where the Administrator has failed to perform an action that is not discretionary under the Act. Citizen groups have often used the latter provision to compel the Administrator to promulgate regulations required by the statute. The 1990 Amendments elevated penalties for some knowing violations from misdemeanors to felonies; removed the ability of a source to avoid an enforcement order or civil penalty by ceasing a violation within 60 days of notice; gave authority to EPA to assess administrative penalties; and authorized $10,000 awards to persons supplying information leading to convictions under the Act. Stratospheric Ozone Protection9 Title VI of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments represents the United States’ primary response on the domestic front to the ozone depletion issue. It also implements the U.S. international responsibilities under the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (and its amendments). Indeed, Section 606(a)(3) provides that the Environmental Protection Agency shall adjust phase-out schedules for ozone-depleting substances in accordance with any future changes in Montreal Protocol schedules. As a result, the phase-out schedules contained in Title VI for various ozone-depleting compounds have now been superseded by subsequent amendments to the Montreal Protocol. Since passage of Title VI, depleting substances such as CFCs, methyl chloroform, carbon tetrachloride, and halons (referred to as Class 1 substances) have been phased out by industrial countries, including the United States. New uses of hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) (called Class 2 substances under Title VI) are banned beginning January 1, 2015, unless the HCFCs are recycled, used as a feedstock, or used as a refrigerant for appliances manufactured prior to January 1, 2020. Production of HCFCs is to be frozen January 1, 2015 and phased out by January 1, 2030. Exemptions consistent with the Montreal Protocol are allowed. The EPA is required to add any substance with an ozone depletion potential (ODP) of 0.2 or greater to the list of Class 1 substances and set a phase-out schedule of no more than seven years. For example, methyl bromide (ODP estimated by EPA at 0.7) was added to the list in December 1993, requiring its phaseout by January 1, 2001; this decision was altered by Congress in 1998 to harmonize the U.S. methyl bromide phase-out schedule with the 2005 deadline set by the parties to the Montreal Protocol in 1997. Also, EPA is required to add any substance that is known or may be reasonably anticipated to harm the stratosphere to the list of Class 2 substances and set a phase-out schedule of no more than ten years. 9 This section of the report was written by Larry B. Parker, Specialist in Energy and Environmental Policy. Congressional Research Service 16 Clean Air Act: A Summary of the Act and Its Major Requirements Title VI contains several implementing strategies to avoid releases of ozone-depleting chemicals to the atmosphere, including (1) for Class 1 substances used as refrigerant—lowest achievable level of use and emissions, maximum recycling, and safe disposal required by July 1, 1992; (2) for servicing or disposing refrigeration equipment containing Class 1 and 2 substances—venting banned as of July 1, 1992; (3) for motor vehicle air conditioners containing Class 1 or 2 substances—recycling required by January 1, 1992 (smaller shops by January 1, 1993); (4) sale of small containers of class 1 and 2 substances—banned within two years of enactment; and (5) nonessential products—banned within two years of enactment. Selected References U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards. Air Trends. Research Triangle Park, NC. Compiled annually, and available at http://www.epa.gov/airtrends/. Martineau, Robert J., Jr. and Novello, David P. (eds.). The Clean Air Act Handbook. 2nd edition. Chicago: American Bar Association, 2004. 728 p. For recent issues, see CRS Report R41563, Clean Air Issues in the 112th Congress, by James E. McCarthy. Congressional Research Service 17 Clean Air Act: A Summary of the Act and Its Major Requirements Table 3. Major U.S. Code Sections of the Clean Air Act (codified generally as 42 U.S.C. 7401-7671) Clean Air Act, as amended 42 U.S.C. Section Title Subchapter I - Programs and Activities Part A - Air Quality Emissions and Limitations 7401 Findings, purpose Sec. 101 7402 Cooperative activities Sec. 102 7403 Research, investigation, training Sec. 103 7404 Research relating to fuels and vehicles Sec. 104 7405 Grants for air pollution planning and control programs Sec. 105 7406 Interstate air quality agencies; program cost limitations Sec. 106 7407 Air quality control regions Sec. 107 7408 Air quality criteria and control techniques Sec. 108 7409 National primary and secondary air quality standards Sec. 109 7410 SIPs for national primary and secondary air quality standards Sec. 110 7411 Standards of performance for new stationary sources Sec. 111 7412 Hazardous air pollutants Sec. 112 7413 Federal enforcement Sec. 113 7414 Recordkeeping, inspections, monitoring, and entry Sec. 114 7415 International air pollution Sec. 115 7416 Retention of state authority Sec. 116 7417 Advisory committees Sec. 117 7418 Control of pollution from federal facilities Sec. 118 7419 Primary nonferrous smelter orders Sec. 119 7420 Noncompliance penalty Sec. 120 7421 Consultation Sec. 121 7422 Listing of certain unregulated pollutants Sec. 122 7423 Stack heights Sec. 123 7424 Assurance of adequacy of state plans Sec. 124 7425 Measures to prevent economic disruption/unemployment Sec. 125 7426 Interstate pollution abatement Sec. 126 7427 Public notification Sec. 127 7428 State boards Sec. 128 7429 Solid waste combustion Sec. 129 7430 Emission factors Sec. 130 7431 Land use authority Sec. 131 Congressional Research Service 18 Clean Air Act: A Summary of the Act and Its Major Requirements 42 U.S.C. Clean Air Act, as amended Section Title Part B - Ozone Protection (repealed—new provisions related to stratospheric ozone protection are found at 42 U.S.C. 7671 et seq., below) Part C - Prevention of Significant Deterioration of Air Quality Subpart I - Clean Air 7470 Congressional declaration of purpose Sec. 160 7471 Plan requirements Sec. 161 7472 Initial classifications Sec. 162 7473 Increments and ceilings Sec. 163 7474 Area redesignation Sec. 164 7475 Preconstruction requirements Sec. 165 7476 Other pollutants Sec. 166 7477 Enforcement Sec. 167 7478 Period before plan approval Sec. 168 7479 Definitions Sec. 169 Subpart II - Visibility Protection 7491 Visibility protection for federal class I areas Sec. 169A 7492 Visibility Sec. 169B Part D - Plan Requirements for Nonattainment Areas Subpart 1 - Nonattainment Areas in General 7501 Definitions Sec. 171 7502 Nonattainment plan provisions in general Sec. 172 7503 Permit requirements Sec. 173 7504 Planning procedures Sec. 174 7505 Environmental Protection Agency grants Sec. 175 7505a Maintenance plans 7506 Limitations on certain federal assistance 7506a Interstate transport commissions 7507 New motor vehicle emission standards in nonattainment areas Sec. 177 7508 Guidance documents Sec. 178 7509 Sanctions and consequences of failure to attain Sec. 179 7509a International border areas Sec. 179B Subpart 2 7511 Sec. 175A Sec. 176 Sec. 176A Additional Provisions for Ozone Nonattainment Areas Classifications and attainment dates Congressional Research Service Sec. 181 19 Clean Air Act: A Summary of the Act and Its Major Requirements Clean Air Act, as amended 42 U.S.C. Section Title 7511a Plan submissions and requirements Sec. 182 7511b Federal ozone measures Sec. 183 7511c Control of interstate ozone air pollution Sec. 184 7511d Enforcement for Severe and Extreme ozone nonattainment areas for failure to attain Sec. 185 7511e Transitional areas Sec. 185A 7511f NOx and VOC study Sec. 185B Subpart 3 - Additional Provisions for Carbon Monoxide Nonattainment Areas 7512 Classification and attainment dates Sec. 186 7512a Plan submissions and requirements Sec. 187 Subpart 4 - Additional Provisions for Particulate Matter Nonattainment Areas 7513 Classifications and attainment dates Sec. 188 7513a Plan provisions and schedules for plan submissions Sec. 189 7513b Issuance of RACM and BACM guidance Sec. 190 Subpart 5 - Additional Provisions for Areas Designated Nonattainment for Sulfur Oxides, Nitrogen Dioxide, or Lead 7514 Plan submission deadlines Sec. 191 7514a Attainment dates Sec. 192 Subpart 6 - Savings Provisions 7515 General savings clause Subchapter II - Emission Standards for Moving Sources Part A - Motor Vehicle Emission and Fuel Standards 7521 Emission standards for new motor vehicles or engines Sec. 202 7522 Prohibited acts Sec. 203 7523 Actions to restrain violations Sec. 204 7524 Civil penalties Sec. 205 7525 Motor vehicle and engines testing and certification Sec. 206 7541 Compliance by vehicles and engines in actual use Sec. 207 7542 Information collection Sec. 208 7543 State standards Sec. 209 7544 State grants Sec. 210 7545 Regulation of fuels Sec. 211 Congressional Research Service Sec. 193 20 Clean Air Act: A Summary of the Act and Its Major Requirements Clean Air Act, as amended 42 U.S.C. Section Title 7547 Nonroad engines and vehicles Sec. 213 7548 Study of particulate emissions from motor vehicles Sec. 214 7549 High altitude performance adjustments Sec. 215 7550 Definitions Sec. 216 7551 Study and report on fuel consumption of CAAA of 1977 Sec. 203 7552 Motor vehicle compliance program fees Sec. 217 7553 Prohibition on production of engines requiring leaded gasoline Sec. 218 7554 Urban bus standards Sec. 219 Part B - Aircraft Emissions Standards 7571 Establishment of standards Sec. 231 7572 Enforcement of standards Sec. 232 7573 State standards and controls Sec. 233 7574 Definitions Sec. 234 Part C - Clean Fuel Vehicles 7581 Definitions Sec. 241 7582 Requirements applicable to clean-fuel vehicles Sec. 242 7583 Standards for light-duty clean-fuel vehicles Sec. 243 7584 Administration and enforcement as per California standards Sec. 244 7585 Standards for heavy-duty clean-fuel vehicles Sec. 245 7586 Centrally fueled fleets Sec. 246 7587 Vehicle conversions Sec. 247 7588 Federal agency fleets Sec. 248 7589 California pilot test program Sec. 249 7590 General provisions Sec. 250 Subchapter III - General Provisions 7601 Administration Sec. 301 7602 Definitions Sec. 302 7603 Emergency powers Sec. 303 7604 Citizen suits Sec. 304 7605 Representation in litigation Sec. 305 7606 Federal procurement Sec. 306 7607 Administrative proceedings and judicial review Sec. 307 7608 Mandatory licensing Sec. 308 Congressional Research Service 21 Clean Air Act: A Summary of the Act and Its Major Requirements 42 U.S.C. Section Title Clean Air Act, as amended 7609 Policy review Sec. 309 7610 Other authority Sec. 310 7611 Records and audits Sec. 311 7612 Economic impact analyses Sec. 312 7614 Labor standards Sec. 314 7615 Separability Sec. 315 7616 Sewage treatment plants Sec. 316 7617 Economic impact assessment Sec. 317 7619 Air quality monitoring Sec. 319 7620 Standardized air quality modeling Sec. 320 7621 Employment effects Sec. 321 7622 Employee protection Sec. 322 7624 Cost of vapor recovery equipment Sec. 323 7625 Vapor recovery for small business marketers of petroleum products Sec. 324 7625-1 Exemptions for certain territories Sec. 325 7625a Statutory construction Sec. 326 7626 Authorization of appropriations Sec. 327 7627 Air pollution from Outer Continental Shelf activities Sec. 328 Subchapter IV-A Acid Deposition Control 7651 Findings and purposes Sec. 401 7651a Definitions Sec. 402 7651b Sulfur dioxide allowance program for existing and new units Sec. 403 7651c Phase I sulfur dioxide requirements Sec. 404 7651d Phase II sulfur dioxide requirements Sec. 405 7651e Allowances for states with emissions rates at or below 0.80 lbs./mmBtu Sec. 406 7651f Nitrogen oxides emission reduction program Sec. 407 7651g Permits and compliance plans Sec. 408 7651h Repowered sources Sec. 409 7651i Election for additional sources Sec. 410 7651j Excess emissions penalty Sec. 411 7651k Monitoring, reporting, and recordkeeping requirements Sec. 412 7651l General compliance with other provisions Sec. 413 7651m Enforcement Sec. 414 7651n Clean coal technology regulatory incentives Sec. 415 7651o Contingency guarantee, auctions, reserve Sec. 416 Congressional Research Service 22 Clean Air Act: A Summary of the Act and Its Major Requirements Clean Air Act, as amended 42 U.S.C. Section Title Subchapter V - Permits 7661 Definitions Sec. 501 7661a Permit programs Sec. 502 7661b Permit applications Sec. 503 7661c Permit requirements and conditions Sec. 504 7661d Notification to administrator and contiguous states Sec. 505 7661e Other authorities Sec. 506 7661f Small business stationary source technical and environmental compliance assistance program Sec. 507 Subchapter VI - Stratospheric Ozone Protection 7671 Definitions Sec. 601 7671a Listing of class I and class II substances Sec. 602 7671b Monitoring and reporting requirements Sec. 603 7671c Phase-out of production and consumption of class I substances Sec. 604 7671d Phase-out of production and consumption of class II substances Sec. 605 7671e Accelerated schedule Sec. 606 7671f Exchange authority Sec. 607 7671g National recycling and emission reduction program Sec. 608 7671h Servicing of motor vehicle air conditioners Sec. 609 7671i Nonessential products containing chlorofluorocarbons Sec. 610 7671j Labeling Sec. 611 7671k Safe alternatives policy Sec. 612 7671l Federal procurement Sec. 613 7671m Relationship to other laws Sec. 614 7671n Authority of Administrator Sec. 615 7671o Transfers among parties to Montreal Protocol Sec. 616 7671p International cooperation Sec. 617 7671q Miscellaneous provisions Sec. 618 [29 U.S.C. 655] Chemical Process Safety Management Sec. 304 of CAA of 1990 [29 U.S.C. 1662e] Clean Air Employment Transition Assistance Sec.1101 of CAA of 1990 Note: This table shows only the major U.S. Code sections. For more detail and to determine when a section was added, the reader should consult the official printed version of the U.S. Code. Congressional Research Service 23 Clean Air Act: A Summary of the Act and Its Major Requirements Author Contact Information James E. McCarthy Specialist in Environmental Policy jmccarthy@crs.loc.gov, 7-7225 Larry Parker Specialist in Energy and Environmental Policy lparker@crs.loc.gov, 7-7238 Claudia Copeland Specialist in Resources and Environmental Policy ccopeland@crs.loc.gov, 7-7227 Linda-Jo Schierow Specialist in Environmental Policy lschierow@crs.loc.gov, 7-7279 Congressional Research Service 24