Senate bill gives states time to meet ozone limit

OREANDA-NEWS. September 29, 2015. A bipartisan pair of US senators has introduced legislation to give states more time to comply with new federal ozone standards.

The bill, S 2072, introduced on 25 September by senators Claire McCaskill (D-Missouri) and Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) would require the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to defer classifying areas in non-attainment with the ozone standards if they participate in a voluntary Early Action Compact program. If EPA approves a state's plan under the program, the state would get up to 10 years to comply with a new or revised ozone standard.

The bill comes as the EPA is expected to issue a tougher ozone standard this week to replace the previous standard of 75 parts per billion set in 2008. A more stringent could put new areas at risk of being designated as out of compliance, Hatch said.

The legislation seeks to revive an early action program EPA implemented in 2002, which a federal court later overturned on the grounds the agency had acted outside its authority under the Clean Air Act.

The Clean Air Act requires EPA and states, within two years of setting a new or revised standard, to classify which areas are not in attainment. The bill would let states notify EPA of their intent to participate in the Early Action Compact program in place of recommending non-attainment areas to the agency. The state's plan would be due within a year of submitting the notice.

States and tribes typically have to file state implementation plans (SIPs), showing how they will meet a new standard, within three years of EPA setting the new ozone limits. If a state prepares an early action plan, the bill would prohibit EPA from designating areas in that state in non-attainment, which also defers requirements for SIPs and attainment deadlines set under the Clean Air Act.

The early action compact plan would include modeling and milestones to demonstrate attainment. State implementation plans would be required if a state fails to file an approvable early action plan. For the SIP, EPA would be required to credit states for any emissions reductions under the early action compact program.

The EPA must start the Early Action Compact program within a year of the bill's passage.