Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) has reintroduced legislation aimed at giving states and communities more time to implement 2015 ground-level ozone limits under National Ambient Air Quality Standards. The measure, S. 452, also would revise the US Environmental Protection Agency’s existing timeline for reviewing NAAQS and air-quality criteria from 5-year intervals to 10-year intervals.
The measure was one of three Flake introduced on Feb. 27. A second bill, S. 454, would streamline EPA regulations to ensure that states and localities are not considered in violation of federal air-quality standards due to uncontrollable, naturally occurring events.
States now must submit costly and complicated demonstration projects to EPA for review that can become indefinite, cumbersome, and often arbitrary and unpredictable after “exceptional events” such as dust storms and wildfires occur, Flake said.
The third bill, S. 453, would require the EPA administrator to include a financial offset in any proposed rule to limit greenhouse gas emissions that imposes increased costs on other federal agencies to cover the proposed rule’s projected costs for those agencies.
“By holding EPA accountable for its actions, we can keep our air clean without creating job-killing regulatory uncertainty,” Flake said.
An American Petroleum Institute official expressed approval of the legislation. “We support the direction of the legislation introduced by Sen. Flake to modify the implementation of air-quality requirements, while still protecting public health and the environment,” API Regulatory and Scientific Affairs Senior Director Howard J. Feldman said on Feb. 28.
The American Chemistry Council specifically sited S. 452, formally called the Ozone Regulatory Delay and Extension of Assessment Length (ORDEAL) Act, in a Feb. 27 statement. “Many state agencies need more time to fully implement new air-quality standards, while manufacturers with plans to build or expand need sufficient time and guidance to understand new rules,” it said. “The ORDEAL Act is an important step forward, and we urge swift passage by both chambers.”
EPA announced in October 2015 that it would reduce allowable ground-level ozone limits to 70 ppb from the 75 ppb level it set in 2008 (OGJ Online, Oct. 1, 2015).
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