Promoting Nuanced Taconite Regulations Act of 2012 - Amends the Clean Air Act (CAA) to consider as approved with respect to a taconite ore processing facility, under ambient air quality standard implementation plans for a state, any implementation plan submitted by the state (including any such plan submitted prior to enactment of this Act) that specifies the best available retrofit technology for any such facility for the purpose of eliminating or reducing any impairment of visibility.
Prohibits the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), if a state has submitted such a plan, from promulgating, implementing, or enforcing any requirement pursuant to a federal implementation plan under the CAA with respect to such facility for such purpose.
Makes this Act applicable until January 1, 2022.
[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6507 Introduced in House (IH)]
112th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 6507
To provide that any State implementation plan submitted pursuant to the
Clean Air Act to address impairment of visibility shall apply for such
State until 2022 with respect to emissions from taconite ore processing
facilities, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 21, 2012
Mr. Cravaack introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Energy and Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide that any State implementation plan submitted pursuant to the
Clean Air Act to address impairment of visibility shall apply for such
State until 2022 with respect to emissions from taconite ore processing
facilities, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Promoting Nuanced Taconite
Regulations Act of 2012''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) In section 169A of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7491),
Congress declared ``as a national goal the prevention of any
future, and the remedying of any existing, impairment of
visibility in mandatory class I Federal areas which impairment
results from manmade air pollution''.
(2) In section 51.308 of title 40, Code of Federal
Regulations, the Environmental Protection Agency established
``requirements for implementation plans, plan revisions, and
periodic progress reviews to address regional haze'', including
requirements to establish goals for ``reasonable progress
towards achieving natural visibility conditions'', in part by
determining ``the rate of progress needed to attain natural
visibility conditions by the year 2064''.
(3) In regulating the emissions that cause regional haze,
Congress assigned States the lead role in developing and
implementing a plan to reduce the precursor emissions that
cause regional haze.
(4) The State of Minnesota, through the Minnesota Pollution
Control Agency (in this section referred to as ``MPCA''),
issued a State Implementation Plan (in this section referred to
as a ``SIP'') in December of 2009 that proposed the Best
Available Retrofit Technology (in this section referred to as
``BART'') for nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide, finding that
good combustion practices met BART for taconite facilities.
(5) The Environmental Protection Agency received and
reviewed all of MPCA's December 2009 SIP. In January 2012, the
Environmental Protection Agency proposed accepting Minnesota's
SIP, including its emissions modeling, as well as BART to
reduce the emissions of taconite (iron ore) processing
facilities.
(6) MPCA performed an extensive study of BART for the
different types of taconite indurating furnaces. MPCA
determined that the current technologies in place (good
combustion practices) were BART.
(7) The Environmental Protection Agency determined that
because one taconite facility was able to make use of low NOx
burners to reduce emissions, that low NOx burners should be
considered BART for all taconite facilities, and that many
facilities should add this technology within 18 months.
(8) The Environmental Protection Agency's failure to
account for all of the factors in the State's analysis has led
to a proposed rule that imposes technically infeasible
deadlines.
(9) The State's Implementation Plan should take precedence,
setting BART and appropriate emissions limits for taconite
plants. The Environmental Protection Agency should defer to the
State for such a period of time that the taconite plants can be
feasibly upgraded according to the unique characteristics of
each furnace and line.
SEC. 3. STATE REGULATION OF EMISSIONS FROM TACONITE ORE PROCESSING
FACILITIES.
Section 169A of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7491) is amended--
(1) by redesignating subsection (g) as subsection (h); and
(2) by inserting after subsection (f) the following
subsection:
``(g)(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act--
``(A) any implementation plan submitted by a State
(including any such implementation plan submitted prior to the
date of enactment of this paragraph) that specifies the best
available retrofit technology for any taconite ore processing
facility for the purpose of eliminating or reducing any
impairment of visibility shall be considered to be approved
under section 110 for such State with respect to such facility
for such purpose; and
``(B) if such an implementation plan has been submitted,
the Administrator may not promulgate, implement, or enforce any
requirement pursuant to a plan under section 110(c) with
respect to such facility for such purpose.
``(2) Paragraph (1) shall apply with respect to the period
beginning on the date of enactment of this subsection and ending on
January 1, 2022.
``(3) This subsection shall not be construed to prevent the
Administrator from taking any action otherwise authorized under this
Act with respect to a facility described in paragraph (1) for the
purpose of protecting human health and safety.''.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Energy and Power.
Llama 3.2 · runs locally in your browser
Ask anything about this bill. The AI reads the full text to answer.
Enter to send · Shift+Enter for new line