Promoting New Manufacturing Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1855 To promote new manufacturing in the United States by providing for greater transparency and timeliness in obtaining necessary permits, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 11, 2021 Mr. SCALISE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To promote new manufacturing in the United States by providing for greater transparency and timeliness in ob- taining necessary permits, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Promoting New Manu- 4 facturing Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. BUILDING AND MANUFACTURING PROJECTS DASH- 6 BOARD. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall, with re- 8 spect to fiscal year 2016 and each subsequent fiscal year, 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:58 May 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1855.IH H1855 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1855 IH publish in a readily accessible location on the Environ- 1 mental Protection Agency’s public website the Agency’s 2 estimate of the following: 3 (1) The total number of preconstruction per- 4 mits issued during the fiscal year. 5 (2) The percentage of such preconstruction per- 6 mits issued within one year after the date of filing 7 of a completed application. 8 (3) The average length of time for the Agency’s 9 Environmental Appeals Board to issue a final deci- 10 sion on petitions appealing decisions to grant or 11 deny a preconstruction permit application. 12 (b) INITIAL PUBLICATION; UPDATES.—The Adminis- 13 trator shall— 14 (1) make the publication required by subsection 15 (a) for fiscal years 2016 through 2020 not later 16 than 60 days after the date of enactment of this 17 Act; and 18 (2) update such publication not less than annu- 19 ally. 20 (c) SOURCES OF INFORMATION.—In carrying out this 21 section: 22 (1) With respect to information to be published 23 for fiscal years 2016 through 2020, the Environ- 24 mental Protection Agency’s estimates shall be based 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:58 May 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1855.IH H1855 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1855 IH on information that is in the Agency’s possession as 1 of the date of enactment of this Act, including infor- 2 mation in the RACT/BACT/LAER Clearinghouse 3 database. 4 (2) With respect to information to be published 5 for any fiscal year, nothing in this section compels 6 the Environmental Protection Agency to seek or col- 7 lect any information in addition to the information 8 that is voluntarily provided by States and local air 9 agencies for the RACT/BACT/LAER Clearinghouse 10 database. 11 SEC. 3. TIMELY ISSUANCE OF REGULATIONS AND GUID- 12 ANCE TO ADDRESS NEW OR REVISED NA- 13 TIONAL AMBIENT AIR QUALITY STANDARDS 14 IN PRECONSTRUCTION PERMITTING. 15 (a) IN GENERAL.—In publishing any final rule estab- 16 lishing or revising a national ambient air quality standard, 17 the Administrator shall, as the Administrator determines 18 necessary and appropriate to assist States, permitting au- 19 thorities, and permit applicants, concurrently publish reg- 20 ulations and guidance for implementing the standard, in- 21 cluding information relating to submission and consider- 22 ation of a preconstruction permit application under the 23 new or revised standard. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:58 May 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1855.IH H1855 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1855 IH (b) APPLICABILITY OF STANDARD TO 1 PRECONSTRUCTION PERMITTING.—If the Administrator 2 fails to publish final regulations and guidance that include 3 information relating to submission and consideration of a 4 preconstruction permit application under a new or revised 5 national ambient air quality standard concurrently with 6 such standard, then such standard shall not apply to the 7 review and disposition of a preconstruction permit applica- 8 tion until the Agency has published such final regulations 9 and guidance. 10 (c) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.— 11 (1) After publishing regulations and guidance 12 for implementing national ambient air quality stand- 13 ards under subsection (a), nothing in this section 14 shall preclude the Environmental Protection Agency 15 from issuing subsequent regulations or guidance to 16 assist States and facilities in implementing such 17 standards. 18 (2) Nothing in this section shall be construed to 19 eliminate the obligation of a preconstruction permit 20 applicant to install best available control technology 21 and lowest achievable emission rate technology, as 22 applicable. 23 (3) Nothing in this section shall be construed to 24 limit the authority of a State, local, or Tribal per- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:58 May 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1855.IH H1855 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1855 IH mitting authority to impose more stringent emissions 1 requirements pursuant to State, local, or Tribal law 2 than Federal national ambient air quality standards 3 established by the Environmental Protection Agency. 4 SEC. 4. REPORT TO CONGRESS ON ACTIONS TO EXPEDITE 5 REVIEW OF PRECONSTRUCTION PERMITS. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 7 date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, 8 the Administrator shall submit to Congress a report— 9 (1) identifying the activities being undertaken 10 by the Environmental Protection Agency to increase 11 the efficiency of the preconstruction permitting proc- 12 ess; 13 (2) identifying the specific reasons for delays in 14 issuing— 15 (A) preconstruction permits required under 16 part C of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7470 17 et seq.) beyond the one-year statutory deadline 18 mandated by section 165(c) of the Clean Air 19 Act (42 U.S.C. 7475(c)); or 20 (B) preconstruction permits required under 21 part D of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7501 22 et seq.) beyond the one-year period beginning 23 on the date on which the permit application is 24 determined to be complete; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:58 May 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1855.IH H1855 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 1855 IH (3) describing how the Agency is resolving 1 delays in making completeness determinations for 2 preconstruction permit applications; 3 (4) describing how the Agency is resolving proc- 4 essing delays for preconstruction permits, including 5 any increases in communication with State and local 6 permitting authorities; and 7 (5) summarizing and responding to public com- 8 ments concerning the report received under sub- 9 section (b). 10 (b) PUBLIC COMMENT.—Before submitting each re- 11 port required by subsection (a), the Administrator shall 12 publish a draft report on the website of the Environmental 13 Protection Agency and provide the public with a period 14 of at least 30 days to submit comments on the draft re- 15 port. 16 (c) SOURCES OF INFORMATION.—Nothing in this sec- 17 tion compels the Environmental Protection Agency to seek 18 or collect any information in addition to the information 19 that is voluntarily provided by States and local air agen- 20 cies for the RACT/BACT/LAER Clearinghouse database. 21 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 22 In this Act: 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:58 May 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1855.IH H1855 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 1855 IH (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis- 1 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ- 2 mental Protection Agency. 3 (2) BEST AVAILABLE CONTROL TECH- 4 NOLOGY.—The term ‘‘best available control tech- 5 nology’’ has the meaning given to that term in sec- 6 tion 169(3) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7 7479(3)). 8 (3) LOWEST ACHIEVABLE EMISSION RATE.— 9 The term ‘‘lowest achievable emission rate’’ has the 10 meaning given to that term in section 171(3) of the 11 Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7501(3)). 12 (4) MAJOR EMITTING FACILITY; MAJOR STA- 13 TIONARY SOURCE.—The terms ‘‘major emitting fa- 14 cility’’ and ‘‘major stationary source’’ have the 15 meanings given to those terms in section 302(j) of 16 the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7602(j)). 17 (5) NATIONAL AMBIENT AIR QUALITY STAND- 18 ARD.—The term ‘‘national ambient air quality 19 standard’’ means a national ambient air quality 20 standard for an air pollutant under section 109 of 21 the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7409) that is finalized 22 on or after the date of enactment of this Act. 23 (6) PRECONSTRUCTION PERMIT.—The term 24 ‘‘preconstruction permit’’— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:58 May 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1855.IH H1855 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 1855 IH (A) means a permit that is required under 1 part C or D of title I of the Clean Air Act (42 2 U.S.C. 7470 et seq.) for the construction or 3 modification of a major emitting facility or 4 major stationary source; and 5 (B) includes any such permit issued by the 6 Environmental Protection Agency or a State, 7 local, or Tribal permitting authority. 8 (7) RACT/BACT/LAER CLEARINGHOUSE 9 DATABASE.—The term ‘‘RACT/BACT/LAER Clear- 10 inghouse database’’ means the central database of 11 air pollution technology information that is posted 12 on the Environmental Protection Agency’s website. 13 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:58 May 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1855.IH H1855 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS