Background Ozone Research Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4656 To direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to seek to enter an agreement with the National Academies of Sciences, Engi- neering, and Medicine to conduct a study on the science of background ozone in the United States and to provide research recommendations to better understand background ozone contributions to ground-level ozone, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OCTOBER 11, 2019 Mr. MCADAMS (for himself and Mr. ROONEY of Florida) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology A BILL To direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to seek to enter an agreement with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to conduct a study on the science of background ozone in the United States and to provide research rec- ommendations to better understand background ozone contributions to ground-level ozone, and for other pur- poses. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:43 Oct 12, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4656.IH H4656 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 4656 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Background Ozone Re- 2 search Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 4 Congress finds the following: 5 (1) Ground-level ozone, a type of tropospheric 6 ozone, is created when nitrogen oxides (NOX) and 7 volatile organic compounds (VOCs), emitted by 8 motor vehicles, power plants, other industrial proc- 9 esses, or natural processes like wildfires, chemically 10 react in the presence of ultraviolet (UV) radiation 11 from the Sun. 12 (2) Ground-level ozone present in a given area 13 may be attributed to either local, human produced 14 sources or sources that are not local and human pro- 15 duced. 16 (3) United States background ozone (hereafter 17 referred to as ‘‘background ozone’’) is the ground- 18 level ozone that would exist in the absence of any 19 human-produced emissions inside the United States. 20 (4) Ground level ozone is considered a harmful 21 pollutant due to its effects on people and the envi- 22 ronment and is the main component of smog. 23 (5) The American Thoracic Society estimated 24 the annual excess mortality due to ground-level 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:43 Oct 12, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4656.IH H4656 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 4656 IH ozone in the United States at 3,880 individuals as 1 of 2017. 2 (6) Ground-level ozone has been linked to plant 3 damages and thus diminished crop yields. 4 (7) A number of cities and regions in the 5 United States remain out of compliance with Envi- 6 ronmental Protection Agency (EPA) National Ambi- 7 ent Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for ground- 8 level ozone. 9 (8) Further research would help to understand 10 background ozone trends and how to mitigate back- 11 ground ozone. 12 SEC. 3. STUDY ON BACKGROUND OZONE RESEARCH NEEDS. 13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days after the 14 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the 15 Environmental Protection Agency shall seek to enter an 16 agreement with the National Academies of Sciences, Engi- 17 neering, and Medicine (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Na- 18 tional Academies’’) under which the National Academies 19 shall conduct a study on the current and future research 20 needs regarding background ozone. The study shall— 21 (1) propose a framework of standard terms and 22 definitions for types of non-local ground level ozone, 23 including types of background ozone, to standardize 24 research on ground-level ozone; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:43 Oct 12, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4656.IH H4656 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 4656 IH (2) examine the current understanding of back- 1 ground sources of ozone and the contribution of such 2 sources to ground-level ozone in the United States to 3 identify gaps in knowledge that need to be addressed 4 with additional research; 5 (3) examine challenges in quantifying the 6 sources of background ozone and the contributions 7 of each such source to ground-level ozone on a re- 8 gional scale in the United States and identifies spe- 9 cific research needs to address these challenges; 10 (4) include an outline of a plan for a research 11 and development program, including specifications 12 for costs, timeframes, and responsible agencies, to 13 support analysis and demonstration of background 14 ozone trends, including by— 15 (A) improving collection and observational 16 infrastructure; 17 (B) improving confidence in model outputs; 18 (C) reducing uncertainties in estimates of 19 background ozone; and 20 (D) making background ozone research 21 outputs more useful and accessible to decision- 22 makers; and 23 (5) identify opportunities for international en- 24 gagement that may facilitate increased research col- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:43 Oct 12, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4656.IH H4656 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 4656 IH laborations that improve understanding of ozone 1 trends. 2 (b) REPORT.—As a condition of any agreement under 3 subsection (a), the Administrator shall require that the 4 National Academies transmit to Congress a report on the 5 results of the study under subsection (a) not later than 6 24 months after the date of enactment of this Act. 7 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:43 Oct 12, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4656.IH H4656 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS