Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Modernization Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6842 To amend title 23, United States Code, to modify the apportionment formula for the congestion mitigation and air quality improvement program, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 12, 2020 Ms. TITUS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure A BILL To amend title 23, United States Code, to modify the appor- tionment formula for the congestion mitigation and air quality improvement program, 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 ‘‘Congestion Mitigation 4 and Air Quality Improvement Modernization Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. APPORTIONMENT. 6 Section 104(b)(4) of title 23, United States Code, is 7 amended to read as follows: 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:51 May 30, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6842.IH H6842 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6842 IH ‘‘(4) CONGESTION MITIGATION AND AIR QUAL- 1 ITY IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM.— 2 ‘‘(A) CALCULATION.—For the congestion 3 mitigation and air quality improvement pro- 4 gram, an amount determined by multiplying the 5 amount of the base apportionment remaining 6 for the State under subsection (c) after making 7 the set aside in accordance with paragraph (5) 8 by the proportion that— 9 ‘‘(i) the total of all weighted county 10 populations with monitored pollutant con- 11 centrations above national ambient air 12 quality standards in the State; bears to 13 ‘‘(ii) the total of all weighted county 14 populations with monitored pollutant con- 15 centrations above national ambient air 16 quality standards in all States. 17 ‘‘(B) CALCULATION OF WEIGHTED POPU- 18 LATIONS WITH MONITORED POLLUTION CON- 19 CENTRATIONS ABOVE NATIONAL AMBIENT AIR 20 QUALITY STANDARDS.—Subject to subpara- 21 graphs (C), (D), and (E), for the purpose of 22 subparagraph (A), the weighted population in 23 counties with pollution concentrations above na- 24 tional ambient air quality standards shall be 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:51 May 30, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6842.IH H6842 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6842 IH calculated by multiplying the population of each 1 county by a factor determined from the ratio of 2 design values to national ambient air quality 3 standards. 4 ‘‘(C) DESIGN VALUES OF OZONE.— 5 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In making the cal- 6 culation under subparagraph (B), for coun- 7 ties with design values of ozone greater 8 than the national ambient air quality 9 standard, the population of a monitored 10 county is multiplied by a factor of— 11 ‘‘(I) the average of 2013–2015 12 and 2016–2018 design values, pro- 13 vided by the Environmental Protec- 14 tion Agency Administrator; bears to 15 ‘‘(II) the primary national ambi- 16 ent air quality standard for ozone es- 17 tablished by the Administrator under 18 109(b) of the Clean Air Act (42 19 U.S.C. 7409(b)). 20 ‘‘(ii) SPECIAL RULE.—If the average 21 of design values from 2013–2015 and 22 2016–2018 is not greater than the primary 23 national ambient air quality standard for 24 ozone, a weighting factor of zero is applied. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:51 May 30, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6842.IH H6842 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 6842 IH ‘‘(iii) MAXIMUM FACTOR.—Notwith- 1 standing clauses (i) and (ii), the maximum 2 factor to be applied for ozone shall not ex- 3 ceed 1.4. 4 ‘‘(D) DESIGN VALUES OF FINE PARTICU- 5 LATE MATTER.— 6 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—For counties with 7 design values of fine particulate matter 8 greater than the national ambient air qual- 9 ity standards, the population of a mon- 10 itored county is multiplied by the greater 11 factor of— 12 ‘‘(I) the average of the 2013– 13 2015 and 2016–2018 design values 14 for annual concentrations of fine par- 15 ticulate matter, provided by the Envi- 16 ronmental Protection Agency Admin- 17 istrator; bears to 18 ‘‘(II) the primary national ambi- 19 ent air quality standard for fine par- 20 ticulate matter for annual concentra- 21 tions established by the Administrator 22 under 109(b) of the Clean Air Act (42 23 U.S.C. 7409(b)); or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:54 Jun 01, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6842.IH H6842 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 6842 IH ‘‘(III) the average of the 2013– 1 2015 and 2016–2018 design values 2 for 24-hour averaging time of fine 3 particulate matter, provided by the 4 Environmental Protection Agency Ad- 5 ministrator; bears to 6 ‘‘(IV) the primary national ambi- 7 ent air quality standard for fine par- 8 ticulate matter for 24-hour averaging 9 time established by the Administrator 10 under 109(b) of the Clean Air Act (42 11 U.S.C. 7409(b)). 12 ‘‘(ii) SPECIAL RULE.—If the average 13 of design values from 2013–2015 and 14 2016–2018 are not greater than the pri- 15 mary national ambient air quality stand- 16 ards for particulate matter, a weighting 17 factor of zero is applied. 18 ‘‘(iii) MAXIMUM FACTOR.—Notwith- 19 standing clause (i), the maximum factor to 20 be applied for fine particulate matter shall 21 not exceed 1.4. 22 ‘‘(E) DESIGN VALUES OF BOTH OZONE 23 AND PARTICULATE MATTER.—Notwithstanding 24 subparagraphs (B) through (D), for counties 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:51 May 30, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6842.IH H6842 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 6842 IH with design values greater than the national 1 ambient air quality standards for both ozone 2 and particulate matter, a new factor, deter- 3 mined by multiplying the factors determined in 4 subparagraphs (C) and (D), is applied to coun- 5 ty populations in place of the individual factors 6 determined in subparagraphs (C) and (D). 7 ‘‘(F) MINIMUM APPORTIONMENT.—Not- 8 withstanding any other provision of this para- 9 graph, the minimum apportionment for a State 10 under this paragraph shall be one half of 1 per- 11 cent of the funds apportioned under this para- 12 graph. 13 ‘‘(G) MAXIMUM APPORTIONMENT.—Not- 14 withstanding any other provision of this para- 15 graph, the maximum apportionment for a State 16 under this paragraph shall be 25 percent of the 17 funds apportioned under this paragraph. 18 ‘‘(H) DETERMINATIONS OF POPU- 19 LATION.—In determining county population for 20 purposes of this paragraph, the Secretary shall 21 use the latest available annual estimates pre- 22 pared by the Secretary of Commerce.’’. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:51 May 30, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6842.IH H6842 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 6842 IH SEC. 3. CONGESTION MITIGATION AND AIR QUALITY IM- 1 PROVEMENT PROGRAM. 2 Section 149 of title 23, United States Code, is 3 amended— 4 (1) in subsection (b)— 5 (A) by striking ‘‘, carbon monoxide,’’; 6 (B) by striking ‘‘186(a),’’; 7 (C) by striking ‘‘7512(a),’’; 8 (D) in paragraph (8)(B) by striking ‘‘; or’’ 9 and inserting a semicolon; 10 (E) in paragraph (9) by striking the period 11 at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 12 (F) by adding at the end the following: 13 ‘‘(10) other projects, if determined by the Sec- 14 retary, to be more cost-effective than projects de- 15 scribed in paragraphs (1) through (9).’’; 16 (2) in subsection (c) by striking ‘‘carbon mon- 17 oxide, or both, and for’’; and 18 (3) by amending subsection (d) to read as fol- 19 lows: 20 ‘‘(d) STATES FLEXIBILITY.—If a State does not 21 have, and never has had, a nonattainment area designated 22 under the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.), the 23 State may use funds apportioned to the State under sec- 24 tion 104(b)(4) for any project in the State that— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:54 Jun 01, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6842.IH H6842 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 6842 IH ‘‘(1) would otherwise be eligible under sub- 1 section (b) as if the project were carried out in a 2 nonattainment or maintenance area; or 3 ‘‘(2) is eligible under the surface transportation 4 block grant program under section 133.’’. 5 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:51 May 30, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H6842.IH H6842 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS