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51 records in US in 1982
United States · United States Congress · 19 December 1982
Extends through September 30, 1988, (currently, September 30, 1983) the authority for advances to the migratory bird conservation fund.
United States · United States Congress · 8 December 1982
Hazardous Waste Identification Improvement Act - Amends the Solid Waste Disposal Act to revise provisions relating to criteria for identification and listing of hazardous waste. Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), when evaluating a petition to exclude a waste generated at a particular facility from being listed as a hazardous waste, to consider criteria other than those for which the waste was listed if the Administrator has a reasonable basis to believe that such additional criteria could cause such waste to be listed as a hazardous waste. Directs the Administrator to grant or deny such petition only after the petitioner and all interested parties have been given notice and opportunity for public hearing with respect to such additional criteria and to demonstrate whether such waste meets such criteria. Directs the Administrator to develop, and submit to the Congress by July 1, 1983, a two-year plan for: (1) revising or adding new characteristics for identifying hazardous waste; and (2) the listing of those hazardous wastes which are not so listed on the date of enactment of this Act, with a determination with respect to the listing of dioxin and certain organic and inorganic waste streams (described in a specified document) to be made prior to March 1, 1983; and (3) an evaluation of possible determinations as to the levels of certain hazardous constituents which may cause wastes to be hazardous per se. Directs the Administrator to submit progress reports on such program on January 1, 1984, and January 1, 1985, in conjunction with the submittal of the proposed budget for EPA, to the appropriate congressional committees. Provides that such amendments shall become effective on the date of enactment of this Act, and required regulations shall be promulgated within 180 days after such date.
United States · United States Congress · 8 December 1982
Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to declare that no vessel having a length of 65 feet or less shall be required to have in operation a marine sanitation device. Sets forth provisions of State regulation of such vessels and devices.
United States · United States Congress · 15 November 1982
Clean Air Act Amendments of 1982 - Amends the Clean Air Act ("the Act"). Title I: Amendments Relating Primarily to Stationary Sources - Amends title I of the Act (Air Pollution Prevention and Control). Indian Tribes - Amends the definition of "air pollution control agency" to provide that any single agency designated by the tribal governing body of a federally recognized Indian tribe shall be eligible for grants for support of air pollution planning and control programs within an Indian reservation. Provides that specified funding level requirements for such grants to other agencies in each State shall not apply to grants to tribal agencies. Information for Technology Requirements - Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to make available to State agencies administering permit programs, and to other interested persons, guidance documents to assist such agencies in implementing requirements regarding: (1) best available control technology (BACT) for proposed new and modified major stationary sources; and (2) reasonably available control technology (RACT) for existing sources. Requires publication of such documents within one year after enactment of this Act and updating every year thereafter. Requires that such documents describe, in detail and with specified distinctions, BACT and RACT determinations made by the Administrator and State air pollution control agencies. Secondary Ambient Air Quality Standards - Makes a technical revision of requirements for national secondary ambient air quality standards (secondary NAAQS). Implementation Plan Revisions - Directs the Administrator to announce a 60-day public comment period after receipt of any State implementation plan (SIP) revision. Provides for automatic approval of SIP revisions if the Administrator does not disapprove the revision within 120 days after the end of such public comment period. Authorizes the Administrator to extend the disapproval deadline for 60 days if the State submits additional information after the close of the public comment period. Directs the Administrator, within the 120-day period after the close of the public comment period to: (1) review any objections filed during the public comment period which were also filed during State proceedings; and (2) either disapprove or determine not to disapprove the revision based on such review. New Source Permits and Operating Permits - Revises SIP requirements relating to new source permits and operating permits. Provides that a modification of an existing source shall be subject to a new source review only if such modification increases emissions or potential emissions by 100 tons or more per year (the same level as that which applies to new sources). Prohibits the Administrator from requiring major stationary sources which comply with BACT requirements to adopt more stringent emission limitation or standard during the ten-year period after the new source permit is issued, except in cases of previously unregulated pollutants or hazardous pollutants or public health emergencies. Prohibits the Administrator from requiring a proposed major emitting facility to comply with any administrative or procedural requirements for permit issuance or emissions calculation which are adopted or modified after the date on which the permit application has been deemed complete, until final action on such application. Allows a State to adopt a program for establishing or modifying emission limitations and schedules and timetables for compliance for all or any class of sources in such State, through operating permits, general source-specific regulations, or other means. Excludes from coverage under such State program emission limitations established for a new source by a State pursuant to specified provisions relating to new source performance standards, national emission standards for hazardous pollutants, prevention of significant deterioration of air quality, and nonattainment areas. Sets forth requirements for any such State program. Provides for EPA review of: (1) any new or modified emission limitation which involves a potential net increase in emissions of 100 tons or more per year for a particular source or class of sources; or (2) any action delaying compliance with an emission limitation for a particular source or class of sources which would reduce emissions by 100 tons or more per year. Hazardous Air Pollutants - Directs the Administrator, within 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act, to identify at least 20 substances or materials for which the Administrator intends to decide, within two years after such enactment date, whether or not to include such substances in the list of hazardous air pollutants (the NESHAPs list). Requires that such identification include: (1) each substance or material for which the EPA is projected to have completed a health assessment within two years of such enactment date; and (2) each other substance or material under EPA evaluation for inclusion on the NESHAPs list for which EPA has positive data from one or more tests indicating carcinogenicity in humans or other mammals. Directs the Administrator, within one year of such enactment date, to identify at least 20 additional substances or materials for which an inclusion decision will be made within five years of such enactment date. Requires that first consideration, in both such identifications, be given to specified substances and materials which the EPA has been evaluating. Directs the National Toxicology Program, through its Director, to recommend substances or materials which should be so identified, and to continue to recommend substances and materials which may be appropriate for inclusion on the NESHAPs list. Directs the Administrator, at the time the additional substances or materials are identified, to also identify what additional research, study, or evaluation is necessary for a determination. Directs the Administrator, in cooperation with the National Toxicology Program, to: (1) establish a schedule for initiating and completing such research, study, or evaluation; (2) identify the agency which will undertake it; and (3) identify the source and amount of funding for it, if such funding is not provided through the Hazardous Substance Response Trust Fund. Directs the Administrator to establish a docket for each substance identified and provide opportunity for submittal of information by interested parties. Directs the Administrator, within two years in the case of those substances in the first identification and within five years in the case of the additional substances identified, to publish the determination of whether each substance or material is a hazardous air pollutant to be included on the NESHAPs list, with the basis and the available information for such determination. Requires that a substance or material be included on the NESHAPs list by operation of law if the Administrator fails to make a determination by the appropriate deadline. Provides for removal from the list if the Administrator, within 180 days of such inclusion and upon petition by an interested party, makes a determination that such substance or material is not a hazardous air pollutant. Provides that neither the identification for determination purposes nor the automatic listing due to failure to meet the deadline shall be deemed a presumption that a substance or material is a hazardous air pollutant. Directs the Administrator to specify the chemical forms of a substance or material which are determined to be hazardous air pollutants when including such substance or material on the NESHAPs list. Directs the Administrator to identify the categories of sources which emit each hazardous air pollutant on the NESHAPs list in significant amounts. Extends from 180 days to one year the period after proposal of emission standards during which the Administrator must establish final emission standards for hazardous air pollutants (NESHAPs). Requires that NESHAPs be established at a level requiring the greatest degree of emission reduction of such pollutant through the application of the best system of continuous emission reduction available for the class or category of source, taking into account the cost of achieving such reduction and any nonair quality health or environmental impacts (BACT - the Best Available Control Technology). Directs the Administrator to determine whether such emission standard is adequate to protect the public health from such hazardous air pollutant with an adequate margin of safety, and, if not, to establish such standard at a more stringent level. Requires that NESHAPs be at least as stringent as the most stringent emission limitation shown by an adequate operating history to have been achieved in practice by a source of the same class or category (LAER-the Lowest Achievable Emission Rate). Authorizes the Administrator to distinguish among classes, types, sizes, and periods of remaining useful life for sources within a category of sources for purposes of establishing NESHAPs. Directs the Administrator to establish for each class or category of existing source deadlines which provide for NESHAP compliance as expeditiously as possible, but not later than two years after the effective date of the NESHAP. Provides that such NESHAPs amendments shall not affect any NESHAP promulgated prior to the enactment of this Act. Primary Nonferrous Smelter Orders - Extends the date by which primary nonferrous smelter orders must require final compliance with applicable sulfur oxides emission limitations from January 1, 1988, to January 1, 1993. Permits determinations of such compliance to take into account the effect of the de-minimis use of supplementary controls (up to five percent of any calendar year). Noncompliance Penalties - Requires that noncompliance penalties be reduced by the amount of any expenditures used to achieve interim reductions of the pollutant, by a method approved by the Secretary (or the State, as appropriate). Ozone Protection - Directs the Administrator to give priority in ozone protection studies and research to increasing actual measurements of stratosphere ozone and improving methods of identifying potential trends in such measurements. Directs the Administrator to contract annually with the National Academy of Sciences to: (1) continue review and research; (2) determine the extent, nature, and causes of changes in stratosphere ozone concentration; (3) investigate probable or possible effects on health and the environment; and (4) report all findings and associated uncertainties. Directs the National Academy of Sciences, in consultation with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, to report, within two years after enactment of this Act and annually thereafter, all findings concerning actual or potential alteration of the concentration of ozone in the stratosphere, its causes, and associated implications and uncertainties. Requires that such report be made to the Administrator and to to the Congress, with copies available to the public. Requires that research and monitoring programs be continued and expanded to determine the extent, nature, causes, effects, and associated uncertainties of stratospheric ozone changes. Directs the President, within two years after enactment of this Act and annually thereafter, to report to the Congress and the public on efforts to reach international agreements among the major free-world producing countries of chlorofluorocarbons as to the nature, extent, and implications of any threat to the concentration of ozone in the stratosphere and as to the appropriate regulatory action to be taken. Directs the Administrator, in proposing further regulations for the control in the United States of any chlorofluorocarbon under the Act or the Toxic Substance Control Act, to first: (1) determine that chlorofluorocarbons are contributing to depletion of the stratospheric ozone which is occurring, or is likely to occur, at a rate that may reasonably be anticipated to endanger the public health or welfare; or (2) report that international agreement has been reached as to the nature, extent, and implications of any threat to the concentration of ozone in the stratosphere and as to the appropriate regulatory action to be taken. Directs the Administrator, in promulgating such regulations to: (1) take into account any unresolved scientific questions and the availability of suitable alternative products; and (2) specifically consider the health implications of chlorofluorocarbon chemical substitutes and implications of ozone depletion for the public health and welfare. Prevention of Significant Deterioration - Revises provisions for Prevention of Significant Deterioration of Air Quality (PSD). (PSD provisions currently specify allowable short-term and long-term "increments" of emissions of sulfur oxide and particulate matter--regulations for other pollutants are not yet final--in areas with cleaner air than that required by NAAQS. Currently, the smallest increments are allowed in "class I" areas, which include "statutorily designated" large national parks and wilderness areas, with larger increments in "class II" areas, and the largest increments in "class III" areas). Makes a technical amendment relating to the purpose of the PSD program. Eliminates the tracking of the short-term (three-hour and 24-hour for sulfur dioxide and 24-hour for particulate matter) increments in class II areas, by providing that the owner or operator of a major emitting facility must only demonstrate that such facility will not cause such maximum allowable increases to be exceeded during one such period per year. Exempts class II areas within the State of Alaska from compliance with the three-hour maximum allowable increase for sulfur dioxide. Eliminates provisions for class III areas (both for incremental limits and area redesignation purposes). Permits States to designate a PSD area as "unclassified" instead of class I or class II. Provides that unclassified areas (unlike the replaced class III area designation) shall not be subject to PSD increment limits. Permits States to eliminate the PSD increment system anywhere except on national lands which are mandatory class I or "mandatory" class II areas. Requires each State, within 18 months after enactment of this Act, to submit an area classification plan to the Administrator. Requires that such plan: (1) list all areas in the State which are federally mandatory class I or class II or which the State has determined warrant class I or class II designation; and (2) identify all "unclassified" areas within such State to which PSD provisions apply and which are not listed as class I or class II. Provides that unclassified areas shall not be subject to the PSD increment system. Sets forth plan requirements for unclassified areas, including: (1) comprehensive assessment of air quality; (2) long-term (at least 20 years) air quality goals and a procedure for periodic review of such goals; (3) emissions growth projections consistent with attainment of such goals; (4) a requirement that all proposed major emitting facilities which will emit or have the potential to emit 500 tons or more per year of particulate matter or 1,000 tons or more per year of any air pollutant be subject to review and be determined to be consistent with such goals prior to the issuance of a PSD construction permit; and (5) any other requirements the State deems necessary to attain such goals. Subjects area classification plans and revisions to specified requirements for SIP revisions. Requires that all areas which are class II areas immediately prior to enactment of this Act continue to be subject to class II increment limits until the area classification plan is approved. Requires that: (1) notice be afforded and public hearings conducted in at least three different locations in the State prior to submittal of such plan; (2) prior to such hearings, the proposed plan be available for inspection; and (3) affected local officials and Federal Land Managers be notified and provided with opportunity to comment. Eliminates area redesignation provisions requiring preparation of an analysis of the effects of a proposed redesignation and local government concurrence in the redesignation. Revises PSD preconstruction requirements to shorten the period (from one year to six months) during which a PSD permit application must be granted or denied, in the case of a facility emitting less than 500 tons per year of particulate matter and less than 1,000 tons per year of every other pollutant regulated under the Act. Requires that all PSD permit applicants be notified whether the application is complete, within two months after filing. Requires States to notify the Administrator only of applications and final actions on permits for facilities which will emit or have the potential to emit: (1) 500 tons or more per year of particulate matter and 1,000 tons or more per year of any other air pollutant; or (2) pollutants affecting air quality in any class I area. Provides that Federal Land Managers have a responsibility to: (1) identify (as well as protect) air quality related values of Federal class I areas (including visibility within such area); and (2) file a notice, and supporting information, to the permitting authority where emissions from a proposed major facility may have an adverse impact on such values; and (3) monitor and gather other information on air quality to assist in determining baseline concentrations and carrying out other responsibilities. Allows States to make "integral vista" determinations as to whether a proposed facility outside a Federal class I area will impair the vista within such area. Requires States, in any case in which the Federal Land Manager files such an allegation, to provide a public hearing with opportunity for the Federal Land Manager and other interested persons to comment on such impact. Allows a permit to be issued if the State determines that: (1) the facility would not cause a significant impairment of visibility within the integral vista; or (2) such issuance would be in the public interest notwithstanding any such significant impact. Requires the Administrator to follow any recommendations of the Governor, consistent with other requirements of the Act, when the Administrator is the PSD permitting authority for an integral vista determination. Eliminates the requirement that an air quality analysis include continuous air quality monitoring data gathered over a specified period. Allows a State to determine whether such monitoring data is necessary or appropriate for making a construction permit decision. Redefines "construction" for PSD permit purposes, to exclude modifications of existing facilities that will increase or have the potential to increase emissions of any pollutant by less than 100 tons per year. Requires the PSD permitting authority, before determining the "best available control technology" (BACT) to be achieved by a proposed major facility which will emit 500 tons or more per year of particulate matter or 1,000 tons or more per year of any other air pollutant regulated under the Act, to: (1) review the emission limitations with respect to such pollutant achieved in practice by or required under the Act for major emitting facilities of the same size, type, and class; and (2) identify the most stringent of such emission limitations and first consider these before determining the BACT to be achieved; and (3) provide information to the public regarding any decision to require a less stringent limitation. Requires that such review consider only emissions limitations: (1) for facilities within the same State (or EPA administrative region, if appropriate) as the proposed facility; (2) described in specified guidance documents; or (3) of which actual notice has been received by the permitting authority. Redefines "baseline concentration" to specify that this term refers to the ambient concentration levels in all PSD areas where such levels have been or will be affected by a facility which is applying for a permit. Includes data submitted by a Federal Land Manager among the data to be used in determining baseline concentration. Provides for updating of baseline concentrations following the redesignation of an area as class I. Fugitive Dust - Allows the Governor, in determining PSD increment consumption by a new source, to exclude concentrations of particulate matter attributable to emissions composed of soil which is uncontaminated by pollutants resulting from industrial activity. Requires that the State have an approved SIP for carrying out the PSD program and that there be notice and opportunity for public hearing before the Governor makes such exclusion. Provides, in any State where the Administrator is the permitting authority, that the Administrator may (and must, if petitioned by the Governor) make such exclusion of uncontaminated soil. Visibility - Revises provisions for the visibility protection program in mandatory class I areas to specify that such program is intended to prevent significant impairment of visibility in such areas. Prohibits the Administrator from requiring any existing source to procure, install, or operate any retrofit technology to prevent or remedy impairment of visibility outside the boundaries of a mandatory class I Federal area, unless the appropriate Governor has been notified and has not determined within a reasonable time that such action would not be in the public interest notwithstanding such impairment. Adds a definition of "integral vista" as ones included in a specified list published by the Department of the Interior for public comment. International Pollution - Discounts emissions from an immediately adjacent area in a foreign country which does not allow the United States to seek specified emissions reductions, in determining whether nonattainment provisions apply to an area in the United States that is exceeding a national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS). Declares the sense of the Congress that the President shall undertake negotiations with any foreign country from which emissions would cause an area in the United States to be a nonattainment area except for such discount, with the purpose of having such foreign country give the United States essentially the same rights to seek emissions reductions given other countries under the Act. Technology Requirements for Nonattainment Areas - Deletes provisions for a "lowest achievable emission rate" (LAER) from nonattainment area requirements. Requires new or modified sources constructed in nonattainment areas to adopt "best available control technology" (BACT). Requires, further, for any major stationary source emitting a pollutant (or pollutant precursor) for which the area is nonattainment, the permitting authority to establish an emission limitation for such pollutant at least as stringent as the more stringent of the most stringent limitation: (1) shown by an adequate operating history to have been achieved in practice by a major stationary source of the same size, type, and class within the same Federal administrative region; or (2) included in a permit issued for such an existing source before the permit application for the proposed source is complete, unless the permitting authority determines that such emission limitation in the issued permit is not achievable for the proposed source. Requires the permitting authority to review emission limitations and identify most stringent limitations only if: (1) the sources are in the same State (or EPA administrative region) as the proposed source; (2) specified guidance documents describe the emission limitation; or (3) the permitting authority has received actual notice of the emission limitation. Revises permit issuance requirements for nonattainment areas to subject a proposed source to BACT (rather than LAER). Nonattainment Definitions - Provides, for nonattainment area purposes, that "major stationary source" includes each discrete operation, unit, or other activity which produces or may produce emissions of 100 tons or more per year of a pollutant or pollutant precursor for which the area is a nonattainment area. Defines "vehicle inspection and maintenance programs" (I/M programs) to require: (1) areas which are nonattainment for carbon monoxide to have a program that is as effective in reducing vehicle emissions as specified programs fully approved by the EPA; and (2) areas which are nonattainment only for photochemical oxidant and in which motor vehicle emissions contribute less than one-third of the total hydrocarbon emissions to have a program that requires annual emissions testing or direct inspection of control equipment and that provides for attainment of the photochemical oxidant standard by the applicable deadline. Construction in Nonattainment Areas - Provides for an alternative to specified construction bans in nonattainment areas. Allows construction of a new or modified source, under specified circumstances, if offsets equal to twice the emissions from the new or modified source are obtained from existing sources. Nonattainment Plan Provisions - Extends to December 31, 1984, a State's deadline for attaining any primary ambient standard (primary NAAQS) if the State: (1) certifies that attainment could not be achieved by the December 31, 1982, deadline despite implementation of all measures in an approved or promulgated SIP; and (2) agrees not to relax any emission limitation in an approved SIP. Requires States to submit by December 31, 1984, any SIP revision providing for extensions of attainment deadlines to: (1) December 31, 1985, for sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, and particulate matter; or (2) December 31, 1987, for photochemical oxidants and carbon monoxide. Permits areas, if the Administrator determines they cannot meet the 1987 deadline despite implementing all reasonably available control technologies, an offset or equivalent program, and a vehicle I/M program, to extend the deadline: (1) for photochemical oxidants or carbon monoxide until December 31, 1992, if 1979 or 1980 levels for such pollutant were at least twice the primary NAAQS; or (2) for photochemical oxidants until December 31, 1990, if such levels were less than twice the primary NAAQS. Requires SIPs to provide for operation of a vehicle I/M program in any urbanized area with greater than 200,000 population which is seeking a deadline extension beyond 1982 for: (1) carbon monoxide; or (2) photochemical oxidants, if the 1979 and 1980 level exceeded the primary NAAQS by 50 percent or more. Requires that operation of such vehicle I/M programs begin as expeditiously as possible, but no later than January 1, 1985, for extensions requested after the enactment of this Act, and that such SIPs include reasonably available measures to assure continous compliance with SIP and permit requirements for major stationary sources. Prohibits relaxation or delay of any stationary source emission limitation or schedule of compliance in any area which receives a deadline extension under specified provisions of this Act for any primary NAAQS. Provides that an SIP establish the "growth allowance" (the allowance permitted for a pollutant, or precursor, for which an area is nonattainment from a new or modified major stationary sources) if: (1) there is an approved emissions inventory and allowable emissions from proposed new or modified stationary sources, in combination with all other increases in emissions of such pollutant (not offset by any reductions in emissions at any source) do not exceed one percent, in any calendar year, of the total annual emissions for such pollutant recorded in the inventory; (2) the State conducts a review prior to construction or modification and requires BACT for every new or modified source with potential emissions of 50 tons or more per year of such pollutant (without offsets); and (3) the SIP meets specified requirements, including the demonstration of reasonable further progress. Permit Requirements for Nonattainment Areas - Provides that any emissions reductions from existing sources required as a precondition for nonattainment area permit issuance may include any emissions reductions: (1) from nonindustrial sources, inanimate natural sources, and mobile sources; or (2) achieved by a State or local government and paid for by the owner or operator of the proposed new or modified source. Limitations on Certain Federal Assistance - Authorizes the Administrator to determine the extent and categories of withholding grants and project approval under the Act and under the Federal aid to highways program. Prohibits the Secretary of Transportation from approving projects or making grants in nonattainment areas which are not planning or implementing required vehicle I/M programs by the established deadlines. Exempts from such prohibition highway grants for Interstate highway construction, landscaping, and noise attention barriers (as well as for safety, mass transit, and transportation projects related to air quality improvement or maintenance). Interstate Transport and Acid Precipitation Reduction - Establishes a new program entitled "Interstate Transport and Acid Precursor Reduction." Establishes a long-range transport corridor, the "acid deposition impact region," consisting of 31 States (east of or bordering the Mississippi River) and the District of Columbia. Directs the Administrator to: (1) conduct a study of air pollution problems associated with the long-range transport of pollutants in the portions of the continental United States not included in the acid deposition impact region; and (2) report the results to Congress within two years. Directs the Acid Precipitation Task Force established under the Energy Security Act to submit to the appropriate congressional committees two comprehensive reports, one by December 31, 1985, and one by December 31, 1987, on the specified research findings and recommendations for reducing acid deposition and its effects. Authorizes additional appropriations for the Task Force for carrying out specified activities in FY 1983 through 1987. Directs the Task Force to also conduct and support research on advanced flue-gas cleaning and precombustion fuel treatment technologies and inherently low-emission combustion processes (including atmospheric and pressurized fluidized bed combustion). Authorizes appropriations for FY 1984 through 1988 to a Task Force member for partial funding of a joint project among the Tennessee Valley Authority and other appropriate participants for a demonstration facility to generate electricity using an atmospheric fluidized bed combustion process. Establishes an Acid Precipitation Scientific Review Board, to be appointed by the National Academy of Sciences. Directs the Board to review: (1) all available information on the causes, extent, and potential environmental impacts of acid deposition; and (2) all activities being performed by the Task Force. Directs the Board to submit at least two comprehensive reports, one not later than June 30, 1986, and one not later than June 30, 1988, on the results of such reviews, including a review of the Task Force's reports and the Board's own recommendations for acid deposition reduction. Authorizes appropriations for Board activities for FY 1983 through 1988. Directs the Administrator to report to the appropriate congressional committees on emission limitation and other enforceable measures for all States in the acid deposition impact region which are adopted, approved, or in effect under interstate transport and acid precursor reduction provisions. Directs the Office of Technology Assessment to: (1) analyze the control requirements of such reported enforceable measures in terms of environmental benefits, implementation costs, and potential effects on coal production or markets, on both aggregate regional and a State-by-State basis; and (2) report to the appropriate congressional committees. Requires such committees to conduct hearings on such acid deposition control matters. Directs the Administrator to: (1) develop an inventory of sources of nitrogen oxides in the acid deposition impact region and each of its States; and (2) report within four years of enactment of this Act to the appropriate congressional committees on the inventory, control technologies and methods for new and existing nitrogen oxides sources, and recommendations for control requirements. Directs the Administrator and the Secretary of the Treasury to conduct, and report to the Congress on, a joint study of a fee system on energy generators in the acid deposition region to finance emission reductions. Authorizes the Administrator, directly or through grants to any State or interstate agency, to develop, refine, demonstrate, and implement methods of: (1) neutralizing or restoring the buffering capacity of acid altered bodies of water that can no longer support game fish species; and (2) removing from bodies of water toxic metals or other toxic substances mobilized by acid deposition. Permits inclusion in such grants of amounts necessary for reports, plans, and specifications. Prohibits such grants from being made for any project: (1) in an amount exceeding 75 percent of costs; or (2) that involves bodies of water that did not contain game fish as established by State law prior to 1970. Authorizes appropriations for such purposes for FY 1983 through 1985. Requires that annual emissions of sulfur dioxide in the acid deposition be reduced by 8,000,000 tons from the total 1980 level, through a phased reduction to be completed by January 1, 1995. Requires that post-1980 increases in sulfur dioxide emissions from major stationary sources be added to the amount which a State in the region is required to reduce. Prohibits any major stationary source in the region from increasing its actual rate of sulfur dioxide over its 1980 level. Exempts from such requirement and such prohibition: (1) any State (and sources in such State) which had no 1980 utility boiler with annual average emissions greater than 1.2 pounds per million Btu; and (2) any utility boiler which converts to coal and emits no more than 1.5 pounds per million Btu. Prohibits any new major stationary source of sulfur dioxide from commencing operation in the region after January 1, 1995, unless there is an "offset" (a simultaneous net reduction in emissions of sulfur dioxide at one or more points in such region, which is: (1) identified for the new source; (2) in excess of the potential emissions from the new source; and (3) not otherwise required under specified provisions of the Act). Exempts from such prohibition any such source which: (1) adopts BACT; and (2) attains the most stringent emission limitation achieved by any source of the same size, type, and class within the region. Prohibits any major stationary source of nitrogen oxides in the region which began operation before January 1, 1981, from increasing its actual rate of such emissions over 1980 levels or levels experienced during a thirty-day period immediately prior to enactment of this Act, unless there is an "offset." Exempts from such prohibition utility boilers which convert to coal as a primary fuel. Requires the Governors of the 31 States within the region to negotiate the allocation of required reductions of sulfur dioxide among such States. Provides that any such allocation agreement shall be binding and enforceable upon each such State within 18 months after enactment of this Act upon notification to the Administrator by 75 percent of such Governors that such agreement has been reached. Sets forth a formula to determine such allocation of State sulfur dioxide reduction requirements, if the Governors fail to make such agreement within such time period. Provides for reallotment agreements between the Governors of two or more States in the region. Requires each State in the region, within 42 months after enactment of this Act, to: (1) adopt measures to achieve such sulfur dioxide emissions reductions, including emissions limitations and compliance schedules; and (2) submit such measures to the Administrator for review and approval and to the other Governors for comment. Subjects any major stationary source in the region which is not by December 31, 1985, in full compliance with the applicable SIP for sulfur dioxide in effect on January 1, 1981, to: (1) a 30-day average emission limitation of 1.2 pounds of sulfur dioxide per million Btu for all sources owned by its owner; and (2) specified noncompliance penalties. Encourages each State in the region adopting, and the Administrator in reviewing, such measures to phase compliance dates so that significant emission reduction is achieved prior to January 1, 1995. Requires each source which proposes to comply with such sulfur dioxide emission limitations by any means other than an innovative system of continuous emission reduction or the replacement of existing facilities with new facilities of substantially lower emissions to comply by January 1, 1993. Provides that, in States which have not adopted such measures within 42 months after enactment of this Act or which have not had such measures approved by the Administrator within six months after submission, each fossil-fuel-burning electric generating facility shall comply with an emission limitation for all such facilities owned or operated by the same entity in the region equivalent to a 30-day average of 1.2 pounds of sulfur dioxide per million Btu. Requires owners or operators of such facilities to submit to the Administrator a plan and schedule for compliance not later than four years after enactment of this Act or six months after such owner or operator becomes subject to such emission limitation. Directs the Administrator to approve any such plan and schedule if it contains requirements for continuous emission reduction and monitoring and achievement of compliance by January 1, 1995. Allows a State or source owner or operator to use specified methods or programs for net emission reduction required under the acid deposition region provisions in addition to enforceable continuous emission reduction measures, if such methods or programs are enforceable by the Federal Government, States other than those in which the emissions occur, and citizens. Lists such methods and programs as: (1) least emissions dispatch to meet electric generating demand at existing generating capacity; (2) early retirement of sources; (3) energy conservation investments; (4) trading emission reduction requirements and actual reductions on a State or regional basis; and (5) precombustion cleaning of fuels. Interstate Pollution - Requires SIPs to prohibit any stationary source from emitting any air pollutant in amounts which will: (1) interfere with attainment or maintenance by any other State of any primary or secondary NAAQS; or (2) contribute to atmospheric loadings of pollutants or their transformation products which may reasonably be anticipated to cause or contribute to an adverse effect on public health or welfare or the environment in any other State or foreign country. Revises provisions relating to stack heights to redefine "good engineering practice" to mean the height necessary to insure that stack emissions do not result in excessive air pollutant concentrations in the "impact area" of the source. Authorizes the Administrator to prohibit increases in, or restrict, the stack height of any source. Directs the Administrator, within one year of enactment of this Act, to complete a review of emission limits for all existing major sources which have come into existence since 1970, or raised stack heights since 1970, to determine if such limits are inappropriately based upon modeling credit for stack heights above good engineering practice. Directs the Administrator to require States to correct inappropriately based emission limits within six months. Makes it the burden of the operator of each such source to demonstrate the correct stack height credit to be used. Makes emission of an air pollutant which, by itself or in combination, reaction, or transformation, adversely affects the public health or welfare of another State a violation of interstate pollution abatement provisions. Requires major existing sources to install reasonably available control technology (RACT) within two years of a finding of such violation. Requires SIPs to require each major proposed new (or modified) source which may significantly contribute to levels of air pollution in any air quality control region outside the State to notify all nearby States. Allows State or local governments to petition the Administrator for a finding that any major source or group of sources is in violation of specified SIP or interstate pollution abatement provisions. Provides that all language referring to welfare under the Act also includes, but is not limited to: (1) effects on precipitation; and (2) specified effects whether caused by transformation, conversion, or combination with other air pollutants. Makes violations of the interstate pollution provisions subject to citizen suit provisions under the Act. Title II: Amendments Relating Primarily to Mobile Sources - Amends part A (Motor Vehicle Emission and Fuel Standards) of title II (Emission Standards for Moving Sources) of the Act. Heavy Duty Vehicle Emissions - Eliminates the authority of the Administrator to revise the heavy duty vehicle standards for emissions of hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide, which require a reduction of at least 90 percent. Makes such standards applicable during and after model year 1984. Sets a four-model-year period "lead time" between promulgation (or revision) and effective date of heavy duty vehicle standards for particulate matter. Provides that standards for particulate matter and for nitrogen oxides shall remain in effect for at least four model years. Authorizes the Administrator to make appropriate arrangements with the National Academy of Sciences to review the technological feasibility of any proposed standard for particulate matter. Directs the Administrator, in setting any heavy duty vehicle emission standard, to take into account the effect of attaining that standard on the attainment of other such existing or proposed emission standards for each other pollutant. Authorizes the Administrator to prescribe heavy duty vehicle or engine standards for emissions of nitrogen oxides and particulate matter for diesel-powered vehicles and engines which take effect in the same model year. Directs the Administrator to consider studies available from the Health Effects Institute, in conducting a continuing pollutant study concerning the effects of each air pollutant emitted from heavy-duty vehicles or engines and from other sources of mobile source related pollutants on the public health and welfare. Redefines "useful life," for purposes of heavy-duty vehicle and engine regulations, as the greater of: (1) one-half of the average time or use between first use and engine retirement or rebuild or any other measure of actual life determined by the Administrator; or (2) the duration or mileage of the published commercial warranty. Light Duty Vehicle Emissions - Sets a nitrogen oxides emissions limitation of 1.5 grams per vehicle mile for diesel-powered duty vehicles and engines manufactured during model years 1983 and 1984. Sets a particulate matter emissions limitation of 0.2 grams per vehicle mile for light duty vehicles and engines manufactured during model year 1986 and thereafter. Provides for a waiver of such standard to O.6 gram per vehicle mile of particulate matter for any class or category of light duty vehicles or engines manufactured during the model years 1986 and 1987, under specified conditions. Provides for a waiver of the 1986-1987 model year nitrogen oxides emissions standard to 1.5 grams per vehicle mile for diesel-powered light duty vehicles or engines, if such waiver will avoid granting the waiver with respect to particulate matter. Light Duty Truck Emissions - Sets low altitude emissions limitations for light duty trucks. Sets such limits at the following grams per vehicle mile for: (1) hydrocarbons, 1.7 in model year 1983 and 0.8 in model year 1984 and thereafter; (2) carbon monoxide; 18 in 1983 and ten in 1984 and thereafter; (3) nitrogen oxides, 2.3 in 1983 and 1984, 1.2 (for 6,000 pounds or less vehicle weights) in 1985 and thereafter, and 1.7 (for over 6,000 pounds vehicles) in 1985 and thereafter; and (4) particulate matter, 0.26 in 1986 and thereafter. Provides for waivers of such particulate matter standard to 0.6 grams per vehicle mile, under specified conditions. Provides for waiver of such nitrogen oxides standards to 1.7 (for 6,000 pounds or less vehicles) and 2.3 (for over 6,000 or less vehicles), if such waiver will avoid granting the waiver with respect to particulate matter. High Altitude Motor Vehicle Emissions - Eliminates the requirement that all model year 1984 and later light duty vehicles comply with national emission standards regardless of the altitude at which they are sold. Directs the Administrator to establish separate low altitude and high altitude emission standards for model year 1984 and later light duty vehicles and light duty trucks. Requires that the high altitude standards be equal in numerical value to the low altitude standards for emissions of: (1) nitrogen oxides from all such model year 1984 and later vehicles; and (2) carbon monoxide from model year 1984 and later light duty vehicles and model year 1985 and later light duty trucks. Provides that high altitude emission standards for every other pollutant must require a percentage reduction at least equal to the percentage reduction which the corresponding low altitude standards require at low altitude. Prohibits such high altitude standards from being numerically more stringent than corresponding low altitude standards. Authorizes the Administrator to issue certificates of conformity for model year 1984 and later for light duty vehicles and light duty trucks if they comply under: (1) low altitude conditions with low altitude standards, and are capable by design, or by approved adjustments or modifications, of complying under high altitude conditions with high altitude standards; (2) low altitude conditions with low altitude standards, and are subject to a specified exemption; or (3) high altitude conditions with high altitude standards, and the manufacturer demonstrates that virtually all such vehicles are intended for principal use at elevations of at least 4,000 feet above sea level. Directs the Administrator to determine the durability under high altitude conditions of the emission control performance of vehicles using data from tests conducted under low altitude conditions on the same or similar vehicles, unless the Administrator determines that it is necessary or appropriate to conduct separate tests under high altitude conditions. Sets forth requirements for adjustments and modifications to ensure adequate performance under high altitude conditions, and for readjustments or remodifications for such performance under low altitude conditions. Exempts, upon a manufacturer's application, motor vehicles for one model year from high altitude requirements if: (1) the Administrator has approved high altitude performance instructions for such vehicles; and (2) the number of such vehicles intended for principal use in designated high altitude areas represents not more than 15 percent of the manufacturer's anticipated combined sales in that model year of light duty vehicles and light duty trucks intended for principal use in designated high altitude areas. Requires exempted manufacturers to make all reasonable efforts to ensure that an individual vehicle has been adjusted or modified before sale or delivery to the ultimate purchaser in accordance with such approved instructions. Requires exempted manufacturers to inform the Administrator of actual combined sales, and provides for appropriate reductions of future exemptions. Requires dealers to certify to purchasers that required adjustments or modifications have been performed on model year 1984 or later light duty vehicles or light duty trucks intended for principal use in a designated high altitude area. Permits manufacturer's instructions for high altitude performance adjustments or modifications (and readjustments and remodifications) to include changes in gear ratios. Requires manufacturers to make such instructions and descriptions available to their authorized dealers, and upon request to service and repair establishments, in high altitude areas. Directs the Administrator, upon the request of a national association of motor vehicle dealers, to compile data on the availability and distribution of light duty vehicles and light duty trucks to dealers in designated high altitude areas. Requires a report on such data to be submitted to the Congress and published in the Federal Register within six months of such request. Provides for a six-month extension of this deadline if there is also a request for data on high altitude emission standards compliance costs and effects on sales. Sulfur Emissions - Directs the Administrator to prohibit the sale of diesel fuel for use in motor vehicles with a sulfur content of more than 0.5 percent by weight or such lesser limit as is necessary to protect the public health or welfare. Requires that regulations for such prohibition: (1) be promulgated at such time as diesel-powered vehicles constitute ten percent of the total annual sales of light duty vehicles and light duty trucks; and (2) take effect within 48 months after January 1 of the first calendar year in which such a sales level is reached. Imported Vehicles - Revises the prohibition against importation of new motor vehicles or new motor vehicle engines without a certificate of conformity with applicable emissions standards. Limits the exemption from such prohibition, exemption under which an importer may furnish a bond to insure that such vehicle or engine will be brought into such conformity, to those vehicles or engines which are of a class for which application for a certificate is pending. Exempts new vehicles or engines which are five model years old or older. Provides that an importer of vehicles who is not otherwise a manufacturer shall not be considered a small manufacturer for purposes of the small volume certification procedure. Vehicle Imports into Territories - Exempts from imported vehicle certification requirements of the Act vehicles imported for commercial or public transportation use, which would otherwise be unavailable, into and solely for use within a Territory of the United States which is not a nonattainment area and which imports fewer than 500 vehicles per year. Lead in Gasoline - Prohibits the Aministrator from allowing the average lead content per gallon of leaded gasoline to exceed, in future quarters, the average achieved during the quarter ending June 30, 1982. Prohibits any amendment of specified EPA regulations in effect on July 1, 1982, which would allow any increase in the average lead content per gallon of gasoline. Definitions - Defines "heavy duty vehicle" and "heavy duty vehicle and engine" as a motor vehicle, including engine, with: (1) more than 8,500 pounds gross vehicle weight; (2) more than 6,000 pounds vehicle curb weight; or (3) more than 45 square feet basic vehicle frontal area. Defines "light duty truck" and "light duty truck and engine" as a vehicle, including engine, with gross vehicle and curb weight below the heavy duty vehicle level and which: (1) is designed primarily for transportation of property or is a derivation of such vehicle; (2) is designed primarily for transportation of persons has a capacity of more than 12 persons; or (3) has special features enabling off-street or off-highway operation and use. Authorizes the Administrator, notwithstanding such definitions, to define as a heavy duty vehicle instead of a light duty truck any vehicle with a gross weight more than 6,000 pounds but less than 8,500 pounds, and which is designed primarily for commercial (including agricultural) use and not for uses performed by light duty trucks. Sets forth provisions for high altitude emission standards for such redefined vehicles. Defines "light duty vehicle" and "light duty vehicle and engine" as a motor vehicle, including engine, designed primarily for transportation of persons which has a capacity of 12 persons or less. Defines "designated high altitude areas" as all countries identified in high altitude emission standards regulations in effect on December 31, 1981, which are in a State in which one or more such countries was in whole or in part during calendar year 1981 a nonattainment area for carbon monoxide photochemical oxidants. Defines "high altitude conditions" as an elevation of approximately 5,300 feet above sea level, or a barometric pressure corresponding to such elevation. Defines "low altitude conditions" by the definition given in regulations in effect on December 31, 1981, unless the Administrator by regulation promulgates another definition. Title III: Other Amendments and Provisions - Judicial Review - Revises provisions governing judicial review of EPA final actions under the Act. Allows petitions for review of locally or regionally applicable actions to be filed only in the U.S. Court of Appeals for an appropriate circuit. Allows petitions of review of nationally applicable actions to be filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia or in any U.S. Court of Appeals for a circuit in which the petitioner resides or transacts business. Establishes a random selection procedure, to be administered by the Administrative Office of the United States Courts, to determine the court of appeals in which an EPA action is to be reviewed when petitions for review have been filed in two or more courts of appeals. Directs the Administrator, following such determination, to promptly file the record in such court. Directs other courts to promptly transfer such petitions to such court. Provides that any court in which a petition has been filed, including any court selected by the random procedure, may transfer such petition to any other court of appeals for the convenience of the parties or otherwise in the interest of justice. Changes the period within which a petition for review of an EPA promulgation, approval, or action must be filed from 60 to 120 days after notice is published in the Federal Register, but requires petitions based solely on grounds arising after such 120-day period to be filed within 60 days after such grounds arise. Award of Fees - Limits the award of litigation costs, in proceedings for judicial review of EPA actions and citizen suits under the Act, to prevailing or substantially prevailing parties. Appropriations - Authorizes appropriations for FY 1983 through 1987 to carry out the Act, other than specified provisions for research and special studies under the interstate transport and acid precursor reduction program and other research, development, and demonstration activities. Wood Smoke Study - Directs the Administrator to: (1) study the effects of wood combustion on ambient air quality; (2) research and monitor the direct or indirect effects of emissions associated with wood combustion on public health or welfare; (3) research and develop a uniform method to measure emissions from wood combustion devices, including testing and recommending designs for such devices; (4) report by December 31, 1984, to Congress on such study and research and on any regulatory action taken or proposed and any recommendations for legislation made; and (5) consider any appropriate use of specified provisions under the Act to control emissions associated with wood combustion. Allows such studies and research to be undertaken with cooperation and assistance from universities, private industries, and local and State governments. Directs Federal agencies to assist the Administrator in carrying out such studies and research. Limits the term "wood combustion," for purposes of such requirements, to the burning of wood, wood by-products, or wood wastes to produce heat for residential, commercial, or institutional applications with a heat input of less than 5,000,000 Btu per hour. Indoor Air Pollution Study - Directs the Administrator to carry out a research program on indoor air quality designed to gather information on associated health problems and to coordinate Federal, State, local, and private research, development, and demonstration relating to indoor air quality improvement. Authorizes the Administrator to establish: (1) committees representing concerned Federal agencies; and (2) advisory groups representing science, industry, and public interest organizations. Directs the Administrator to consult and coordinate with State and local officials and other interested parties. Sets forth activities which the research program must include but not be limited to. Directs the Administrator to submit to Congress: (1) an implementation plan for such research program within one year after enactment of this Act; (2) a progress report within 36 months of such enactment; and (3) a final report within 54 months of such enactment. Requires the progress report and final report to be submitted to the National Academy of Science (NAS) before submittal to Congress, and to include any NAS comments. Declares that nothing in such indoor air quality research program provisions shall be construed to: (1) authorize the Administrator to carry out any regulatory program or activity; or (2) limit the authority of the Administrator or any other Federal agency or instrumentality under any other authority of law. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1983 and 1984 to carry out the indoor air quality research program. Cold Weather Carbon Monoxide Emissions Study - Directs the Administrator to: (1) study the feasibility and benefits of requiring motor vehicle design modifications or engine adjustments, or both, to reduce emissions of carbon monoxide under cold weather conditions, while maintaining or improving vehicle performance and fuel economy; and (2) report to Congress the study's findings and recommendations within two years after enactment of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 1 October 1982
Strategic Alcohol Fuel Reserve Act - Amends the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to provide for the establishment of a Strategic Alcohol Fuel Reserve which shall be administered in conjunction with the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Requires the Secretary of Energy to prepare and transmit to Congress a Strategic Alcohol Fuel Reserve Plan which shall provide for the overall development of the Alcohol Fuel Reserve and for a plan for drawdown and distribution of the Reserve. Makes such plan effective 15 days after it is submitted to Congress unless either the House of Representatives or the Senate adopts a resolution of disapproval. Requires the Secretary to submit an interim report on the implementation of these provisions. Authorizes ten percent of the amounts appropriated for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve under such Act to be appropriated for the Strategic Alcohol Fuel Reserve for fiscal years beginning after the enactment of this Act. Authorizes any further sums as are necessary.
United States · United States Congress · 1 October 1982
Toxic Victim Compensation Act - Title I: Establishment of New Cause of Action for Victims of Hazardous Substances - Makes the following persons liable for damages for specified injuries, illnesses, deaths, or losses caused by a release of a hazardous substance: (1) the owner and operator of a vessel or facility from which a hazardous substance is released; (2) a person who owned or operated a facility at which a hazardous substance was disposed and from which a hazardous substance is released when such person no longer owns or operates such facility; (3) any person who arranges for disposal or treatment, or transportation for disposal or treatment, of any hazardous substance at a facility owned by another person from which such a release occurs; and (4) any person who accepts a hazardous substance for transport to a site, selected by such person, from which such a release occurs. Includes as compensable damages: (1) the loss of use of real or personal property or natural resources without regard to ownership; and (2) any direct or indirect loss of revenue by the Federal Government or any State or local government. Exempts a defendant from such liability if he or she can establish by a preponderance of the evidence that: (1) the release of the hazardous substance was caused by an act of God, an act of War, or an act or omission of a third party who is not an agent, employee, or contractor of the defendant; (2) the defendant exercised due care with respect to the hazardous substance; or (3) the defendant took reasonable precautions against foreseeable acts of any third party and foreseeable consequences of such acts. Declares that no persons shall become exempt from liability by transferring such liability to any other person. Allows a trier of fact, in any action for damages under this Act, to find the defendant liable for punitive damages in addition to any compensatory damages, if such trier finds the conduct of the defendant demonstrated a gross and wanton disregard for public safety. Declares that this Act shall apply to any Federal agency to the same extent as it applies to any person. Provides that the plaintiff will have established a presumption that the defendant caused or significantly contributed to the injury, illness, or damage suffered by the plaintiff upon showing sufficient evidence that: (1) the plaintiff was exposed to a hazardous substance found in a discharge, release, or disposal caused or contributed to by the defendant; (2) the plaintiff's exposure to such substance would likely to cause or significantly contribute to the injury, illness, or damage. Makes it the burden of the defendant to establish by a preponderance of the evidence that he or she did not cause or significantly contribute to the plaintiff's injury or illness. Specifies the kinds of evidence which shall be considered relevant to the issue of causation of injury, illness, or damage. Designates as questions for the trier of fact the degree of culpability of, and the recovery amount due from, each defendant shown to be liable. Prohibits the commencement of any action for damages under this Act after the end of a three-year period beginning on the date the injury, illness, or damage was first known, or should reasonably have been known, to exist. Grants jurisdiction for such an action to any State court of competent jurisdiction or any Federal district court for the district in which either the plaintiff or the defendant resides, regardless of the amount in controversy. Requires an action brought against a Federal agency to be brought in a Federal district court. Prohibits any person from being denied benefits under a State's workers compensation plan for illness or injury due to a release of a hazardous substance because the person filed a claim in an untimely manner if the person filed within the period provided for filing an action for damages under this Act, regardless of whether the person's employer was responsible for such injury or illness. Declares that the presumption of cause, provided for actions for damages under this Act, shall constitute State law in any administrative or judicial proceeding under a State's workers compensation law. Title II: The Environmental Protection Agency - Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency: (1) to establish procedures under which physicians report all cases of injury, illness, and death which are suspected to have been caused by hazardous substances; and (2) to conduct investigations and studies to determine whether a hazardous substance has been released and the extent of the hazard. Authorizes the Administrator to conduct public proceedings as part of such an investigation. Directs the Administrator to: (1) publish in the Federal Register any tentative finding that the release of a hazardous substance has created the potential for injury, illness, or property damage; (2) invite and evaluate public comments concerning such finding; and (3) conduct further studies or investigations; or (4) publish his or her final determination of the risk of injury, illness, or damage created by the release. Permits a person adversely affected by the Administrator's final determination, to file a petition for judicial review of such determination within 60 days after it is issued. Provides that such a determination shall be conclusive in any legal or administrative proceeding if no petition is filed within such period. Title III: Toxic Victims Compensation Board - Establishes a Toxic Victims Compensation Board, which shall: (1) accept applications from persons claiming to be victims of illness, injury, or property damage caused by a release of a hazardous substance; (2) certify claimants as victims upon determining that such a release caused such injury, illness, or property damage; and (3) award specified benefits to such victims for their losses. Disqualifies from entitlement to such benefits any person who intentionally causes injury or illness to himself, herself, or another person. Specifies time limits for filing application with the Board. Sets forth the procedure for certification of a victim by the Board. Grants the Board subpeona powers. Requires any person filing for certification as a victim to also file a claim for benefits, simultaneously. Permits a victim to file a supplemental claim for benefits for losses suffered after the application date. Provides for the payment of a benefit award to a person other than the victim if necessary: (1) to secure payment for alimony, maintenance, or child support; or (2) to satisfy a claim for medical benefits or reasonable attorney's fees as verified by the Board. Subrogates the Board to the rights of any victim for the full amount of such benefit payments. Grants the Board a lien in such amount upon any amount recovered by such victim in a civil action for damages under title I of this Act. Allows the Board to exercise the right of such victim to commence such an action if such victim declines to do so. Provides for the judicial review of a determination by the Board. Requires the Board to submit to the President and Congress an annual report, analyzing: (1) the operation of its duties; (2) the regulations it issued; and (3) the victims certified and benefits awarded. Title IV: Fund for Compensation of Victims of Toxic Exposure - Establishes in the Treasury a trust fund to be known as the Toxic Victims Trust Fund (TVC Fund). Requires any amounts obtained by the Toxic Victims Compensation Board as a reimbursement for benefits paid to be deposited into such Fund. Requires the transfer of moneys from the Hazardous Response Trust Fund to cover any victim benefit payment for which there are insufficient moneys in the TCV Fund. Authorizes the appropriation to the Secretary of the Treasury of such amounts as may be necessary for loans to the TCV Fund to pay benefits exceeding amounts available in the TCV Fund and in the Hazardous Substance Response Trust Fund.
United States · United States Congress · 30 September 1982
Amends the Solid Waste Disposal Act to provide that for purposes of applying criminal penalties and knowing endangerment provisions, "hazardous waste" means any substance so defined by hazardous waste management regulations promulgated by the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. Bars judicial review of such regulations in any criminal action under specified Federal enforcement provisions. Applies criminal penalties to any person who knowingly violates such regulations. Directs the Administrator to promulgate regulations prohibiting the delivery of hazardous waste to any transporter not having a hazardous waste transportation identification number on file with the Administrator (or with a State, where there is an authorized State hazardous waste program). Applies criminal penalties to any persons who knowingly transport, treat, store, or dispose of any hazardous waste in violation of any State or local law or ordinance. Provides that any act indictable under specified criminal penalties and knowing endangerment provisions shall be treated as racketeering activity under Federal criminal law.
United States · United States Congress · 24 September 1982
Acid Deposition Study and Sulfur Emission Limitation Act of 1982 - Amends title I (Air Pollution Prevention and Control) of the Clean Air Act to establish a program of acid deposition analysis and mitigation. Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, within the five-fiscal-year period following the enactment of this Act, to report on acid deposition to specified congressional committees. Sets forth requirements relating to such report. Directs the Administrator to solicit data, views, and comments from State and other Federal agencies which are carrying out studies and research relating to acid deposition. Encourages State Governors to: (1) establish and designate appropriate regional acid deposition corridors comprising several States; and (2) negotiate appropriate measures to reduce emissions of acid deposition pollutants, taking into consideration actions taken and planned by various States and Canada to control sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, future economic growth in the corridors, employment impact, environmental endangerment, consumer costs, and equity among States. Directs the Administrator to cooperate with and to provide technical assistance for such State efforts. Prohibits the Administrator from approving State implementation plan revisions, during the five-year period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act, which would increase the annual allowable emissions of sulfur dioxide for any existing major stationary source. Sets forth exemptions from such prohibitions where: (1) the revised plan requires reduction of annual allowable emissions of sulfur dioxide from one or more other stationary sources in the State and such reduction is equal to, or greater than, such increase; (2) the increase is less than a deminimum amount established for stationary source construction or modification; (3) there is conversion from burning petroleum products or natural gas to the use of coal, or coal mixed with any other fuel, as the primary energy source; (4) modifications based on required monitoring and adopted pursuant to a consent decree entered into prior to enactment of this Act; and (5) specified sulfur dioxide emissions limitations are established. Authorizes the Administrator, directly or through grants to any State or interstate agency, to develop, refine, demonstrate, and implement methods of: (1) neutralizing or restoring the buffering capacity of acid altered bodies of water that can no longer support game fish species; and (2) removing from bodies of water toxic metals or other toxic substances mobilized by acid deposition. Permits inclusion in such grants of amounts necessary for reports, plans, and specifications. Prohibits such grants being made for any project: (1) in an amount exceeding 75 percent of costs; or (2) that involves bodies of water that did not contain game fish as established by State law prior to 1970. Authorizes appropriations to the Administrator for the five fiscal years following the date of enactment of this Act, in order to prepare the report on acid deposition and to make grants to State or interstate agencies.
United States · United States Congress · 24 September 1982
Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 - Title I: Disposal and Storage of High-Level Radioactive Waste, Spent Nuclear Fuel, and Low-Level Radioactive Waste - Provides that titles I and III of this Act shall not apply to atomic energy defense activities or to facilities connected with such activities. Requires that within two years after enactment of this Act the President shall evaluate the use of repositories to be developed under subtitle A of this Act for the disposal of high-level radioactive waste resulting from atomic energy defense activities and shall arrange for such use, unless the President finds that the development of a repository exclusively for waste from atomic energy defense activities is required. Subjects such a repository to licensing requirements and to Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) requirements for the establishment of repositories. Provides that this Act shall apply to repositories not used exclusively for high-level radioactive waste or spent nuclear fuel from: (1) atomic energy defense activities; (2) research and development activities of the Secretary of Energy; or (3) both. Requires the Secretary to notify the State in which, or the Indian tribe on whose reservation, a repository for high-level radioactive waste or spent nuclear fuel from atomic energy defense activities or from research and development activities of the Secretary is proposed to be located. Entitles the State or Indian tribe involved to rights of participation and consultation with respect to the development of such a repository. Subtitle A: Repositories for Disposal of High-Level Radioactive Waste and Spent Nuclear Fuel - Requires the Secretary, within 180 days after enactment of this Act, to issue general guidelines for the recommendation of repository sites. Sets forth the contents of such guidelines. Requires the Secretary, following the issuance of the guidelines and consultation with affected States, to recommend to the President at least five candidate sites in at least two different geologic media which are suitable for site characterization for repositories for the permanent disposal of high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel. Requires the Secretary to recommend at least one additional candidate site by February 1, 1985. Requires that each candidate site recommendation be accompanied by an environmental assessment and a basis for the recommendation. Directs the Secretary to notify the Governor of the State in which a candidate site is located or the Indian tribe on whose reservation a candidate site is located. Requires the Secretary to hold public hearings to inform the residents of the area in which a candidate site is located of the proposed recommendation and to receive their comments before making such recommendation to the President. Requires the President to: (1) review each candidate site recommendation; (2) either approve or disapprove the recommendation within 60 days; and (3) transmit such decision to the Secretary and to the appropriate Governor or Indian tribe. Provides that the President's failure to approve or disapprove a candidate site within the 60-day period or to invoke authority to delay the determination shall be considered an approval. Provides that this Act shall not prohibit the Secretary from continuing ongoing or presently planned site characterization at Department of Energy sites for which the location of the principal borehole was approved by August 1, 1982, provided that an environmental assessment is prepared and made available to the public before shafts are sunken at any such site. Prohibits the continuation of site characterization at any such site unless such site is recommended as a candidate site and approved by the President. Requires the Secretary to carry out site characterization activities at each candidate site approved by the President. Requires the Secretary to submit to the NRC and to either the State in which a candidate site is located or the Indian tribe on whose reservation such a site is located for review, before beginning site characterization activities: (1) a general plan for site characterization activities; (2) a description of the possible packaging for the high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel to be emplaced in the repository; and (3) a conceptual repository design that takes into account likely site-specific requirements. Directs the Secretary to make the required site characterization plan available to the public and to hold public hearings on it. Provides for the Secretary to report periodically to the NRC and to the appropriate State or Indian tribe during the conduct of the site characterization activities. Restricts the Secretary's use of radioactive materials during site characterization activities. Requires the Secretary to notify the appropriate State or Indian tribe of a decision to recommend approval of a candidate site upon completion of the public hearings and of the site characterization activities. Authorizes the Secretary to submit such recommendation to the President 30 days or more after such notification. Sets forth procedural requirements with respect to such recommendation. Directs the President to recommend to Congress by March 31, 1987, a site qualified for repository construction. Permits a 12-month extension of the deadline for such recommendation if, before March 31, 1986, the President: (1) decides it is necessary; and (2) sends a report to Congress stating the reasons for the extension. Requires recommendation of another site for a repository if Congress disapproves the President's first recommendation. Directs the Secretary to submit a construction license application for a repository to the NRC and to the appropriate State or Indian tribe if the President's site recommendation becomes effective. Requires the NRC to submit to Congress a status report on such application within one year after its submission by the Secretary and annually thereafter until the construction authorization is granted. Requires that the NRC issue a final decision on such an application by January 1, 1989, or three years after an application is submitted (plus any authorized extension under this Act), whichever occurs later. Directs the Secretary to prepare and update a project decision schedule showing the optimum way to attain the operation of the repository within the time periods specified in this subtitle. Sets forth procedural requirements for Federal agencies which cannot, or fail to, comply with deadlines in the project decision schedule. Requires that a final environmental impact statement accompany any recommendation by the Secretary for site approval by the President. Requires that the environmental impact statement be adopted by the NRC in connection with the issuance of the construction authorization and license for such repository. Makes a site designation effective 60 days after the President recommends such site to Congress, unless the affected Governor or Indian tribe submits to Congress a notice of disapproval of the site designation. Provides that if a notice of disapproval is submitted, a site designation shall not be effective unless Congress passes a resolution of repository siting approval. Authorizes the affected Governor or Indian tribe to submit to Congress a notice of disapproval within 60 days after the President submits a site recommendation to Congress. Directs the Secretary to make grants to each State in which a candidate site for a repository is approved under this Act and to each Indian tribe on whose reservation such a site is approved under this Act, to enable such States and Indian tribes to: (1) determine the potential economic, social, public health and safety, and environmental impacts of the repository; (2) develop a request for impact assistance; (3) monitor, test, evaluate, or research the site characterization programs; (4) provide their residents with information on site characterization activities; and (5) request information from, and make recommendations to, the Secretary with respect to activities under this Act. Limits such grants to 90 percent of the costs incurred by a State and to 100 percent of the costs incurred by an Indian tribe with respect to such activities. Requires the Secretary to provide financial and technical impact assistance, upon request, to any State in which, or to any Indian tribe on whose reservation, there is a site for which the NRC has authorized repository construction. Sets forth reporting requirements with which a State or Indian tribe seeking such assistance must comply. Requires the Secretary to make additional grants to States and local governments in areas where a repository site is approved and to Indian tribes on whose reservation a repository site is approved. Requires that such grants be equal to amounts the States, local governments, and Indian tribes would receive if they were authorized to tax site characterization activities and the development and operation of the repository. Provides for the payment of such grants each fiscal year until such activities, development, and operation are terminated at the site concerned. Sets forth time periods after which Federal grants and impact assistance to States and Indian tribes shall not be available. Provides that such Federal assistance shall be paid out of the Nuclear Waste Fund established by this Act. Requires the Secretary to notify the Governor of the State in which is located an Indian reservation on which a repository site is designated whenever the Secretary is required by this Act to notify or consult with the Indian tribe concerned. Requires that information with respect to the siting, establishment, and operation of a repository be provided upon written request to the appropriate State or Indian tribe. Directs the Secretary to consult and cooperate with the Governors of affected States and with affected Indian tribes to resolve State and tribal concerns regarding the public health and safety, environmental, and economic impacts of any repository. Requires the Secretary to enter into binding written agreements with affected States and Indian tribes under which such information shall be provided and such consultation and cooperation shall be carried out. Sets forth requirements with respect to judicial review of agency actions pursuant to this subtitle. Provides for expedited issuance (to the extent permitted by law) of Federal authorizations required under this subtitle with respect to the characterization of a site or the construction or initial operation of a repository. Exempts NRC authorizations from such requirements. Requires the promulgation of: (1) Environmental Protection Agency standards for the protection of the general environment from offsite releases from radioactive material in repositories; and (2) NRC technical requirements and criteria for reviewing applications for repository construction authorizations, repository operating licenses, and repository closure and decommissioning authorizations. Requires repositories constructed on sites approved under this Act to be designed to permit the retrieval of spent nuclear fuel placed in them. Provides that delivery, and acceptance by the Secretary, of high-level radioactive waste or spent nuclear fuel at a repository constructed under this Act shall constitute a transfer of title to the waste or spent fuel. Requires the Secretary to give full consideration to the effect of any acquisition of water rights required by the establishment of a repository. Terminates the authority under this subtitle with respect to judicial review and expedited authorizations at the time a repository developed under this subtitle is licensed to receive and possess high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel. Subtitle B: Interim Storage Program - Directs the Secretary, the NRC, and other Federal officials to encourage and expedite the effective use of available storage and necessary additional storage at civilian nuclear reactor sites. Requires the NRC to establish procedures for licensing technology approved by the NRC for use at civilian nuclear reactor sites. Sets forth the procedural rules which shall govern NRC hearings on applications for licenses or license amendments, filed after the enactment of this Act, to expand spent nuclear fuel storage capacity at civilian nuclear reactor sites. Directs the Secretary to provide up to 1700 metric tons of storage capacity for spent nuclear fuel from civilian nuclear reactors. Authorizes the Secretary to contract with an owner or generator of spent nuclear fuel to provide storage capacity for the spent fuel if: (1) adequate storage capacity cannot be provided at the nuclear reactor site where the spent fuel is being generated or at any other nuclear reactor site owned by such person; and (2) such person is pursuing licensed alternatives to Federal storage capacity. Authorizes the Secretary to provide up to 100 metric tons of storage capacity for foreign spent nuclear fuel that the United States is required to accept pursuant to international arrangements relating to the nonproliferation of nuclear weapons. Authorizes the Secretary to provide an aggregate of up to 200 metric tons of additional storage capacity for spent nuclear fuel from civilian nuclear reactors and for foreign spent nuclear fuel. Provides that the provision of 300 or more metric tons of storage capacity at any one Federal site shall require the preparation of an environmental impact statement. Requires the Secretary to prepare and publish: (1) an environmental assessment of the probable impacts of the provision of less than 300 metric tons of storage capacity at a Federal site that requires the modification or expansion of any facility at the site; and (2) a discussion of the actions that can be undertaken to avoid such impacts. Makes such an assessment subject to judicial review. Requires the Secretary to notify the appropriate State or Indian tribe if 300 or more metric tons of storage capacity are to be provided at any Federal site. Authorizes the State or Indian tribe to submit to Congress a notice of disapproval, with respect to the provision of such storage capacity, within 60 days after being notified by the Secretary. Provides that if such a notice of disapproval is submitted to Congress, the proposed provision of 300 or more metric tons of storage capacity at the site involved shall be disapproved unless Congress passes a resolution approving it. Requires the removal of spent nuclear fuel stored under the interim storage program as soon as practicable after a repository developed under this Act becomes available. Directs the Secretary to report annually to Congress on plans to provide storage capacity under this Act. Requires the NRC to establish procedures and criteria for determining the adequacy of spent nuclear fuel storage capacity available to owners or generators of spent nuclear fuel. Provides that the Secretary's acceptance of spent nuclear fuel or high-level radioactive waste shall not constitute a transfer of title to such fuel or waste. Requires the Secretary to submit to Congress a report establishing fees, calculated annually, for storage of spent nuclear fuel. Requires persons entering into storage contracts with the Secretary to pay a pro-rated portion of the storage costs involved. Prohibits the storage of spent nuclear fuel generated or owned by a Federal agency in storage capacity provided under this Act, unless the agency transfers to the Secretary an amount equal to the fees required of any party to a storage contract. Establishes in the Treasury the Interim Storage Fund which shall consist of: (1) receipts from storage contracts; (2) appropriations made by Congress to the fund; and (3) any unexpended balances available on the enactment of this Act for functions or activities related to the interim storage of spent nuclear fuel. Authorizes the Secretary to use the fund to cover the costs of the interim storage program, including: (1) the development, licensing, operation, and decommissioning of interim storage facilities; (2) administrative costs; and (3) design, operation, and construction costs of interim facilities. Subtitle C: Monitored Retrievable Storage - Requires the Secretary to submit to Congress a proposal for Federal construction of one or more monitored retrievable storage facilities for high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel. Requires that an environment assessment accompany such proposal. Subjects any facility authorized pursuant to this subtitle to licensing by the NRC. Limits the issues which the NRC may consider in reviewing the first licensing application filed by the Secretary. Directs the Secretary to make annual impact aid payments from the Interim Storage Fund to the appropriate local governments upon receipt of congressional authorization to construct such a facility. Permits the development in any State of either a repository or a monitored retrievable storage facility, but not both. Subtitle D: Low-Level Radioactive Waste - Requires the NRC to ensure that licensees providing for the disposal of low-level radioactive waste provide adequate financial arrangements to permit disposal site closure and reclamation of sites, structures, and equipment. Authorizes the Secretary to assume title and custody of low-level radioactive waste and the disposal site, upon the owner's request and after termination of the disposal license, if: (1) the NRC's requirements for site closure, decommissioning, and decontamination have been met by the licensee involved; (2) such title and custody will be transferred to the Secretary without cost to the Government; and (3) Federal ownership and management of the site will protect the public health and safety and the environment. Title II: Research, Development, and Demonstration Regarding Disposal of High-Level Radioactive Waste and Spent Nuclear Fuel - Requires the Secretary, within six months after enactment of this Act, to issue general guidelines for the selection of a site for a test and evaluation facility. Requires the Secretary, within one year after enactment of this Act and following promulgation of such guidelines, to identify three or more sites, at least two of which shall be in different geologic media and at least one of which shall be in media other than salt. Provides that the Secretary shall give preference to sites in media that retard aqueous transport of radionuclides. Requires that all sites so identified be more than 15 statute miles from towns with populations of more than 1,000, unless sites contained high-level radioactive waste prior to identification. Requires that each site identification be supported by an environmental assessment. Directs the Secretary to notify the appropriate State or Indian tribe when a site has been identified. Permits the identification of other sites beyond the one-year period. Requires the Secretary to select a site for expanded siting research activities within 30 months after the Secretary has completed site identifications. Directs the Secretary to hold at least one public meeting in the vicinity of identified sites to discuss the activities to be conducted and receive residents' views within six months after site identifications are completed and before siting research activities are begun. Restricts the Secretary's use of radioactive materials during siting research activities. Authorizes the Secretary to take title to the high-level radioactive waste, spent nuclear fuel, and other radioactive material emplaced in a test and evaluation facility. Grants a State or Indian tribe notified of a test and evaluation facility site identification affecting it the right to participate in a process of consultation and cooperation from the time of such identification throughout the life of the facility. Authorizes the Secretary to enter into written agreements with such a State or Indian tribe to expedite the consultation and cooperation process. Requires Federal agency cooperation in the preparation of necessary reports and the mission plan required by this Act. Requires the Secretary to begin construction of a test and evaluation facility within 64 months of the enactment of this Act to carry out research and provide a demonstration of the technology for geologic disposal of high-level radioactive waste and spent nulcear fuel. Sets forth the design requirements for such facilities. Requires the Secretary to begin an in situ testing program at such facility within 88 months after enactment of this Act. Provides for the use of existing Department facilities for conducting generically applicable tests with respect to packaging, handling, and emplacement technology for solidified high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel from civilian nuclear activities. Requires the NRC to carry out a continuing review and analysis of the activities under this title to evaluate the public health and safety impacts of the test and evaluation facility. Directs the NRC to report to the President, the Secretary, and Congress on such activities. Requires the Secretary to prepare an environmental impact statement before conducting tests with radioactive materials at the test and evaluation facility. Requires the NRC to concur in the decontamination and decommissioning of the facility if it is not located at a repository site. Limits the in situ testing program if the faciltiy is not located at a candidate or repository site. Sets forth the termination date for the facility. Requires the Secretary to remove radioactive material from the facility site as soon as the facility is found to be unsuitable for continued operations. Provides for the Secretary to establish a demonstration program, in cooperation with the private sector, for the dry storage of spent nuclear fuel at civilian nuclear reactor sites. Directs the Secretary to undertake also a cooperative program with civilian nuclear reactors to encourage the development of technology for spent nuclear fuel rod consolidation in existing reactor water storage basins. Requires the Secretary to enter into cooperative agreements with the utilities involved to carry out such programs. Authorizes the establishment of a research and development program for the dry storage of up to 300 metric tons of spent nuclear fuel at Federal facilities. Requires the Secretary to provide spent nuclear fuel for such program from spent nuclear fuel received by the Secretary for storage under subtitle B of this Act. Limits the Federal contribution to the demonstration program to 25 percent of the total costs. Requires the remaining program costs to be covered by the utilities involved or by the Secretary from the Interim Storage Fund. Restricts the use of Department research, development, or demonstration facilities under this title without congressional authorization. Requires the Secretary to pay 75 percent of the costs incurred by a State or Indian tribe which engages in any activity pursuant to a consultation and cooperation agreement with respect to the test and evaluation facility. Requires a State receiving such payment to pay at least one-tenth of such amount to the local governments within the jurisdictional boundaries of which the site involved is located. Provides for the Secretary to report to Congress on the research and development activities necessary to develop the proposal for monitored retrievable storage facilities. Title III: Other Provisions Relating to Radioactive Waste - Requires the Secretary to prepare a mission plan which shall provide an informational basis for carrying out the repository program and the research, development, and demonstration program required under this Act. Requires that the mission plan include scientific, technical, and economic information with respect to repository siting and construction, the test and evaluation facility, and solidification and packaging of high-level radioactive waste spent nuclear fuel. Directs the Secretary to submit a draft mission plan to the States, Indian tribes, the NRC, and other appropriate Government agencies for their comments. Provides for the Secretary to submit the mission plan to the appropriate congressional committees after reviewing any comments received and revising the plan as necessary. Requires that the plan be used at the end of the 30-day period following Congress' receipt of the plan. Requires the Secretary to report to Congress annually on the progress made toward implementation of the plan. Authorizes the Secretary to enter into contracts for the disposal of high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel of domestic origin with owners or generators of such waste and spent fuel. Requires the Secretary to submit to Congress a report establishing payment charges per unit of such waste and spent fuel to be calculated annually. Provides that persons entering into disposal contracts with the Secretary and any other persons desiring to dispose of high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel in repositories developed under this Act shall pay a ratable portion of the disposal costs involved. Prohibits the NRC from issuing or renewing a license for an individual to use a utilization or production facility unless such individual has entered into, or is negotiating with the Secretary for, a disposal contract. Prohibits the disposal of spent nuclear fuel or high-level radioactive waste by the Secretary in any repository constructed under this Act, unless the owner or generator of such spent fuel or waste has entered into a disposal contract by a specified date. Permits the assignment of the rights and duties of a party to a disposal contract with transfer of title to the spent nuclear fuel or high-level radioactive waste involved. Prohibits the disposal of any high-level radioactive waste or spent nuclear fuel generated or owned by a Federal agency in a repository constructed under this Act, unless the agency transfers to the Secretary for deposit in the Nuclear Waste Fund an amount equal to the fees required of any party to a disposal contract. Establishes in the Treasury a Nuclear Waste Fund which shall consist of: (1) receipts from disposal contracts; (2) appropriations made by Congress to the fund; and (3) any unexpended balances available on the enactment of this Act for functions or activities related to high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel disposal. Limits the use of the fund to radioactive waste disposal activities under this subtitle. Directs the Secretary to study, and report to Congress on, alternative approaches to managing the construction and operation of all civilian radioactive waste management facilities. Requires the Secretary to make available Federal storage facilities for transuranic waste from decommissioning and decontamination of civilian nuclear facilities and from civilian fuel research and development programs. Authorizes the Secretary to take title to such waste upon receipt. Directs the Secretary to require generators and owners of transuranic waste to enter into contracts providing that they will pay an estimated pro rata share of the costs of disposal in a repository or other facility, in addition to the storage fee. Requires the Secretary to remove the transuranic waste from the storage facilities as soon as practicable after a repository or other facility becomes available. Prohibits the Secretary from accepting title to transuranic waste or accepting additional transuranic waste for disposal two years or more after enactment of this Act. Prohibits the Secretary from providing storage for transuranic waste on the date on which a repository or other facility becomes available for transuranic waste disposal or six years after the NRC issues final regulations establishing criteria for the licensing of civilian transuranic waste disposal facilities, whichever date occurs first. Directs the Secretary to conduct a study and report to Congress on: (1) the amount of transuranic waste eligible for storage under this Act through December 31, 2000; (2) the amount of private storage capacity available for such waste; (3) the availability of Federal storage capacity for such waste; and (4) the Secretary's plan for disposal of the waste to which title is accepted by the Secretary. Requires the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to issue standards and the NRC to issue final regulations establishing criteria for the licensing of civilian transuranic waste disposal facilities within two years after enactment of this Act. Establishes within the Department of Energy an Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management to carry out the functions of the Secretary under this Act. Requires the Director of the Office to report annually to Congress on the activities and expenditures of the Office. Requires the Comptroller General to make an annual audit of the Office and report the results to Congress. Requires the Secretary to report to Congress on whether the test and evaluation facility will be located at a repository site. Requires that site selection and development of the facility be conducted according to the requirements of title I of this Act relating to repository site selection and development if the facility is to be located at a repository site. Prohibits the Secretary from commencing construction of any test and evaluation facility at such a site until the NRC has issued a repository construction authorization for the site involved and the site designation is effective. Prohibits the conversion of a test and evaluation facility into a repository, unless site selection and development of the facility complied with the requirements of title I of this Act relating to repository site selection and development.
United States · United States Congress · 23 September 1982
Amends the National Ocean Pollution Planning Act of 1978 to authorize appropriations for FY 1983 for the administration of such Act by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
United States · United States Congress · 23 September 1982
Environmental Protection Act of 1982 - Title I: Findings and Purposes - Declares that the existing governmental entities charged with preventing air, water, and land pollution have not adequately protected the environment. States the purpose of this Act to be to protect Americans against adverse effects of environmental changes through the establishment of a multimember independent regulatory commission. Title II: Establishment of Commission - Establishes the Environmental Protection Commission as an independent regulatory commission to be composed of five members appointed by the President with the Senate's approval. Sets forth provisions governing the members, officers, powers, and functions of the Commission and the functions of the Chairman of the Commission. Directs the Science Advisory Board to provide such scientific advice as the Commission may request. Sets forth guidelines for the nomination, selection, and appointment by the Chairman of an individual to fill any vacancy on the Board. Requires the Chairman to issue regulations regarding conflicts of interest with respect to members of the Board. Title III: Transfer of Functions - Transfers to the Commission all functions of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of the Interior under the Surface Mining and Reclamation Act of 1977, and the Department of Agriculture under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act not otherwise transferred by this Act to the Chairman or the administrative units of the Commission. Title IV: Administrative Provisions - Part A: Personnel Provisions - Provides for the appointment and compensation of Commission officers and employees and the procurement and compensation of experts and consultants. Part B: General Administrative Provisions - Sets forth provisions governing the authority of the Commission to: (1) exercise transferred functions; (2) delegate functions to its officers and employees; (3) reallocate functions among its offices and reorganize its structure; (4) enter into and perform contracts; and (5) promulgate rules. Requires the Commission, for each proposed action to promulgate or revise a rule, to: (1) establish and make available to the public a rulemaking docket containing the comments and certain documentory information concerning each rule; (2) publish a notice of the proposed action which shall include a statement of the purpose and basis of the rule and the period available for public comment; (3) allow any person to present oral or written data on the rule during the comment period; and (4) keep the record of the rulemaking open for 30 days after completion of the proceeding to provide for submission of rebuttal or supplementary information. Requires the promulgated rule to be accompanied by: (1) a statement of its basis and purpose; (2) a justification of major changes to the rule as proposed; and (3) a response to significant data submitted during the comment period. Provides for the judicial review of such rules. Authorizes a six-month extension of a statutory deadline for the promulgation of such a rule if such extension is necessary to afford the public and the agency adequate opportunity to carry out rulemaking requirements. Authorizes the Commission to: (1) establish, alter, discontinue, or maintain regional and other field offices as necessary; (2) acquire and maintain schools, research and training facilities, and accomodations as may be necessary for employees; (3) establish eating facilities for employees at its installations; (4) provide certain facilities, services, and supplies for employees at remote locations; (5) use the resources of Federal, State, local, and foreign instrumentalities with their consent; (6) permit public and private organizations to use its facilities for Commission purposes; (7) acquire copyrights, patents, applications for patents, licenses under copyrights and patents, and releases for past patent or copyright infringement; (8) accept and use gifts, bequests, and devises of property; (9) provide advice and technical assistance related to its functions; (10) establish a working capital fund; and (11) transfer funds among Commission appropriations, with certain limitations. Directs the Commission to procure a seal of office. Requires the Commission to submit to the President and Congress at the beginning of each regular session of Congress a comprehensive report on the administration of its functions. Requires that such report include: (1) an appraisal of the incidence of health and other effects to the population resulting from environmental causes; (2) an evaluation of the degree of observance of environmental rules; (3) a summary of outstanding problems confronting the Commission; and (4) specified information on voluntary environmental standards developed with the Commission's assistance. Title V: Transitional, Savings, and Conforming Provisions - Sets forth provisions governing the transfer and allocation of personnel, appropriations, and other resources transferred to the Commission under this Act. Terminates the Environmental Protection Agency and positions in such Agency which were expressly authorized by law or compensated at an Executive Schedule pay rate. Declares that this Act shall have no effect on orders issued, determinations made, proceedings pending, or civil actions commenced before its enactment. Provides that statutory requirements for notice, hearings, and administrative or judicial review applicable to functions transferred by this Act shall continue to apply to such functions. Title VI: Effective Date and Interim Appointments - Specifies the effective date of this Act. Provides that funds available to any agency the functions of which are transferred by this Act may, with the approval of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, be used to pay the compensation of interim officers and other expenses of establishing the Commission or transfering functions until funds for such expenses are otherwise available. Authorizes the President to designate an officer on the executive branch to act as a Commission officer for 120 days or until such office is filled, whichever occurs first.
United States · United States Congress · 22 September 1982
Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to authorize the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, with State concurrence, to issue a permit which would modify specified effluent limitation requirements (dealing with biochemical oxygen demand and pH) for an industrial discharger, in such State, who makes discharges into deep waters of the territorial seas. Requires the applicant for a modified permit to make specified demonstrations including a showing that on or before March 17, 1977: (1) the State had authority to administer its own permit program; and (2) the applicant has received approval for the modifications from the appropriate State agency. Sets forth requirements for modified effluent limitations. Limits a modified permit to a five-year period, with additional five-year renewals upon a showing by the applicant that the requirements of this Act are met. Authorizes the Administrator to terminate a modified permit upon finding that there has been a decline in the ambient water quality of receiving waters during the period of the permit, even if a direct cause and effect relationship cannot be shown.
United States · United States Congress · 10 September 1982
Authorizes the Secretary of the Army, acting through the Corps of Engineers, to relocate the site of disposal for dredge spoil from the Christina River, Wilmington, Delaware, from its current location at Cherry Island to a Delaware River site between the Wilmington Marine Terminal and Pigeon Point.
United States · United States Congress · 20 August 1982
Credits entrance fees for the migratory-bird hunting and conservation stamp contest, first, to the account which pays for the administration of the contest and, then, to the migratory-bird conservation fund.
United States · United States Congress · 19 August 1982
Environmental Programs Assistance Act of 1982 - Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (Administrator) to develop a program, through grants or contracts, designed to assist Federal, State, and local environmental agencies in carrying out projects of pollution prevention, abatement, and control. Provides that such program may include projects such as: (1) air monitoring and emission testing; (2) pesticides inventory and control; (3) water quality and supply sampling and monitoring; (4) technical libraries and public information projects; (5) carcinogenic surveys and followup; (6) hazardous materials routing surveys; (7) health screening in rural areas and among migrant workers; and (8) noise abatement and control. Directs the Administrator to: (1) submit to Congress, within 180 days after enactment of this Act a report identifying projects which serve the purpose of the program; (2) consult with representatives of State and local environmental agencies concernign ways to implement this Act; and (3) utilize the talents of older Americans available for project participation and consult with the Secretary of Labor and the Administrator of the Administration on Aging to ensure coordination with similar projects under the Older Americans Act of 1965 or the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (or under any successor statute). Authorizes the Administrator to make grants to and cooperative agreements with, public and private institutions and individuals to carry out the program under this Act. Prohibits the Administrator from making any grants to, or agreements with, any State or local environmental agency for any activities which would take the job of any agency employee or impair any existing contract for services. Authorizes appropriations to the Administrator for FY 1982 through 1985 to carry out the administrative provisions of this Act. Provides that environmentally related programs described under this Act shall be eligible for funding made available through title V of the Older Americans Act of 1965 and title III of the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act.
United States · United States Congress · 30 July 1982
Amends the Clean Air Act to revise provisions relating to national emission standards for hazardous air pollutants (NESHAPs). Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, within 90 days of the enactment of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1982, to publish: (1) a list of not less than 40 substances for priority review concerning whether such substances should be included on the list for which NESHAPs will be established (the NESHAPs list); and (2) a schedule for making such determinations on at least ten of such substances during each of the following four years. Directs the Administrator to include those substances for which previous evaluations are most advanced, taking into account specified data. Makes the selection of the substances, schedule dates for determination on each substance, and any revision of such list or schedule within the first two years discretionary and not subject to judicial review. Directs the Administrator to: (1) consider any information relevant to whether the substance has hazardous effects on human health; (2) consult with the Science Advisory Board and other experts; (3) provide an opportunity for public submission of data and views; and (4) obtain other information appropriate in making a final determination. Authorizes the Administrator to request data from any person and use specified authority to obtain such data. Directs the Administrator to determine for each substance included in the schedule whether such substance is or is not a hazardous air pollutant to be included on the NESHAPs list or whether the information available is insufficient for such a determination. Requires publication of statements of the basis for such determinations and identification of data relied upon. Requires that a substance be considered, as a matter of law, a hazardous air pollutant and be included on the NESHAPs list, if the Administrator fails to make such determinations. Authorizes the Administrator, upon the Administrator's own motion or the petition of any interested person, to: (1) make such determinations for any other substance; or (2) determine that a substance should be removed from the NESHAPs list. Directs the Administrator to make such determinations within one year of receipt of petitions filed: (1) after the scheduled review is completed; or (2) on a pollutant listed as a matter of law. Permits a six-month extension of such one-year deadline upon a published finding that relevant data is not available or has not been available for a sufficient time for adequate consideration. Subjects final determinations to judicial review according to specified procedures. Directs the Administrator, following the addition of any hazardous air pollutant to the NESHAPs list, to: (1) within 60 days, to publish a list of source categories which emit the pollutant in significant amounts; and (2) within six months, to propose emission standards (NESHAPs) for such source categories. Directs the Administrator to promulgate such emmission standards within one year following the date of proposal. Permits a six-month extension of the deadline for proposal or promulgation, upon a published finding that necessary data is not available or has not been available for a sufficient time. Authorizes the Administrator to distinguish among sizes, types, and classes of sources within each category. Directs the Administrator to review each emission standard at least once in every ten-year period following promulgation. Provides that such emission standards shall require achievement of the greatest degree of emission reduction achievable through application of the best system of continuous emission reduction which the Administrator determines is available (taking into account the cost of achieving such reduction and any nonair quality health and environmental impacts, energy requirements, and in the case of existing sources, the remaining useful life of the facilities). Requires, for new or modified major stationary sources, that such standard, at a minimum, be set at a level equal to the most stringent emission limitation imposed upon any source in that category by any Federal, State, or local requirement or permit and which is being achieved under actual operating conditions. Authorizes the Administrator to establish an alternative standard upon a showing by an individual source that such standard is not achievable by that source. Requires new, modified, and existing sources to comply with emissions limitations based upon a promulgated standard for the applicable category or a case-by-case determination based on criteria for such standards. Directs the Administrator, upon a discretionary finding that with respect to one or more sources in a category the established standards are inadequate to protect the public health, to set stricter emission limitations for such sources. Makes emission standards for new or modified sources effective upon promulgation. Directs the Administrator to establish the effective date of emission standards for existing sources as expeditiously as practicable, but not later than 30 months after promulgation.
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 1982
Amends the Clean Water Act to declare that "discharge of a pollutant or pollutants" does not include controlled or uncontrolled flows of water through, over, or around dams with water quality effects resulting solely from impoundment or from the method of release.
United States · United States Congress · 21 July 1982
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the Environmental Protection Agency's current requirements respecting the average lead content of gasoline manufactured by refiners (including small refiners) should be retained in their present form and should not be made less stringent.
United States · United States Congress · 24 June 1982
Amends the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 ("Superfund") to repeal the State preemption clause which prohibits, except as provided in such Act, requiring any person to contribute to any fund the purpose of which is to pay compensation for claims for any costs of response or damages or claims which may be compensated under title I (Hazardous Substances Releases, Liability, Compensation) of such Act.
United States · United States Congress · 24 June 1982
Amends the Solid Waste Disposal Act to direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to promulgate regulations to ensure that the use, reuse, recycling, and reclamation of hazardous wastes is conducted in a manner consistent with protection of human health and the environment. Requires notification to the Administrator by: (1) the owner or operator of any facility producing a fuel from any hazardous waste alone or with other material or from used oil alone or with other material; (2) the owner or operator of any facility burning fuel containing any hazardous waste or used oil; and (3) any person who distributes or markets fuel containing hazardous waste or used oil. Requires that such notification describe the location, the facility, the identified or listed hazardous waste involved, and the production or energy recovery activity. Exempts facilities, such as residential boilers, from such notification requirements where the Administrator determines that such notification is not necessary for obtaining sufficient information respecting current practices of facilities using hazardous waste for energy recovery. Directs the Administrator, within two years after the enactment of this Act, to promulgate regulations establishing health and environmental standards applicable to owners or operators of facilities producing fuel from hazardous wastes or burning hazardous wastes for energy recovery and to distributors or marketers of such fuels.
United States · United States Congress · 23 June 1982
Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to provide that dams or structures intended to impound water shall not be considered point sources for the discharge of pollutants where, upon release of impounded waters, water quality effects result from such impoundment or from the method of release.
United States · United States Congress · 23 June 1982
Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act ("the Act," also known as the Clean Water Act) to extend through FY 1987: (1) authorizations of appropriations for programs of investigations and information and for State program grants; and (2) the general authorization of appropriations to carry out programs under the Act. Specifies amounts of such authorizations for FY 1983, but provides for such sums as may be necessary for FY 1984 through 1987. Extends until July 1, 1988, the deadline for industry compliance with best available technology (BAT) and best conventional technology (BCT) standards and effluent limitations for pollutants. Extends until July 1, 1991, the deadline for facilities with permits to use innovative production processes, control techniques, or systems to achieve compliance with BAT. Extends the deadline for requests by owners or operators of municipally-owned treatment works for permits to extend the time for achievement of effluent limitations based on secondary treatment or on more stringent water quality standards. Authorizes the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to prescribe and collect processing fees for applications for modifications and exemptions under specified provisions of the Act. Requires that amounts collected be credited to the appropriation that incurs the costs and be available only in such amounts as are included in appropriations Acts. Redefines "new source" to mean any source the construction of which is commenced after the publication of final regulations prescribing applicable new source performance standards (NSPS). Extends until July 1, 1984, the deadlines for the Administrator to: (1) publish regulations providing guidelines for effluent limitations; (2) propose and publish regulations establishing Federal NSPS within listed categories of sources; and (3) establish effluent limitations for specified toxic pollutants. Revises provisions for the pretreatment of sources which introduce pollutants into publicly owned treatment works and which are incompatible with such works. Directs the Administrator to continue in force and revise as appropriate pretreatment regulations generally applicable to all categories of such sources. Requires that such generally applicable pretreatment regulations which are promulgated or significantly revised after the enactment of the Clean Water Act Amendments of 1982 shall specify a compliance date not to exceed two years from the promulgation date. Authorizes the Administrator to promulgate pretreatment standards for specific categories and classes of such sources, specifying a compliance date not to exceed three years from the promulgation date. Provides that pretreatment standards for specific categories and classes of sources which were in effect immediately prior to enactment of the Clean Water Act Amendments of 1982 shall continue in full force and effect unless modified, rescinded, or determined by the Administrator to be no longer necessary or reasonable. Permits owners or operators of publicly owned treatment works to revise such pretreatment requirements for specified categories or classes or for equivalent new sources, if: (1) the treatment by such works removes all or part of the pollutant; (2) the discharge from such works does not violate the effluent limitation or standard which would be applicable if it were discharged other than through a publicly owned treatment works; and (3) the discharge does not impair sludge use or disposal by such works. Authorizes the Administrator to revise pretreatment standards as control technology, processes, operating methods, or other alternatives change. Authorizes the Administrator, with State concurrence and after opportunity for a public hearing, (or, if appropriate, the State itself) to issue permits exempting publicly owned treatment works from discharge requirements involving: (1) identification of the character and volume of pollutants introduced by any significant source; and (2) assurance of compliance with pretreatment standards by such source. Sets forth certification requirements for such exemptions. Provides for exemptions for: (1) all sources, subject to specified category; or (2) new sources, upon specified certifications by the owner or operator of the publicly owned treatment works into which the pollutants are introduced. Sets forth procedures relating to such exemptions, including limiting the term of such exemptions to ten years. Directs the Administrator to promulgate pretreatment standards for equivalent categories and classes of new sources, simultaneously with the promulgation of such standards for existing categories and classes of sources. Authorizes the Administrator, after consultation with the State in which the violation occurs, to assess a civil penalty of not more than $10,000 per day of violation and not exceeding $75,000 in total, for violations of specified provisions of the Act. Sets forth procedures for assessment of such penalties. Revises provisions for criminal penalties under the Act. Prescribes penalties for negligently introducing, and for knowingly introducing, pollutants or hazardous substances into sewer systems or publicly owned treatment works under specified conditions. Raises penalties for knowing violations of the Act to a minimum of $5,000 and a maximum of $50,000 per day of violation and/or up to two years imprisonment. Revises provisions on Presidential exemptions for Federal effluent sources from requirements of the Act. Repeals the prohibition against presidential exemptions of Federal facilities from toxic and pretreatment effluent standards and from national NSPS. Requires with respect to such presidential exemptions, that: (1) all existing wastewater treatment facilities and techniques be utilized to their full design capacity; and (2) all reasonable efforts be taken to comply at the earliest possible date with the requirements of the Act. Extends the initial exemption period from one year to three years. Directs the President to include in the report to Congress on such exemptions the progress toward achieving compliance with exempted requirements. Authorizes the President, in addition to such effluent source exemptions, to issue regulations exempting from requirements any property owned or operated by the United States or by the National Guard which is essential to the national defense. (Currently, such regulations may exempt property owned or operated by the U.S. armed forces or the National Guard which is uniquely military in nature.) Requires that, with respect to United States or National Guard facilities so exempted: (1) all existing wastewater treatment facilities be utilized to full design capacity; and (2) all reasonable efforts be made to comply at the earliest possible date with the requirements of the Act. Authorizes the President to modify or suspend the provisions of the Act during the period of any war declared by Congress or any national emergency declared by Congress or the President. Revises provisions relating to thermal discharges. Authorizes the Administrator (or, if appropriate, the State) to issue a permit for modified effluent limitations for control of the thermal component of any discharge from a point source, upon a satisfactory showing by the applicant that such modified requirement will assure: (1) the attainment and maintenance of thermal water quality criteria adopted under provisions for water quality standards and implementation plans and in compliance with provisions for ocean discharge criteria; or (2) the protection and propagation of a balanced population of shellfish, fish, and wildlife in and on that body of water as determined by the State (or, if appropriate, the Administrator). Provides that the applicant must also show that a monitoring program to ensure continued compliance will be established before such modified limitation may be imposed. Provides that any standard established under effluent limitation provisions and applicable to a point source shall require that: (1) the location, design, construction, and capacity of cooling water intake structures reflect the best technology available for minimizing adverse environmental impacts; or (2) other equally effective measures will be applied, alone or in combination with best available technology, to minimize adverse environmental impacts. Extends from five years to ten years the maximum term of a permit issued by the Administrator or a qualified State under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES). Revises provisions for approval of State programs under the NPDES. Authorizes the Administrator to approve a State plan to administer part of a permit program, with a State commitment to administer the full program within five years. Provides that return of permit program administration to the Administrator, or withdrawal of approval by the Administrator, may only be made of the entire program currently being administered by a State. Provides that the term "point source" does not include return flows from irrigated agriculture or controlled or uncontrolled flows of water through, over, or around dams with water quality effects resulting solely from such impoundment or the method of release of impounded waters. Prohibits the Administrator from requiring an NPDES permit for discharges composed entirely of any flow from a dam excluded under the definition of "point source." Allows the State continuing planning process for navigable waters to include a process to: (1) identify adverse changes in quality movement, flow, or circulation of navigable waters caused by hydrologic modifications, including changes caused by the existence or operation of dams; and (2) set forth procedures and methods to control such adverse changes. Excludes from the definition of "pollutant" munitions expended in the course of conventional weapons training exercises by the U.S. armed forces, or by its allies in joint training exercises.
United States · United States Congress · 22 June 1982
Deauthorizes the Arkansas River basin component of the water quality control project in the Arkansas-Red River basin, Oklahoma and Kansas.
United States · United States Congress · 18 June 1982
Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act ("the Act," also known as the Clean Water Act) to extend through FY 1987: (1) authorizations of appropriations for programs of investigations and information and for State program grants; and (2) the general authorization of appropriations to carry out programs under the Act. Specifies amounts of such authorizations for FY 1983, but provides for such sums as may be necessary for FY 1984 through 1987. Extends until July 1, 1988, the deadline for industry compliance with best available technology (BAT) and best conventional technology (BCT) guidelines and effluent limitations for pollutants. Extends until July 1, 1991, the deadline for facilities with permits to use innovative production processes, control techniques, or systems to achieve compliance with BAT. Extends the deadline for requests by owners or operators of municipal, publicly owned treatment works for permits to extend the time for achievement of effluent limitations based on secondary treatment or on more stringent water quality standards. Authorizes the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to prescribe and collect processing fees for applications for modifications and exemptions under specified provisions of the Act. Requires that amounts collected be credited to the appropriation that incurs the costs and be available only in such amounts as are included in appropriations Acts. Redefines "new source" to mean any source the construction of which is commenced after the publication of final regulations prescribing applicable new source performance standards (NSPS). Extends until July 1, 1984, the deadlines for the Administrator to: (1) publish regulations providing guidelines for effluent limitations; (2) propose and publish regulations establishing Federal new source performance standards (NSPS) within listed categories of sources; and (3) establish effluent limitations for specified toxic pollutants. Revises provisions for the pretreatment of sources which introduce pollutants into publicly owned treatment works and which are incompatible with such works. Directs the Administrator to continue in force and revise as appropriate pretreatment regulations generally applicable to all categories of such sources. Requires that such generally applicable pretreatment regulations which are promulgated or significantly revised after the enactment of the Clean Water Act Amendments of 1982 shall specify a compliance date not to exceed two years from the promulgation date. Authorizes the Administrator to promulgate pretreatment standards for specific categories and classes of such sources, specifying a compliance date not to exceed three years from the promulgation date. Provides that pretreatment standards for specific categories and classes of sources which were in effect immediately prior to enactment of the Clean Water Act Amendments of 1982 shall continue in full force and effect unless modified, rescinded, or determined by the Administrator to be no longer necessary or reasonable. Permits owners or operators of publicly owned treatment works to revise such pretreatment requirements for specified categories or classes or for equivalent new sources, if: (1) the treatment by such works removes all or part of the pollutant; (2) the discharge from such works does not violate the effluent limitation or standard which would be applicable if it were discharged other than through a publicly owned treatment works; and (3) the discharge does not impair sludge use or disposal by such works. Authorizes the Administrator to revise pretreatment standards as control technology, processes, operating methods, or other alternatives change. Authorizes the Administrator, with State concurrence (or, if appropriate, the State itself) and after opportunity for a public hearing, to issue permits exempting publicly owned treatment works from discharge requirements involving: (1) identification of the character and volume of pollutants introduced by any significant source; and (2) assurance of compliance with pretreatment standards by such source. Sets forth certification requirements for such exemptions. Provides for exemptions for: (1) all sources, subject to specified category; or (2) new sources, upon specified certifications by the owner or operator of the publicly owned treatment works into which the pollutants are introduced. Sets forth procedures relating to such exemptions, including limiting the term of such exemptions to ten years. Directs the Administrator to promulgate pretreatment standards for equivalent categories and classes of new sources, simultaneously with the promulgation of such standards for existing categories and classes of sources. Authorizes the Administrator, after consultation with the State in which the violation occurs, to assess a civil penalty of not more than $10,000 per day of violation and not exceeding $75,000 in total, for violations of specified provisions of the Act. Sets forth procedures for assessment of such penalties. Revises provisions for criminal penalties under the Act. Prescribes penalties for negligently introducing, and for knowingly introducing, pollutants or hazardous substances into sewer systems or publicly owned treatment works under specified conditions. Raises penalties for knowing violations of the Act to a minimum of $5,000 and a maximum of $50,000 per day of violation and/or up to two years imprisonment. Revises provisions on Presidential exemptions for Federal effluent sources from requirements of the Act. Repeals the prohibition against Presidential exemptions of Federal facilities from toxic and pretreatment effluent standards and from national standards of performance for new sources (NSPS). Requires with respect to such Presidential exemptions, that: (1) all existing wastewater treatment facilities and techniques be utilized to their full design capacity; and (2) all reasonable efforts be taken to comply at the earliest possible date with the requirements of the Act. Extends the initial exemption period from one year to three years. Directs the President to include in the report to Congress on such exemptions the progress toward achieving compliance with exempted requirements. Authorizes the President, in addition to such effluent source exemptions, to issue regulations exempting from requirements any property owned or operated by the United States or by the National Guard which is essential to the national defense. (Currently, such regulations may exempt property owned or operated by the U.S. armed forces or the National Guard which is uniquely military in nature.) Requires that, with respect to United States or National Guard facilities so exempted: (1) all existing wastewater treatment facilities be utilized to full design capacity; and (2) all reasonable efforts be made to comply at the earliest possible date with the requirements of the Act. Authorizes the President to modify or suspend the provisions of the Act during the period of any war declared by Congress or any national emergency declared by Congress or the President. Revises provisions relating to thermal discharges. Authorizes the Administrator (or, if appropriate, the State) to issue a permit for modified effluent limitations for control of the thermal component of any discharge from a point source, upon a satisfactory showing by the applicant that such modified requirement will assure: (1) the attainment and maintenance of thermal water quality criteria adopted under provisions for water quality standards and implementation plans and in compliance with provisions for ocean discharge criteria; or (2) the protection and propagation of a balanced population of shellfish, fish, and wildlife in and on that body of water as determined by the State (or, if appropriate, the Administrator). Provides that the applicant must also show that a monitoring program to ensure continued compliance will be established before such modified limitation may be imposed. Provides that any standard established under effluent limitation provisions and applicable to a point source shall require that: (1) the location, design, construction, and capacity of cooling water intake structures reflect the best technology available for minimizing adverse environmental impacts; or (2) other equally effective measures will be applied, alone or in combination with best available technology, to minimize adverse environmental impacts. Extends from five years to ten years the maximum term of a permit issued by the Administrator or a qualified State under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES). Revises provisions for approval of State programs under NPDES. Authorizes the Administrator to approve a state plan to administer part of a permit program, with a State commitment to administer the full program within five years. Provides that return of permit program administration to the Administrator, or withdrawal of approval by the Administrator, may only be made of the entire program currently being administered by a State. Provides that the term "point source" does not include return flows from irrigated agriculture or controlled or uncontrolled flows of water through, over, or around dams with water quality effects: resulting solely from such impoundment or the method of release of impounded waters. Prohibits the Administrator from requiring an NPDES permit for discharges composed entirely of any flow from a dam excluded under the definition of "point source." Allows the State continuing planning process for navigable waters to include a process to: (1) identify adverse changes in quality movement, flow, or circulation of navigable waters caused by hydrologic modifications, including changes caused by the existence or operation of dams; and (2) set forth procedures and methods to control such adverse changes. Excludes from the definition of "pollutant" munitions expended in the course of conventional weapons training exercises by the U.S. armed forces, or by its allies in joint training exercises.
United States · United States Congress · 17 June 1982
Amends the Solid Waste Disposal Act to direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to list those hazardous wastes which may reasonably be anticipated to cause adverse health or environmental effects if disposed of without adequate prior treatment. Directs the Administrator to make such list within 18 months after the enactment of this Act and periodically thereafter. Directs the Administrator to consult with appropriate Federal and State agencies and to provide notice and opportunity for public hearing before making such list. Prohibits disposal of such listed hazardous waste without prior treatment by a method, technique, or process certified by the Administrator. Sets forth procedures for such certification.
United States · United States Congress · 15 June 1982
Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 - Title I: High-Level Radioactive Waste and Spent Nuclear Fuel - Subtitle A: Repositories for Disposal of High-Level Radioactive Waste and Spent Nuclear Fuel - Requires the Secretary of Energy, within one year after enactment of this Act, to recommend to the President at least three candidate sites, in at least two different geologic media, which are suitable for site characterization for repositories for the permanent disposal of high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel. Requires the Secretary to recommend at least three additional candidate sites by February 1, 1985. Directs the Secretary to notify the Governor of the State in which a candidate site is located or the Indian tribe on whose reservation a candidate site is located. Requires the President to: (1) review each candidate site recommendation; (2) either approve or disapprove the recommendation within 60 days; and (3) transmit such decision to the Secretary and to the appropriate Governor or Indian tribe. Provides that the President's failure to approve or disapprove a candidate site within the 60-day period or to invoke authority to delay the determination shall be considered an approval. Directs the President to recommend to Congress by March 31, 1987, a site qualified for repository construction. Permits a 12-month extension of the deadline for such recommendation if, before a specified date, the President (1) decides it is necessary; and (2) sends a report to Congress stating the reasons for the extension. Requires recommendation of another site for a repository if Congress disapproves the President's first recommendation. Authorizes the President to submit subsequent site recommendations. Directs the President, if the site recommendation becomes effective, to submit a construction license application for a repository to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and to the appropriate Governor or Indian tribe. Requires the NRC to submit to Congress a status report on such application within one year after its submission by the Secretary and annually thereafter, until the construction authorization is granted. Requires that a final environmental impact statement accompany any recommendation by the Secretary for site approval by the President. Authorizes the NRC to adopt such a statement in connection with the issuance of a construction authorization for a repository if it determines the statement is adequate. Permits the NRC to prepare a supplemental environmental impact statement when necessary. Makes a site designation effective 90 days after the President recommends such site to Congress, unless the affected Governor or Indian tribe submits to Congress a petition for disapproval of the site designation. Provides that if a dispapproval petition is submitted, a site designation shall be effective, after a specified period, unless Congress passes a resolution disapproving the site designation. Authorizes the Governor of a State to submit a petition for disapproval within 90 days after the President's submission to Congress of a site recommendation. Requires the Secretary to notify the Governor of the State in which is located an Indian reservation on which a repository site is designated whenever the Secretary is required by this Act to notify or consult with the Indian tribe concerned. Directs the Secretary to consult and cooperate with the Governors of affected States and with affected Indian tribes to resolve State and tribal concerns regarding the public health and safety, environmental, and economic impacts of any repository. Authorizes the governing body of any affected Indian tribe to submit a petition for disapproval within 90 days after the President's submission to Congress of a site recommendation. Requires the promulgation of: (1) Environmental Protection Agency standards for the protection of the general environment from offsite releases from radioactive material in repositories; and (2) NRC technical requirements and criteria for reviewing applications for repository construction authorizations, repository operating licenses, and repository closure and decommissioning authorizations. Requires repositories constructed on sites approved under this Act to be designed to permit the retrieval of spent nuclear fuel placed in them. Authorizes the Secretary to enter into contracts for the disposal of high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel of domestic origin with owners or generators of such waste and spent fuel. Requires the Secretary to submit to Congress a report establishing payment charges per unit of such waste and spent fuel to be calculated annually. Provides that persons entering into disposal contracts with the Secretary and any other persons desiring to dispose of high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel in repositories developed under this Act shall pay a ratable portion of the disposal costs involved. Permits the assignment of the rights and duties of a party to a disposal contract with transfer of title to the spent nuclear fuel or high-level radioactive waste involved. Prohibits the disposal of spent nuclear fuel or high-level radioactive waste owned or generated by a Federal agency in a repository constructed under this Act unless the agency transfers to the Secretary an amount equal to the fees required by any party to a disposal contract. Establishes in the Treasury a Nuclear Waste Fund which shall consist of: (1) receipts from disposal contracts; (2) appropriations made by Congress to the fund; and (3) any unexpended balances available on the enactment of this Act for functions or activities related to high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel disposal. Provides that delivery, and acceptance by the Secretary, of high-level radioactive waste or spent nuclear fuel at a repository constructed under this Act shall constitute a transfer of title to the waste or spent fuel. Subtitle B: Interim Storage Program - Directs the Secretary, the NRC, and other Federal officials to encourage and expedite the effective use of available storage and necessary additional storage at civilian nuclear reactor sites. Requires the Secretary to provide a maximum of 1,700 metric tons of storage capacity for spent nuclear fuel from civilian nuclear reactors. Authorizes the Secretary to contract with an owner or generator of spent nuclear fuel to provide storage capacity for the spent fuel if: (1) adequate storage capacity cannot be provided at the nuclear power reactor site where the spent fuel is being generated or at any other nuclear power reactor site owned by such person; and (2) such person is pursuing licensed alternatives to Federal storage capacity, with a priority on the expansion of storage facilities at nuclear power reactor sites operated by such person. Requires the removal of spent nuclear fuel stored under the interim storage program as soon as practicable after a repository developed under this Act becomes available. Directs the Secretary to report annually to Congress on plans to provide storage capacity under this Act. Provides that the Secretary's acceptance of spent nuclear fuel, high-level radioactive waste, or transuaranic waste shall not constitute a transfer of title to such fuel or waste. Requires the Secretary to submit to Congress a report establishing fees, calculated annually, for storage of spent nuclear fuel. Requires persons entering into storage contracts with the Secretary to pay a pro-rated portion of the storage costs involved. Prohibits the storage of spent nuclear fuel generated or owned by a Federal agency in storage capacity provided under this Act unless the agency transfers to the Secretary an amount equal to the fees required of any party to a storage contract. Establishes in the Treasury the Interim Storage Fund which shall consist of: (1) receipts from storage contracts; (2) appropriations made by Congress to the fund; and (3) any unexpended balances available on the enactment of this Act for functions or activities related to the interim storage of spent nuclear fuel. Authorizes the Secretary to use the fund to cover the costs of the interim storage program, including: (1) the development, licensing, operation, and decommissioning of interim storage facilities; (2) administrative costs; and (3) design, operation, and construction costs of interim storage facilities. Title II: Other Provisions Relating to Radioactive Waste-Subtitle A: Alternative Means of Financing - Directs the Secretary to study,and report to Congress on, alternative approaches to managing the construction and operation of all civilian radioactive waste management facilities. Subtitle B: Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management - Establishes within the Department of Energy an Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management to carry out the functions of the Secretary under this Act. Requires the Director of the Office to report annually to Congress on the activities and expenditures of the Office. Requires the Comptroller General to make an annual audit of the Office and report the results to Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 10 June 1982
Amends the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act to revise State review and health and safety data request authority under such Act. Prohibits a political subdivision of a State from regulating the sale or use of any federally registered pesticide or device. Permits a State to request previously submitted (in support of a Federal registration) health and safety data for its own review from either the applicant or the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Permits a State to require additional data when there are special local concerns about increased environmental risk or pesticide ineffectiveness. Authorizes: (1) the applicant to contest such request through the EPA; and (2) the EPA to modify or overrule such State request. Subjects State and EPA determinations to judicial review in U.S. district courts. Makes other State data requests subject to EPA review. Requires States to review a registration application within 60 days or such application shall be considered approved. Gives States up to 120 days to review an application for a pesticide used in the commercial production of food crops if a new use or active ingredient is involved.
United States · United States Congress · 10 June 1982
Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act Amendments of 1982 - Amends the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act to exclude from the definition of "use inconsistent with the label" the use of a registered pesticide for another end-use product or for repackaging such product, unless such use is prohibited by the labeling. Revises pesticide registration provisions. Increases reply time to an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) data request from 90 to 180 days. Requires, rather than permits, joint development arrangements where appropriate unless all parties object. Sets forth a 25 percent or $100,000 (whichever is less) cost-sharing arrangement. Requires the Administrator of the EPA to suspend the registration of a party for data request noncompliance. Makes such suspension enforceable in U.S. district courts. Expands the scope of suspension appeals. Provides a 15-year protective period for such additional data. Permits new parties to use such data (and be considered original developers) if they reimburse the joint developers. Permits registrants to replace scientifically insufficient health and safety data with new data submitted after September 30, 1978. Authorizes joint development arrangements. Establishes a 120 day joint developer transition period. Sets forth end-use product formulator exemptions. Requires the Administrator to give 90-day notice to affected registrants of the risks upon which a proposed public interim review will be based. Makes an interim decision not to restrict a pesticide's use or classification subject to judicial review. Sets forth required registration data. Requires: (1) 90-day reregistration notice: and (2) cancellation (subject to judicial review) for failure to reregister within the permitted time. Provides 15-year exclusive use protection for supporting data for: (1) a pesticide containing a new active ingredient initially registered after September 30, 1978; (2) a new use registration; (3) an experimental use permit for a pesticide containing a new active ingredient; and (4) new uses of existing ingredients originally registered after January 1, 1970. Permits an applicant to use his own data or data already submitted to the EPA, or a combination of both, unless precluded by compensation or exclusive use provisions. Sets forth: (1) transitional exclusive use protection provisions; and (2) effective dates for exclusive use and compensation provisions. Directs the Administrator to: (1) compile and make public a data index for each protected active ingredient within one year; and (2) update such indexes at least semiannually. Requires that data cited in a new registration application be made public. Permits original registrants claiming to be adversely affected to have a cancellation hearing. Provides for judicial review of such hearing. Provides 15-year exclusive use protection for specified applications approved after the enactment of this Act but before the effective date of relevant provisions. Requires the Administrator to take agricultural production and prices into account when considering classification changes. Authorizes registration phase-out in addition to changes or cancellations. Requires an applicant to explain why specific registration data should be protected from disclosure as a trade secret or commercial or financial information. Requires the Administrator to provide an applicant with up to 60 days to show that data to be disclosed is protected manufacturing, testing, or ingredient percentage information. Requires the Administrator to issue disclosure regulations. Requires interim regulations within 60 days. Establishes separate procedures for disclosure of innovative methods and technology. Makes such information available only to scientists and certain nonprofit organizations. Prohibits any piece of information from being so considered for more than five years. Sets forth guidelines for nondisclosure of certain information acquired from foreign governments or international organizations. Provides a private right of action for or data disclosure violations. Makes it unlawful to disclose or transfer, solicit, or use information in a manner prohibited by such Act. Makes it unlawful to fire a person or adversely affect his or her work status for exercising his or her rights under such Act. Revises provisions regarding penalties for improperly obtaining or using specified pesticide data. Extends the scientific advisory panel through FY 1984. Authorizes appropriations through FY 1984.
United States · United States Congress · 10 June 1982
Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to declare that nothing in such Act shall be construed to displace, restrict, limit, affect, or modify in any way the obligations or liabilities of any person, or the right to seek abatement or damages under other Federal or State law, including Federal or State common law.
United States · United States Congress · 10 June 1982
Amends the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 ("Superfund") to require that a State agree to pay 50 percent of the costs of remedial actions provided for by the President with respect to hazardous substances disposed of by a facility owned and operated (currently, owned) by a State or political subdivision thereof in order to qualify for such assistance.
United States · United States Congress · 9 June 1982
Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to make grants to the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to pay 100 percent of the costs of constructing a portion of the Saw Mill Run relief sewer in such city.
United States · United States Congress · 9 June 1982
Amends the Clean Water Act to declare that "discharge of a pollutant or pollutants" does not include effects upon water quality resulting solely from the impoundment of waters or the release of impounded waters or the methods of such release.
United States · United States Congress · 27 May 1982
Amends the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act to authorize appropriations for regulation of ocean dumping for FY 1983.
United States · United States Congress · 27 May 1982
Acid Deposition Control Act - Amends title I of the Clean Air Act (Air Pollution Prevention and Control) to establish a new program (Interstate Transport and Acid Precursor Reduction) to: (1) regulate the long-range transport of pollutants and their transformation products; and (2) reduce acid compounds, and their precursors, in the atmosphere. Establishes a long-range transport corridor, the "acid deposition impact region," consisting of 22 States (east of or bordering the Mississippi River) and the District of Columbia. Establishes a "secondary acid deposition impact region" consisting of the nine other States east of or bordering the Mississippi River. Authorizes the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to include such group of States in the acid deposition impact region upon determination, based on study results, that such inclusion will better serve the purposes of this Act. Directs the Administrator to: (1) conduct a study of air pollution problems associated with the long-range transport of pollutants in the portions of the continental United States not included in the acid deposition impact region; and (2) report the results to Congress within two years. Prohibits annual emissions of sulfur dioxide and of oxides of nitrogen from stationary sources in the acid deposition impact region from exceeding the total actual emissions in such region for calendar year 1980. Prohibits any major stationary source in the region from significantly increasing such emissions, unless a not otherwise required net reduction of such regional pollution, in excess of the proposed increase, has been identified. Requires a ten-year phased reduction in annual emissions of sulfur dioxide in the region of 7,500,000 tons from the total 1980 level (or 10,000,000 tons if the States in the secondary region are included). Requires each State to achieve reductions in annual sulfur dioxide emissions according to a formula based on each State's share of utility emissions in the region. Permits State Governors to agree to reallot the required reductions. Requires each State in the region to adopt, within two years, enforcement measures to achieve such reduction. Directs the Administrator to approve such measures within four months if specified criteria are met. Sets forth a uniform sulfur dioxide emission limit for fossil-fuel-burning electric generating facilities (which are major stationary sources not subject to new performance standards) in any State that has not adopted, or has not had approved, such enforcement measures by such deadlines. Requires that owners or operators of such sources: (1) submit an approvable reduction plan and schedule within three years of enactment of this Act; (2) comply with such plan and schedule; and (3) achieve the required emission reduction at the earliest practicable date, but no later than ten years after enactment of this Act. Specifies methods or programs for enforceable net emission reduction that may be used by a State or the owner or operator of a source. Permits a State or owner or operator to substitute reduction in emissions of oxides of nitrogen for required sulfur dioxide emissions reductions, at a specified rate. Directs the Administrator to make grants from an Acid Deposition Reduction Trust Fund to states in the acid deposition impact region to assist utilities in meeting the emission reduction requirements imposed by this Act. Sets forth a formula for determining the amount of such grants based on the actual net after tax expenses incurred by utilities in each State in meeting such requirements. Establishes the Acid Deposition Reduction Trust Fund in the Treasury. Appropriates amounts to the Fund equal to the total amount of acid deposition reduction fees received under this Act. Imposes such a fee on every utility which sells electricity in any State in the acid deposition impact region, based on the amount of electricity sold. Adds to State implementation plan requirements a prohibition of stationary source air pollutant emissions in amounts that will contribute to atmospheric loadings of pollutants or their transformation products so as to adversely affect public health or welfare or the environment in any other State or foreign country.
United States · United States Congress · 27 May 1982
Amends the Clean Water Act (also known as the Federal Water Pollution Control Act) to extend through FY 1983: (1) authorizations of appropriations for specified programs, including programs of investigations and information, operator training, State program grants, student training, and clean lakes grants; and (2) the general authorization of appropriations to carry out such Act.
United States · United States Congress · 26 May 1982
Environmental Research, Development, and Demonstration Act of 1983 - Authorizes appropriations for FY 1983 to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for: (1) air quality activities under the Clean Air Act; (2) water quality activities under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act; (3) water supply activities under the Safe Drinking Water Act; (4) solid and hazardous waste activities under the Solid Waste Disposal Act; (5) pesticide activities under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act; (6) radiation activities under the Public Health Service Act; (7) interdisciplinary activities; (8) toxic substances activities under the Toxic Substances Control Act; (9) energy activities; and (10) program management and support in the Office of Research and Development. Authorizes the Administrator of the EPA to use such authorized appropriations for appropriate scientific and professional review of research and development grant, contract, and cooperative agreement applications. Provides for congressional oversight of transfers of funds between categories which exceed ten percent of the funds in either category. Directs the Administrator to establish a separately identified program of continuing, long-term environmental research and development for such activity listed under this Act, with at least 20 percent of the appropriations for such activity to be obligated and expended for such long-term research and development. Requires a specified amount of the funds appropriated from the Hazardous Substance Response Trust Fund to be expended for research and development activities in FY 1983.
United States · United States Congress · 26 May 1982
Amends the Public Health Service Act to revise specified provisions under the Safe Drinking Water Act. Provides that certifications of need or orders issued to assure availability of adequate supplies of chemicals necessary for water treatment may remain in effect until September 30, 1983 (currently September 30, 1982) or for one year after issuance, whichever occurs first. Extends through FY 1983 the authorizations of appropriations under the Safe Drinking Water Act for research, technical assistance, information, training of personnel, and grants to State programs of public water system supervision and of underground water source protection. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1983 for matching grants to States for the development of groundwater protection plans for sole source aquifer regions.
United States · United States Congress · 26 May 1982
Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to provide that dams or structures intended to impound water shall not be considered point sources, unless such dams and structures are intended to treat or contain pollutants or toxic pollutants.
United States · United States Congress · 19 May 1982
Extends through September 30, 1988, (currently, September 30, 1983) the authority for advances to the migratory bird conservation fund.
United States · United States Congress · 11 May 1982
Amends the Clean Water Act to declare that "discharge of a pollutant or pollutants" does not include effects upon water quality resulting solely from the impoundment of waters or the release of impounded waters or the methods of such release.
United States · United States Congress · 6 May 1982
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act Reauthorization Act of 1982 - Amends the Solid Waste Disposal Act ("the Act") to extend through FY 1983 and 1984 the authorization of appropriations for: (1) general administration; (2) State hazardous waste programs; (3) hazardous waste site inventory; (4) development and implementation of State, local, regional, and interstate plans; (5) implementation of State, local, and intermunicipal solid waste management, resource recovery, and resource conservation services and hazardous waste management; (6) "special communities" grants for containment and stabilization of solid waste located at specified sites; (7) State recycled oil programs; and (8) resource and recovery duties of the Secretary of Commerce. Provides that, 18 months after enactment of this Act: (1) no generator of hazardous waste of more than 100 kilograms per month shall be exempt from specified standards; and (2) regulations establishing standards for generators of hazardous waste of 100 to 1,000 kilograms per month shall be promulgated by the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Requires that such regulations provide for standards necessary to protect human health and the environment, but allow for variation from the standards applicable to generators of greater quantities. Authorizes the Administrator to exempt generators of minimal quantities (100 kilograms per month or less) of hazardous waste from specified standards or to apply less stringent standards to such generators. Directs the Administrator, within one year after enactment of this Act, to report to Congress concerning listed hazardous wastes which are excluded from the coverage of hazardous waste management provisions of the Act under regulations exempting mixtures of domestic sewage and other wastes that pass through a sewer system to a publicly owned treatment works for treatment. Requires that such report specify types and quantities of such exempted wastes and make recommendations as to whether such exemption should be terminated to protect health and the environment. Prohibits, six months after enactment of this Act, the disposal of hazardous waste by injection into a class IV well which is: (1) in a formation containing an underground source of drinking water; or (2) above such a formation, until specified regulations are promulgated under the Safe Drinking Water Act. Sets forth exemptions from such prohibition, including wells for the extraction of minerals or energy. Requires certain regulations promulgated after March 20, 1982, to prohibit, to the extent practicable, the storage or disposal in landfills of hazardous wastes having liquid content. Directs the Administrator to report to the Congress, annually, on EPA's progress in determining which types of hazardous waste should or should not be deemed suitable for land disposal facilities. Requires notification to the Administrator (or to a State with an authorized hazardous waste program) by owners or operators of any facility: (1) producing a fuel by blending or otherwise processing hazardous wastes; or (2) burning wastes or waste-derived fuels for energy recovery purposes. Requires that such notification describe the location, the facility, the identified or listed hazardous waste involved, and the blending or burning activity. Directs the Administrator, within two years of the enactment of this Act, to promulgate regulations establishing health and environmental standards applicable to such facilities. Requires that such standards also cover the distribution and marketing of fuels produced from hazardous wastes. Requires that permits issued to treatment, storage, or disposal facilities by Federal or State hazardous waste programs under the Act address any release of hazardous waste from such facilities at any time. Directs the Administrator to promulgate regulations requiring any facility operating on interim status permits to obtain a final permit before expanding its capacity by more than ten percent. Authorizes the Administrator to establish standards for any interim status permit facility expanding its capacity by ten percent or less. Allows such standards for facilities expanding by ten percent or less to vary from the interim permit status standards for facilities which do not expand capacity. Directs the Administrator to issue final permits or final denials of permit applications: (1) for land disposal facilities within four years of the enactment of this Act; and (2) for any other treatment, storage, or disposal facilities within six years of such enactment. Provides that such time periods shall not apply in the case of any authorized State hazardous waste program. Requires facilities operating under interim status permits to submit applications for final permit review within the applicable time period. Establishes a National Groundwater Commission to assess problems and recommend solutions relating to groundwater contamination from hazardous waste and solid waste and groundwater overdrafting. Directs the Commission to report to the President and the Congress by October 30, 1986, and to terminate on such date. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1983 through FY 1986 for the Commission. Revises provisions relating to the preservation of the rights of litigants under any statute of common law notwithstanding the passage of the Act. Directs the Administrator, within 18 months of the enactment of this Act, to promulgate regulations defining "beneficial use" of hazardous waste. Authorize courts to award costs of litigation (including reasonable attorney and expert witness fees) in judicial proceedings involving review of regulations or certain administrative actions under the Act.
United States · United States Congress · 6 May 1982
Environmental Research, Development, and Demonstration Act of 1983 - Authorizes appropriations to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for FY 1983 and 1984 for activities authorized under the: (1) Clean Air Act; (2) Federal Water Pollution Act; (3) Safe Drinking Water Act; (4) Solid Waste Disposal Act; (5) Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act; (6) Public Health Service Act (radiation activities); (7) interdisciplinary activities provisions; (8) Toxic Substances Control Act; (9) energy research programs relating to control technology, health effects, ecological effects, monitoring, and acid rain; and (10) Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (Superfund). Authorizes appropriations to the EPA Office of Research and Development for FY 1983 and 1984 for program management and support. Sets forth permissible uses of such funds. Provides for congressional oversight of transfers of funds between categories. Prohibits the Administrator of the EPA from using any funds appropriated under this Act for a reduction-in-force, unless the Administrator has provided certain information to Congress in advance. Requires that at least 20 percent of specified funds authorized under this Act for FY 1983 and 1984 be obligated and expended for long-term research and development. Distributes such long-term research and development funds among in-house peer-reviewed research, peer-reviewed research grants, cooperative agreements or block grants to university or nonprofit research institutues, and the exploratory research program and its salaries and expenses. Sets forth provisions for obligation, expenditure, and transfer of such funds. Directs the Administrator of the EPA to report annually on the performance of such long-term research and development programs to the appropriate committees of the Congress at the time the President's budget is submitted to the Congress. Requires that certain amounts of specified funds authorized under this Act for FY 1983 and 1984 be authorized for environmental monitoring activities which are authorized under Federal environmental statutes and which support development of a continuing national environmental monitoring program. Directs the Administrator, in consultation and cooperation with specified Federal and State officials, to: (1) ensure that the national environmental monitoring program called for under this Act is comprehensive and national in scope; (2) develop a national monitoring program for air quality and apply its features, where appropriate, to programs for other media; and (3) prepare a plan for the design and implementation of the national monitoring program, with specified inclusions, to be reviewed by the National Academy of Science (NAS) and submitted to the appropriate congressional committees one year after enactment of this Act, and thereafter biannually, following plan review and update by program participants, the NAS, and the EPA. Directs the Administrator, on the last day of FY 1984 and of each subsequent fiscal year, to report on the state of, and factors affecting, air quality based on data gathered through the monitoring program. Requires that data for such monitoring programs be subjected to validated quality assurance procedures. Prohibits the use of funds appropriated pursuant to this Act for special monitoring efforts to acquire data for specific, limited-duration health effects studies or for estimates of the environmental concentration of recently discovered pollutants. Requires that appropriations authorized for energy research under this Act for FY 1983 and 1984 be used for environmental research associated with; (1) synthetic fuels production; (2) coal, oil, natural gas, and other fossil fuel extraction, processing, transportation, and combustion; and (3) other energy development activities and related problems posing threats to public health and the environment (including indoor air pollution). Directs the Administrator to: (1) establish and maintain a long-term health and ecological effects research program on energy-related pollutants; (2) coordinate such program with related Federal research programs; (3) establish and maintain an energy-related pollutants monitoring program; and (4) include in the air quality report a report on the emission and dispersion of energy-related air pollutants based on data from such monitoring program. Directs the Administrator to continue to conduct development and demonstration of energy-related pollution control technologies as required by pertinent pollution control statutes. Prohibits: (1) the administrative transfer of energy-related environmental research projects authorized to be administered by the EPA under this Act to any other Federal or State agency; or (2) the reduction of such programs through budget amendment. Amends the Environmental Research, Development, and Demonstration Authorization Act of 1978 to revise provisions relating to the membership of the Science Advisory Board. Requires that the Board be composed of members appointed by the Administrator from a list recommended by a nominating committee. Requires that the nominating committee's representation include the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health National Cancer Institute, National Science Foundation, National Academy of Sciences, and National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). Directs NIEHS, in consultation with the Administrator, to establish, chair, and manage the nominating committee. Directs the nominating committee to solicit candidates for nomination to the Board from the general public through notice in the Federal Register. Authorizes the Administrator to obtain necessary information from nominees. Directs the Administrator to publish the name, address, and professional affiliation of each nominee in the Federal Register. Directs the Administrator to ensure that Board membership is fairly balanced in terms of points of view represented and functions to be performed. Requires that Board membership represent States, industry, labor, academia, consumers, and the general public. Directs the nominating committee to make certain such requirement is met in recommending nominees. Requires that the terms of Board members be three years and be staggered so that the terms of no more than one-third of the total membership of the Board and its committees expire within a single fiscal year. Requires that each member of the Board serve a full term unless such member is unable, for involuntary reasons, to discharge Board duties or has violated conflict of interest regulations. Requires, if a vacancy on the Board is not filled by the Administrator within 90 days, the nominating committee to meet and appoint, within 60 days, a member to fill such vacancy from its list of recommended nominees. Directs the Administrator, within 120 days after enactment of this Act, to promulgate regulations regarding conflicts of interest with respect to Board members. Requires that the Board's advice and comments be included in the record with respect to any proposed rule and published in the Federal Register in accordance with the requirements of the environmental statutes and the authority of the Administrator. Reserves a specified amount of the funds authorized under this Act for FY 1983 and 1984 for a study on management and organization of Federal environmental research, to be conducted outside of the Federal Government. Sets forth requirements for contracts let by the Administrator for such study, including an oversight and review role by the National Academy of Sciences. Requires that a report of such study be submitted to the President, the Administrator, and the Congress within two years after enactment of this Act. Requires that such report: (1) include appropriate recommendations for executive, administrative, or legislative action; and (2) not be subject to any prior clearance or review, except as specifically provided under this Act. Directs the Administrator to establish and carry out a comprehensive indoor air pollution research and development program. Requires that such program: (1) broaden understanding and coordinate Federal, State, local, and private efforts; (2) emphasize data gathering and information transfer on all aspects of the problem (defines "indoor environment" to include residences and other non-manufacturing public and private buildings); and (3) be considered an integral part of the EPA's general responsibility to protect human health and welfare from air pollutants. Establishes, to assist the Administrator in the administration of such indoor air pollution research and development program: (1) a Committee on Indoor Air Quality representing specified Federal agencies; and (2) an advisory group of representatives of industry, the scientific community, and public interest organizations. Sets forth requirements for the principal objectives and particular emphases of such program. Requires the Administrator to maintain constant communication with appropriate State and local officials and private sector interested parties and to work constantly with appropriate industry representatives to develop industrywide voluntary standards for residential buildings to aid in indoor air pollution prevention or abatement. Directs the Administrator to submit reports to Congress at specified intervals containing certain information relating to such indoor air pollution research and development program. Reserves specified amounts to carry out such program from funds appropriated pursuant to authorization under this Act for FY 1983 and 1984.
United States · United States Congress · 5 May 1982
Indoor Air Pollution Research Act of 1982 - Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish and carry out a comprehensive indoor air pollution research and development program. Requires that such program: (1) broaden understanding and coordinate Federal, State, local, and private efforts; (2) emphasize data gathering and information transfer on all aspects of the problem (defines "indoor environment" to include residences and other non-manufacturing public and private buildings); and (3) be considered an integral part of the EPA's general responsibility to protect human health and welfare from air pollutants. Establishes, to assist the Administrator in the administration of such program: (1) a Committee on Indoor Air Quality representing specified Federal agencies; and (2) an advisory group of representatives of industry, the scientific community, and public interest organizations. Sets forth requirements for the principal objectives and particular emphases of such program. Requires the Administrator to maintain constant communication with appropriate State and local officials and interested parties in the private sector and to work with appropriate industry representatives to develop industrywide voluntary standards for residential buildings to aid in indoor air pollution prevention or abatement. Directs the Administrator to submit reports to Congress at specified intervals containing certain information relating to such program. Authorizes appropriations to carry out such program for FY 1983 and FY 1984.
United States · United States Congress · 4 May 1982
Clean Air Act Amendments of 1982 - Amends the Clean Air Act ("the Act") to revise stationary source provisions for State implementation plans (SIPs), new source performance standards (NSPS), primary nonferrous smelter orders, prevention of significant deterioration (PSD), and best available control technology (BACT). State Implementation Plans (SIPs) - Permits major stationary source construction or modification in a nonattainment area, even if such source emissions will cause or contribute to concentrations of a pollutant in excess of a national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS), if: (1) the SIP revision permitting such construction or modification has not been affirmatively disapproved by the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); or (2) the State determines that such construction or modification is in the public interest and that NAAQS attainment would be achieved with a reasonable extension of the attainment deadline. Prohibits findings by the Administrator related to procedural or technical defects in permit applications from serving as the basis for a moratorium on stationary source construction or modification in nonattainment areas. Requires States to provide the Administrator: (1) notice and copies of proposed SIP revisions; and (2) notice of SIP revisions adopted and brief summaries of written objections or comments concerning such revisions and of State actions with respect to such objections or comments. Directs the Administrator to submit to the State technical and legal comments, and any recommended changes, on proposed SIP revisions. Directs the Administrator to publish notice in the Federal Register within 30 days of receipt of notice of State adoption of an SIP revision and to provide a period of no less than 30 days and no more than 70 days for public comment. Provides that SIP revisions shall be deemed approved by the Administrator and become effective 90 days after publication in the Federal Register, unless the Administrator has disapproved the revision for failure to satisfy specified requirements. Directs the Administrator to publish a notice in the Federal Register of each approval or disapproval of an SIP revision. Authorizes the Administrator to extend such public comment period and effective date of an SIP revision for up to 60 days and to hold public hearings on SIP revisions. Prohibits an SIP revision from becoming effective unless the Administrator publishes a finding that the State's response to a timely objection, based on the Act or any regulation under the Act, was not arbitrary or capricious. Describes the materials that shall constitute the record for purposes of judicial review of approvals or findings of the Administrator with respect to SIP revisions. Repeals the requirement that SIPs must provide, to the extent necessary and practicable, for periodic inspection and testing of motor vehicles to enforce compliance with applicable emission standards. Prohibits the Administrator from requiring such an inspection and testing program as a condition of SIP approval, except under specified conditions relating to extensions of attainment dates for NAAQS for photochemical oxidants or carbon monoxide. Permits States to suspend or revoke indirect source review programs without regard to specified SIP approval requirements. Provides that such a State suspension or revocation shall constitute a SIP revision, of which the State must notify the Administrator and the Administrator must publish notice in the Federal Register. Removes the requirement that the system of continuous emission reduction be "technological," for purposes of permit requirements for new or modified stationary sources. Establishes a ten-year "grandfather" period from the date of completion of construction or modification of any major emitting facility issued a permit under PSD area or nonattainment area provisions. Provides that during such period such facility shall not be required to comply with an emission limitation or standard more stringent than the emission reduction required under such permit, unless the limitation or standard: (1) applies to an air pollutant for which an NAAQS is established after permit issuance; or (2) is required under provisions for nonattainment areas or national emission standards for hazardous air pollutants (NESHAPs) or emergency conditions. New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) - Repeals the requirement that new fossil fuel fired stationary sources of air pollution comply with a standard of performance which requires a percentage reduction in air pollutant emissions. Redefines "standard of performance," for NSPS purposes, to require emissions limitations achievable through the application of a system of continuous emission reduction which the Administrator (or the State, for specified categories of stationary sources) determines is adequate for that category or a similar category of new stationary sources, taking into consideration the cost of achievement, energy impact, and environmental effects unrelated to air quality. Redefines "new source" to include stationary sources commencing planning or design (as well as those commencing construction or modification) after publication of final applicable NSPS and to exclude any stationary source for which planning, designing, construction, or modification commenced after September 18, 1978, but prior to June 11, 1979. Removes the requirement that the system of continuous emission reduction under NSPS be a "technological" system or process. Includes in the definition of such system or process the use of inherently low-polluting fuels or raw materials. Permits application of such amended requirements to fossil fuel fired electric utility steam generating units which were constructed or modified after September 18, 1978, and before the publication of regulations reflecting the amendments made by this Act. Primary Nonferrous Smelter Orders - Permits primary nonferrous smelters to use intermittent emissions curtailment for not more than five percent of any calendar year to assure attainment and maintenance of the NAAQS for sulfur oxides. Directs the Administrator to promulgate new regulations for a standard of good engineering practice with respect to stack heights which will allow, in the case of primary nonferrous smelters, a credit for such stack height as may be necesssary to reduce plume impaction on terrain obstacles in mountainous regions where no other reasonable plant siting option is available. Extends by five years the deadlines for compliance with primary nonferrous smelter orders. Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) - Revises a purpose of PSD provisions. Makes a Class II areas (areas where air quality deterioration is permitted to a greater degree than in Class I areas which include international and national parks and wilderness areas in existence on August 7, 1977) areas which exceed 10,000 acres in size and which are established after passage of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1977 as national monuments, primitive areas, preserves, recreation areas, wild and scenic rivers, wildlife refuges, lakeshores or seashores, and parks or wilderness areas. Provides that such areas may only be redesignated as class I or class II. Directs the Administrator to consult with the Federal land manager in each State and publish a list of such areas located within specified nonattainment areas. Exempts such areas for classification as class II areas upon certification to the Administrator by the States in which such areas are located that such a designation is unreasonable or impractical. Prohibits the Administrator from overruling the State, unless the Administrator demonstrates that the State has been arbitrary or capricious in exempting such areas from classification as class II areas. Provides that current non-mandatory class II areas which are not established as class I areas or mandatory class II areas or redesignated shall be class II areas until December 31, 1983, but shall be unclassified thereafter, unless redesignated. Eliminates the Class III area classification. Repeals Class I and Class II area short-term "increment" requirements (maximum allowable increases over baseline concentrations of a pollutant) for: (1) 24-hour periods for particulate matter; and (2) 24-hour and three-hour periods for sulfur dioxide (thus retaining only annual "increment" limitations for such pollutants in such areas). Repeals all Class III area "increment" requirements. Excludes pollution attributable to fugitive dust and other naturally occurring background particulate matter from consideration in determining concentrations of pollutant for purposes of PSD increment requirements. Authorizes (and requires upon petition of the Governor) the Administrator to provide notice, conduct a public hearing, and, with the Governor's concurrence, promulgate rules for determining compliance with increment requirements in States where the Administrator is the PSD permitting authority. Eliminates the Class III area classification. Permits States to designate or redesignate specified national areas established after the passage of this Act and exceeding 10,000 acres in size as class I, class II, or unclassified. Requires that such redesignation be specifically approved by the Governor after consultation with the legislature (unless State law requires State legislation) and local governments of the redesignated area. Exempts such areas which are redesignated unclassified from PSD increment requirements. Eliminates requirements that specified descriptions, analyses, and plans relating to area redesignations be prepared and made available for public inspection. Eliminates provisions relating to preconstruction requirements for Class III areas. Retains the one-year (after filing date) deadline for granting or denying completed permit applications for facilities which will emit 500 tons or more per year of pollutant, but provides a six-month deadline in the case of facilities emitting less than 500 tons. Requires that the permit applicant be notified whether the application is complete, within two months after filing. Requires States, for PSD preconstruction review purposes, to transmit to the Administrator copies of permit applications for major emitting facilities only if such a facility will emit: (1) 500 tons or more per year of total suspended particulate matter or 1,000 tons or more of sulfur dioxide; or (2) pollution affecting air quality in any class I area or other specified national areas. Requires States to provide notice to the Administrator of only the final action taken on such permit. Requires protection of air quality related values within a Class I area only "from significant adverse impacts." Provides that the affirmative responsibility of the Federal Land Manger and the Federal official charged with direct responsibility for management of lands within a class I area shall not extend to protection of integral vistas or views of specific landmarks or panoramic views located outside the boundaries of Federal Class I areas. Requires inclusion of information constituting its basis in the filing of an allegation that a proposed facility may cause or contribute to a significant adverse impact in air quality. Requires State concurrence, taking into consideration the health, environmental, economic, and energy effects of a facility, with the Federal Land Manager's demonstration that a proposed facility will have such an impact. Repeals the requirement that the owner or operator demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Federal Land Manager that a proposed facility will not have an adverse impact on air-quality related values. Requires, instead, that the owner or operator file a notice with the Federal Land Manager that such facility will have no significant adverse impact, and gives the Federal Land Manager 45 days to concur or disagree. Repeals short-term "increment" limitations for PSD construction permit purposes. Authorizes the Governor, after consideration of the Federal Land Manager's recommendation, to grant a variance from the annual increment limitation for sulfur dioxide in Class I areas. Requires, in the case of Federal mandatory Class I areas, that such a variance not have a significant adverse effect on air quality related values and be in the public interest. Requires that continuous air quality monitoring data be included in an analysis for PSD preconstruction review purposes only to the extent required in the discretion of the permitting authority. Repeals the requirement that such data be gathered over a one-year period. Establishes a ten-year "grandfather" period for facilities issued PSD construction permits. Excludes naturally occurring background particulates or fugitive dust analysis or control from specified demonstrations required of owners or operators seeking PSD construction permits. Deletes the requirement that the Administrator's PSD regulations for specified other pollutants be at least as effective as the increment requirements already established. Revises the definition of "major emitting facility" for PSD purposes to provide consideration of the net effect on air pollution emissions of modifications of specified types of stationary sources. Revises provisions for visibility protection for Federal Class I areas to cover only "significant" impairments of visibility. Excludes from the definition of "visibility impairment" an integral vista or view of a specific landmark or panoramic view located outside the boundary of a Class I Federal area which can be viewed from a point within the boundaries of a Class I area. Best Available Control Technology (BACT) - Revises the definition of "best available control technology" (BACT) to include designs or work practice standards. Allows the permitting authority to provide that for stationary sources which do not emit more than 500 tons per year of a particular air pollutant BACT may be equivalent to the applicable new source performance standard (NSPS), under specified circumstances.
United States · United States Congress · 4 May 1982
Requests the President to designate the week of May 2 through May 8, 1982, as National Clean Air Week.
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 1982
Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to increase by ten percent the Federal share of waste treatment projects for applicants providing at least a 25 percent discount on sewage rates for senior citizens.
United States · United States Congress · 28 April 1982
Clean Air Reauthorization and Acid Precipitation Study Act of 1982 - Amends the Clean Air Act ("the Act"). Title I: Implementation Plans and Enforcement - State Implementation Plans (SIPs) and the SIP Revision Process - Revises required State Implementation plans (SIPs) provisions. Directs a State to notify the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of proposed and adopted revisions to its SIP and of any comments or objections filed concerning such revisions. Directs the Administrator to: (1) submit to the State comments on the technical and legal sufficiency of any proposed revision; (2) publish notice of a revision in the Federal Register within 30 days of receipt of notice of State adoption of the revision; and (3) provide a period of 30 to 70 days for public comment. Provides that any SIP revision shall be deemed approved and become effective 90 days after publication in the Federal Register, unless the Administrator, upon considering the State's administrative proceeding record and public comments, disapproves on the basis of failure to satisfy specified requirements. Directs the Administrator to publish notice of such approval or disapproval. Permits the Administrator to: (1) extend the periods for public comment and for approval, by up to 60 days; and (2) hold public hearings on SIP revisions. Provides that an SIP approval shall not be effective unless the Administrator finds, and publishes, that the State's response to any objection filed both during the State's proceedings and the Administrator's public comment period was not arbitrary or capricious. Repeals the requirement that SIPs provide for periodic inspection and testing of motor vehicles to enforce compliance with applicable emission standards. Prohibits the Administrator from requiring, as a condition of SIP approval, any indirect source review program or, except as specified in provisions for nonattainment areas, any program of periodic inspection and testing of motor vehicles. Permits States to include, and the Administrator to approve, such programs in SIPs. New Source Performance Standards - Limits the applicability of the percentage reduction requirement for new fossil fuel fired stationary sources to those categories of stationary sources to which such requirement were applied under regulations in effect as of December 31, 1981. Provides that NSPS apply only to stationary source construction or modification commenced after NSPS regulations are promulgated (currently, proposed). Enforcement - Provides a one-year period for compliance after issuance of specified Federal enforcement orders (not including Federal orders relating to violations of national emission standards for hazardous air pollutants or State enforcement orders). Repeals a requirement that the Administrator seek an injunction or assess a civil penalty in the case of any major stationary source not in compliance within 30 days of such a Federal enforcement order. Provides discretionary authority for the Administrator to seek injunctions or asses penalties in any cases of noncompliance which last beyond 30 days enforcement orders are issued (continues such discretionary authority in cases not involving major stationary sources). Directs the Administrator to carry out specified enforcement authorities through the use of full-time Federal officers or employees. States that contractors should be used only as necessary to provide technical support for such enforcement. Prohibits the Administrator from contracting with anyone other than a full-time Federal officer or employee to provide legal assistance for such enforcement. Revises enforcement provisions relating to major stationary sources which burn petroleum products or natural gas to cover such sources which voluntarily convert to an alternate fuel. Includes other alternate fuels under the enforcement provisions which currently cover conversion to coal by such sources. Requires (currently allows) each State to develop and submit to the Administrator a plan for carrying out noncompliance penalty provisions in such State. Repeals the authority of the Administrator to carry out noncompliance penalty provisions in a State under certain conditions. Authorizes (currently requires) the State, or the Administrator if the State has not received a delegation, to carry out penalty provisions to assess and collect a noncompliance penalty in specified circumstances. Authorizes the State to grant exemptions from penalties in cases of minor noncompliance (and continues the authority of the Administrator, when appropriate, to do so). Repeals a requirement tnat the Administrator send notices of noncompliance to specified persons, in the event the State fails to send such notices. Requires persons receiving such notices to submit a calculation of the amount of penalty owed and a schedule of payments within a reasonable period prescribed by the Administrator or the State (currently requires such submission within 45 days of notice issuance or petition denial). Makes a similar change in the deadline for submissions of petitions challenging such notice or alleging entitlement to an exemption. Provides that public hearings on such petitions be conducted by the Administrator or the State, as appropriate, and that decisions on such petitions be made within a reasonable time (currently requires the Administrator to hold such hearings unless the State agrees to do so and currently requires a decision within 90 days after receipt of the petition). Repeals provisions authorizing the Administrator to review State decisions on such petitions and requiring such review under certain conditions. Authorizes the State or the Administrator, as appropriate, to adjust or compromise any penalty assessment if the source is in compliance. Repeals provisions for: (1) final adjustments of penalties after compliance; and (2) Administrator objections to, and substitutions for, State noncompliance penalties. Revises requirements for noncompliance penalty assessed amount determinations and payment schedules. Authorizes the Administrator, after notice and public hearing, to revoke or suspend any delegation under noncompliance penalty provisions upon determination that a State is not complying with such provisions. Attainment Date Extensions - Permits States to receive up to five-year extensions beyond the December 31, 1982, national primary ambient air quality standard ("primary NAAQS") attainment date for pollutants in nonattainment areas (currently the Act permits such extensions for carbon monoxide and photochemical oxidants). Requires, in order to receive such extensions, that a State: (1) certify to the Administrator that attainment is not possible before December 31, 1982, despite implementation of all reasonably available measures; and (2) commit itself to not modifying State nonattainment plan provisions so as to adversely affect reasonable further progress. Directs the Administrator to publish notice of such certification and afford an opportunity of not more than 60 days for public comment, including a hearing where appropriate. Directs the Administrator, if satisfied that such attainment is not possible, to extend the deadline to a date providing for attainment as expeditiously as possible, but not later than December 31, 1987. Grants the Administrator discretionary authority, upon State application and after notice and public hearing, to provide an additional extension of an attainment date for any NAAQS, for up to six years beyond the December 31, 1987 extension. Conditions such additional extensions on a State demonstration that: (1) the State has made good faith efforts to make reasonable further progress toward attainment during the previous extension period and has achieved annual incremental reductions in emissions of the air pollutant concerned; (2) all applicable SIP provisions, including those relating to legislative and funding actions and reasonably available control technology (or alternative measures that achieve equal or greater reductions in emissions) are being adequately implemented; (3) air quality problems are so severe and persistent, for identified reasons, that the previous extended deadline cannot be attained; and (4) in the case of requests for additional extensions for carbon monoxide or photochemical oxidants, the State has adopted and will implement in a cost-effective manner a program of motor vehicle inspection and maintenance not inconsistent with the purposes and requirements of title II (Emissions Standards for Moving Sources) of the Act. Directs the Administrator to promulgate guidelines for SIP revisions, including guidelines respecting the terms of such additional extensions. Authorizes the Administrator to prohibit issuance of a construction or modification permit for any major stationary source which emits a pollutant for which a NAAQS has not been attained by the appropriate deadline. Permits case-by-case waivers of such prohibition for the construction of any new stationary source to replace an existing stationary source, upon determination by the permitting authority that emissions from the new source of each air pollutant for which the area is designated a nonattainment area will be less than such emissions from the existing source. Directs the Administrator to: (1) enforce such permit requirements by issuing an order or bringing a civil action; and (2) seek an injunction or assess a civil penalty for violations of such prohibitions against construction or modification. Nonattainment (other amendments) - Revises other part D provisions for permit requirements in nonattainment areas to require that proposed new or modified major stationary sources comply with the best available control technology (BACT) standard, in the case of permits issued on or after the enactment date of this Act (compliance with the lowest achievable emission rate (LAER) standard is thus required only for permits issued before such date). Repeals a requirement that SIP provisions for nonattainment areas establish a specific schedule for implementation of a vehicle emission control inspection and maintenance (I/M) program in order to qualify for a deadline extension in meeting the primary NAAQS for photochemical oxidants or carbon monoxide. Requires that SIP nonattainment provisions for urban areas with greater than 500,000 population, in which the 1981 photochemical oxidants and/or carbon monoxide level exceeded the respective primary NAAQS by 50 percent or more, must contain a cost-effective program applicable to in-use motor vehicle emissions and not inconsistent with title II (Emission Standards for Moving Sources) of the Act. Requires that such program include an I/M program, if the State deems this appropriate. Allows a State to decide that the I/M program will apply first to motor vehicle fleets and commercial operators and then, when the State determines it is necessary for attainment, to other vehicles. Permits any State to: (1) continue an I/M program for any nonattainment area which does not fall under the new requirements concerning urban areas with the above-mentioned population and pollution areas; or (2) submit revisions to modify or eliminate such program. Makes specified emissions level requirements for construction and operation in nonattainment areas inapplicable in the case of any SIP under which: (1) the construction or modification of specified stationary sources is required to comply with the best available control technology (BACT) standard; (2) an adequate emissions inventory is maintained; (3) all existing major stationary sources will be in compliance with emission limitations based upon reasonably available control technology (RACT) not later than 1987 (or earlier, as appropriate); (4) nonwithstanding the construction of new major stationary sources, there is a program for obtaining such annual reductions in emissions as represent reasonable further progress; and (5) annual increased emissions resulting from source construction or modification shall not exceed one percent of the inventoried emissions of the applicable pollutant in the nonattainment area. Provides that the Administrator shall apply on a gradual or partial basis the authority to withhold Federal grant funds for sewage treatment and highways in cases of noncompliance with the Act as appropriate to the severity of such violations. Prevention of Significant Deterioration - Revises provisions for Prevention of Significant Deterioration of Air Quality (PSD). (PSD provisions currently specify allowable short-term and long-term "increments" of emissions of sulfur oxide and particulate matter - regulations for other pollutants are not yet final - in areas with cleaner air than that required by NAAQS. (Currently the smallest increments are allowed in "class I" areas, which include "statutorily designated" large national parks and wilderness areas, with larger increments in "class II" areas, and the largest increments in "class III" areas.) Repeals the "increment" limitations (specified "maximum allowable increases over baseline concentrations") for class II and class III areas. Eliminates the short-term increment limitations for class I areas. Permits States' Governors to rule that concentrations of particulate matter attributable to fugitive dust from specified sources shall not be taken into account in determining compliance with maximum allowable increases in ambient concentrations. Eliminates provisions for PSD area redesignations as class III areas. Provides that PSD preconstruction requirements shall only apply to physical or operational changes resulting in a significant net increase in source emissions of any air pollutant regulated under provisions for NAAQS, NSPS, or NESHAPs. Sets a de minimis amount for such increase at 100 tons per year (1,000 tons per year of carbon monoxide) for any air pollutant for which a NAAQS is established (except lead) and 18 tons per year for fluorides. Revises PSD preconstruction review analysis requirements to grant discretion to the permitting authority in determining whether continuous air quality monitoring data is necessary to determine whether emissions from a facility will exceed maximum allowable increases (class I area increments) or maximum allowable concentrations (primary and secondary NAAQS). Requires PSD preconstruction permit programs to: (1) notify applicants within two months after receipts as to whether or not the application is complete and in what respects an incomplete application should be modified; and (2) issue or deny the permit within seven months after a completed applications is received. Authorizes any officer or employee of a permitting agency to communicate and meet with any applicant, prior to submission of an application, to clarify PSD preconstruction permit requirements. Eliminates the requirement that PSD regulations for hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, photochemical oxidants, and nitrogen oxides contain measures at least as effective as the "increment" limitations for sulfur oxides and particulate matter. Provides that the Administrator shall promulgate PSD regulations, as appropriate, for any such pollutant (thus repealing a specific deadline for such regulations). Deletes the requirement that the specific measures included in such regulations to evaluate permit applications be "numerical." Eliminates the special definition of "best available control technology" (BACT) for purposes of PSD provisions. Defines BACT for purposes of the Act to mean the applicable New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) (the EPA-set technology-based standards for categories of industries), along with applicable national emission limitation standards for hazardous air pollutants (NESHAPs). Retains determination of the BACT by the permitting authority on a case-by-case basis where no NSPS exists for a stationary source in a particular category. Allows State and local governments to adopt or enforce standards or limitations more stringent than the BACT standard. Visibility Protection - Limits the applicability of specified visibility protection provisions to: (1) "significant" impairments of visibility within mandatory class I Federal areas; and (2) "significant" adverse impacts on air quality related values (including visibility) on lands within class I areas. Operation and Maintenance - Requires that SIPs include a program for periodic audits of major stationary sources to insure the proper operation and maintenance of pollution control equipment used to comply with emission limitations. Requires that the results of such audits be available to the public. Sets a deadline, six months after enactment of this Act, for submission of SIP revisions taking account of such requirements. Emergency Variances - Revises provisions for emergency variances from any SIP requirement applicable to a stationary source. Authorizes the President to issue such variances. Permits such variances to be issued when foreign imports of fuels used by a stationary source have reached an excessive level and such imports can be reduced by the emergency suspension. Increases the maximum period for such temporary emergency suspensions to two years (currently four months), but prohibits any such suspension remaining in effect for more than four months if it results in a violation of any NAAQS. Requires the person (a State Governor or the President) issuing any suspension for a period of more than four months to revoke such suspension upon determination that the stationary source did not change to an alternative fuel. Administrative Review - Revises provisions relating to international air pollution. Directs the Administrator to: (1) publish notice in the Federal Register upon receipt of specified information or allegations about such pollution originating in the United States; (2) receive public comments and conduct an investigation including public hearings respecting such pollution; and (3) make a finding as to whether any air pollutant emitted in the United States causes or contributes to air pollution in a foreign country. Provides that any finding that U.S. emissions cause or contribute to air pollution which may reasonably be anticipated to endanger public health or welfare in a foreign country shall be deemed to be a finding which requires an SIP revision. Regulatory Stability - Sets forth regulatory stability provisions establishing a ten-year "grandfather" period, commencing with construction or modification, during which a stationary source (unless subsequently modified) shall not be subject to more stringent requirements if the construction or modification is subject to NSPS, obtains a permit or approval, and meets all permit or approval requirements. Excludes from such "grandfather" provision any emission limitation or standard imposed on any stationary source with respect to: (1) hazardous pollutants designated under NESHAP provisions; (2) pollutants with no NAAQS in effect at commencement of the construction; or (3) any other air pollutant, if the Administrator judges that the public health or welfare may be endangered. Effective Data and Transitional Rules - Sets forth an effective date and transitional rules for the amendments relating to Nonattainment provisions and to PSD provisions. Title II: Ozone Protection - Revises ozone protection provisions of the Act. Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to continue ozone protection studies and research while increasing actual measurements of stratosphere ozone and improving methods of monitoring potential trends in such measurements. Directs the Administrator to contract annually with the National Academy of Sciences to: (1) continue review and research; (2) determine the extent, nature, and causes of changes in stratospheric ozone concentration (with particular attention to the effects of chlorofluorocarbons); (3) investigate unreasonable effects on health and the environment; and (4) report all findings and associated uncertainties. Directs the National Academy of Sciences, in consultation with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, to report, within two years and annually thereafter until such time as the theory of ozone depletion by chlorofluorocarbons has been validated, all findings concerning actual or potential alteration of the concentration of ozone in the stratosphere, its causes, and associated implications and uncertainties. Requires that such report be made to the Administrator and to the Congress, with copies available to the public. Requires that continuing research and monitoring programs be expanded to determine the extent, nature, causes, effects, and associated uncertainties of stratospheric ozone concentration changes. Directs the President, within two years from the date of enactment of this Act and annually thereafter, to report to the Congress and the public on efforts to reach international agreements among the major free-world producing countries of chlorofluorocarbons as to the nature, extent, and implications of any threat to the concentration of ozone in the stratosphere and as to the appropriate regulatory action to be taken. Prohibits the Administrator from proposing further regulations for the control in the United States of any chlorofluorocarbon under the Act or the Toxic Substance Control Act until: (1) the Administrator determines that depletion of the stratospheric ozone by chlorofluorocarbons at a rate determined to be eventually harmful to human health and the environment is actually detected; or (2) until the President reports that international agreement has been reached as to the nature, extent, and implications of any threat to the concentration of ozone in the stratosphere and as to the appropriate regulatory action to be taken. Provides that this Act shall not affect: (1) the validity of regulations concerning aerosol propellants containing chlorofluorocarbons promulgated by the Administrator before the effective date of this Act; or (2) the Administrator's obligation to comply with other applicable requirements in adopting regulations for the control of chlorofluorocarbons. Prohibits States or local governments from adopting or attempting to enforce any regulation (except ones controlling halocarbon use as an aerosol propellant) respecting the control of chlorofluorocarbons to protect the stratosphere or stratospheric ozone until the Administrator has promulgated regulations for such control in the United States. Title III: Authorization of Appropriations - Authorizes appropriations to the Administrator for FY 1983 through FY 1987. Provides for sums necessary for: (1) the Administrator and the States to effectively carry out the Act's provisions, including training of State and local personnel, enforcement, abatement, and control, consideration of SIPs and revisions, and audits; and (2) sufficient funding for personnel for the Administrator to carry out the Act, particularly its regulatory functions, without undue reliance on contractors. Requires that such authorization not be less than the appropriations authorized in fiscal year 1981 to carry out the Act (except provisions relating to the National Commission of Air Quality). Prohibits the Administrator from using any funds appropriated under the Act for any payment for a reduction-in-force in any fiscal year. Directs the Administrator to inform the appropriate committees of the Congress of the reasons for such reduction, its impact on carrying out the Act, and other detailed or pertinent information, at least 30 days prior to issuing any general notice of such reduction. Declares that nothing in this title shall authorize appropriations for any research and development activities under the Act. Title IV: Acid Precipitation Study - Amends the Energy Security Act (title VII provisions also known as the "Acid Precipitation Act of 1980") to reduce the period covered by a comprehensive research plan from ten years to five years. Makes conforming amendments relating to implementation of, and authorization of appropriations for, the comprehensive research plan. Directs the Acid Precipitation Task Force to submit a final report, with detailed recommendations, within five years of enactment of the Energy Security Act. Authorizes the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to submit recommendations, to accompany the final report of the Task Force, for specific changes in law supported by scientific findings of the Task Force. Prohibits the Administrator from proposing or promulgating any rule to control sulfur dioxide or nitrogen oxide emissions if such rule would expand the Administrator's existing regulatory authority, before the final report is transmitted. Directs the Task Force to: (1) study fuel precombustion treatment and low-polluting combustion processes for reduction of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions; and (2) solicit information from State agencies conducting acid deposition research.
United States · United States Congress · 22 April 1982
Amends the Solid Waste Disposal Act to extend the authorization of appropriations through FY 1984 for general administration and for assistance to States in the development and implementation of authorized State hazardous waste programs.
United States · United States Congress · 22 April 1982
Amends the Solid Waste Disposal Act to extend the authorization of appropriations through FY 1984 for general administration of such Act. Repeals the requirement that at least 20 percent of the appropriations authorized under such Act for general administration be used for Resource Recovery and Conservation Panels and at least 25 percent be used for State and local support. Authorizes appropriations through FY 1984 for assisting States in the development and implementation of authorized States hazardous waste programs. Repeals the program of assistance to States for discretionary programs relating to recycled oil. Eliminates the authorization of appropriations for the programs of the Resource Conservation Committee. Eliminates the authorization of appropriations for a study on the adverse effects of drilling fluids, produced waters, and other wastes associated with the exploration, development, or production of crude oil or natural gas or geothermal energy.
United States · United States Congress · 22 April 1982
Prohibits for two years after enactment of this Act the issuance of a permit pursuant to title I of the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972 that authorizes ocean dumping of low-level radioactive waste unless the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency finds that: (1) the proposed dumping is necessary to conduct research related to ocean dumping; (2) the dumping will have minimal adverse impact upon human health, welfare, and amenities and the marine environment, ecological systems, economic potentialities, and other legitimate uses; (3) the potential benefits of the research will outweigh any adverse impact; and (4) the proposed dumping will be preceded by baseline monitoring studies of the proposed dumping site and its surrounding environment. Provides that after the end of the two-year period, the Administrator may not issue a permit for the disposal of low-level radioactive waste in the ocean until the applicant, in addition to complying with the requirements under title I of such Act, prepares a radioactive material disposal impact assessment with respect to the site at which the disposal is proposed. Requires the Administrator to submit a copy of any such assessment to specified congressional committees. Makes such a permit effective 45 days after it is issued unless either House of Congress disapproves it by resolution within such time period.