CLEAN AIR ACT AMENDMENTS OF 1966 TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 1966 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE, Washington, D.C. The subcommittee met at 10 a.m., pursuant to call, in room 2218, Rayburn Office Building, Hon. John Jarman (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding. Mr. JARMAN. The subcommittee will please come to order. The hearings today are on H.R. 13199, S. 3112, and related bills extending the Clean Air Act. In general, these bills would extend that act, which presently expires June 30, 1967, for additional periods ranging from 3 to 5 years, and provide an increase in the authorization for appropriations for the current fiscal year from $35 to $46 million. S. 3112 and H.R. 13199 were each introduced at the request of the administration, and S. 3112 was reported to the Senate with amendments which were agreed to and the bill then passed the Senate on July 12 by a rollcall vote of 80 yeas and no nays. It is my hope that we can complete these hearings as expeditiously as possible so that we can report a bill to the full committee at the earliest possible date. At this point in the record there will be included copies of the bills and the agency reports thereon. (The bills and reports referred to follow :) [H.R. 13199, 89th Cong., 2d sess.] A BILL To amend the Clean Air Act so as to authorize grants to air pollution control agencies for maintenance of air pollution control programs in addition to present authority for grants to develop, establish, or improve such programs; make the use of appropriations under the Act more flexible by consolidating the appropriation authorizations under the Act and deleting the provision limiting the total of grants for support of air pollution control programs to 20 per centum of the total appropriation for any year; extend the duration of the programs authorized by the Act; and for other purposes Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That this Act may be cited as the "Clean Air Act Amendments of 1966." CONSOLIDATION OF APPROPRIATION CEILINGS SEC. 2. Section 306 of the Clean Air Act is amended to read as follows: "SEC. 306. There are hereby authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act, $46,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1967, an such sums as may be necessary for each succeeding fiscal year ending prior to July 1, 1973." AUTHORIZATION OF MAINTENANCE GRANTS FOR AIR POLLUTION CONTROL PRO SEC. 3. (a) (1) Subsection (a) of section 104 of the Clean Air Act (33 U.S.C. 1857c (a)) is amended to read as follows: "SEC. 104. (a) The Secretary is authorized to make grants to air pollution control agencies in an amount up to two-thirds of the cost of developing, establishing, or improving, and grants to such agencies up to one-half of the cost of maintaining, programs for the prevention and control of air pollution: Provided, That the Secretary is authorized to make grants to intermunicipal or interstate air pollution control agencies (described in section 302(b) (2) and (4)) in an amount up to three-fourths of the cost of developing, establishing, or improving, and up to three-fifths of the cost of maintaining, regional air pollution control programs. As used in this subsection, the term 'regional air pollution control program' means a program for the prevention and control of air pollution in an area that includes the areas of two or more municipalities, whether in the same or different States." (2) Subsection (b) of such section 104 is amended by striking out "under" in the first sentence and inserting in lieu thereof "for the purposes of", and by inserting in the third sentence the word "control" after “air pollution". (b) Subsection (c) of such section 104 is amended to read as follows: "(c) Not more than 121⁄2 per centum of the total of funds appropriated or allocated for the purposes of subsection (a) of this section shall be granted for air pollution control programs in any one State. In the case of a grant for a program in an area crossing State boundaries, the Secretary shall determine the portion of such grant that is chargeable to the percentage limitation under this subsection for each State into which such area extends." [S. 3112, 89th Cong., 2d sess.] AN ACT To amend the Clean Air Act so as to authorize grants to air pollution control agencies for maintenance of air pollution control programs in addition to present authority for grants to develop, establish, or improve such programs; make the use of appropriations under the Act more flexible by consolidating the appropriation authorizations under the Act and deleting the provision limiting the total of grants for support of air pollution control programs to 20 per centum of the total appropriation for any year; extend the duration of the programs authorized by the Act; and for other purposes Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That this Act may be cited as the "Clean Air Act Amendments of 1966". SEC. 2. (a) Section 306 of the Clean Air Act is amended to read as follows: "SEC. 306. There are hereby authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act, $46,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1967, $70,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1968, and $80,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1969." (b) Section 209 of such Act is hereby repealed. AUTHORIZATION OF MAINTENANCE GRANTS FOR AIR POLLUTION CONTROL PROGRAMS AND REMOVAL OF 20 PER CENTUM CEILING SEC. 3 (a) (1) Subsection (a) of section 104 of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 1857c (a)) is amended to read as follows: "SEC. 104. (a) The Secretary is authorized to make grants to air pollution control agencies in an amount up to two-thirds of the cost of developing, establishing, or improving, and grants to such agencies up to one-half of the cost of maintaining, programs for the prevention and control of air pollution: Provided, That the Secretary is authorized to make grants to intermunicipal or interstate air pollution control agencies (described in section 302 (b) (2) and (4)) in an amount up to three-fourths of the cost of developing, establishing, or improving, and up to three-fifths of the cost of maintaining, regional air pollution control programs. As used in this subsection, the term 'regional air pollution control program' means a program for the prevention and control of air pollution in an area that includes the areas of two or more municipalities, whether in the same or different States." (2) Subsection (b) of such section 104 is amended by striking out "under" in the first sentence and inserting in lieu thereof "for the purposes of", and in the next to the last sentence by inserting a comma after the word "funds" and adding "for other than non-recurrent expenditures," and in the same sentence after the word "pollution", the word "control". (b) Subsection (c) of such section 104 is amended to read as follows: "(c) Not more than 122 per centum of the total of funds appropriated or allocated for the purposes of subsection (a) of this section shall be granted for air pollution control programs in any one State. In the case of a grant for a program in an area crossing State boundaries, the Secretary shall determine the portion of such grant that is chargeable to the percentage limitation under this subsection for each State into which such area extends." Passed the Senate July 12, 1966. Attest: EMERY L. FRAZIER, Secretary. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCATION, AND WELFARE, Hon. HARLEY O. STAGGERS, Chairman, Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: This letter is in response to your request for a report on H.R. 13199, "To amend the Clean Air Act so as to authorize grants to air pollution control agencies for maintenance of air pollution control programs in addition to present authority for grants to develop, establish, or improve such programs; make the use of appropriations under the Act more flexible by consolidating the appropriation authorizations under the Act and deleting the provision limiting the total of grants for support of air pollution control programs to 20 per centum of the total appropriation for any year; extend the duration of the programs authorized by the Act; and for other purposes." The bill would carry the short title "Clean Air Act Amendments of 1966". This report is also addressed to a similar companion bill, S. 3112, which (as amended in the Senate) is pending before your Committee. These bills are intended to carry out proposals announced by the President in his Message of February 23, 1966, on Preserving Our Natural Heritage. We strongly recommend the enactment of this legislation. For the reason stated below, we recommend that this be done in the version passed by the Senate, with one additional amendment. (1) Consolidation, extension, and increase of appropriation authorization.— The Clean Air Act now authorizes appropriations, except for title II, only through the current fiscal year (1967) for which it authorizes $35 million; for carrying out title II relating to control of air pollution from motor vehicles, enacted last year, it authorizes appropriations through fiscal year 1969 for which $1,470,000 is authorized. H.R. 13199 is designed to amend section 306 of the Clean Air Act to consolidate the appropriation authorizations for the entire Act and extend them through fiscal year 1972. To this end, the bill would authorize for such purposes appropriations of $46 million for the fiscal year 1967 and such sums as may be necessary for each of the five succeeding fiscal years. Through inadvertence, the repeal of the separate authorizations (in § 209 of the Act) was omitted from the House bill; the omission is supplied in the Senate version. In the Senate passed bill, the appropriation authorization has been amended to extend only through fiscal year 1969, and the Senate bill authorizes $70,000,000 for fiscal year 1968 and $80,000,000 for fiscal year 1969 in place of open-end authorizations. The figures contained in the Senate bill are based on estimates furnished by this Department at the request of the Public Works Committee. However, neither the estimates underlying the appropriation ceiling in § 306 of the present Act nor the estimates furnished to the Senate Committee in connection with S. 3112 include any amounts for construction (and initial equipment) of facilities for which authority was conferred on us by section 103 (d) of the Act enacted last year, nor would the inclusion of this item in annual appropriation ceilings be a suitable approach. We therefore recommend that the following sentence be added at the end of the proposed revision of § 306 of the Act: "The foregoing limitations shall be exclusive of such sums as may be required for construction (including initial equipment) of facilities pursuant to section 103 (d)." As a by-product of industrialization and urbanization, air pollution continues to be a widespread and growing hazard to, the health and welfare of the United States. Although important progress has been made in the brief period since enactment of the Act in 1963, a sustained and accelerated effort is needed if the promise of that Act to prevent and control air pollution is to be fulfilled. We therefore urge favorable consideration of the proposed extension and consolidation of, and increase in, appropriation authorization, with the modification as to construction above recommended. In our judgment, such consolidation is highly desirable in order to insure that the administration of the regulatory program to control pollution from motor vehicles, required under title II of the Act, will not be impaired by circumstances that could not be anticipated nor provided for under the present separate authorization. If activities under title II were provided for in the same authorization as other program activities, any unexpected increase or decrease in cost might be absorbed by appropriate program adjustments. Such flexibility is of considerable importance, especially because title II of the Clean Air Act prohibits the sale of motor vehicles not in conformance with applicable regulations and the industry will of necessity, in order to protect itself, need a certificate of conformity from the Secretary with respect to a representative test vehicle before marketing vehicles of that class; an undue delay on our part in testing vehicles for conformance, caused by lack of leeway to adjust funds, would work an intolerable hardship and dislocation upon the automobile industry and the economy generally. Another example which points out the need for consolidation of appropriation authority to achieve flexibility arises from the action of Congress during its consideration last year of the title II legislation. A provision was added in Committee whereby the Secretary, upon application from a motor vehicle manufacturer, is required to issue a certificate of compliance, applicable to a production run, if after appropriate tests a new vehicle is found to meet the prescribed standards. But our cost estimates were furnished to the Committee before this provision was added, yet no corresponding change was made in the title II appropriation authorization to reflect the added cost of vehicle or engine testing which would be required under this provision. Consolidation of appropriation authorization would permit such problems to be dealt with administratively within the scope of the whole Act. (2) Grants for maintenance of air pollution control programs. The bills would amend § 104 (a) of the Clean Air Act to add-to the present authority for grants to develop, establish, or improve air pollution control programs-an authorization for the Secretary to make grants to air pollution control agencies in an amount up to one-half of the cost of maintaining programs for the prevention and control of air pollution, and to make grants to intermunicipal or interstate air pollution control agencies in an amount up to three-fifths of the cost of maintaining regional air pollution control programs. (The U.S. Code citation for § 104 of the Act should be 42 U.S.C. 1857c(a), as in the Senate bill, rather than 33 U.S.C. 1857c (a).) The bills would also change section 104 (a) of the Act to remove the limitation that no more than 20 percent of the sums appropriated annually under the Act may be used to make grants under that section. The bills would also provide technical amendments to section 104(b) of the Clean Air Act for clarification purposes. The Senate bill (as passed by the Senate) would in addition amend section 104(b) by providing that in order to maintain eligibility for grants an agency need no longer meet its total level of expenditures of non-Federal funds for the prior fiscal year for air pollution control; the agency would only have to match its level of recurrent expenditures. Additionally, both bills would amend section 104 (c) of the Clean Air Act to provide that in the case of a grant for a program in an area crossing State boundaries, the Secretary would determine the portion of such grant that is chargeable to the 12 percent limitation imposed by the Act for air pollution control program grants in any one State. Section 104 of the Act at present authorizes grants to air pollution control agencies only in support of the cost of developing, establishing, or improving programs for the prevention and control of air pollution. This approach authorizes a Federal role limited to providing an initial stimulation of program improvement and subsequent withdrawal of support on the assumption or hope that non-Federal funds will be available to substitute for the Federal share. We believe that this limited role is not adequate for dealing with the problem nationally, nor appropriate for full implementation of the declared Federal policy. In enacting the Clean Air Act, the Congress established this policy through its finding, as contained in section 101, "that the prevention and control of air pollution at its source is the primary responsibility of States and local government; and . . . that Federal financial assistance and leadership is essential for the development of cooperative Federal, State, regional, and local programs to prevent and control air pollution". The maintenance and continuation of expanded efforts by State and local air pollution control agencies will require in the future not only stimulatory grant assistance but sustaining grants as well. Sustaining grants, as proposed by these bills, will more adequately reflect the strong Federal interest and responsibility in air pollution control and should significantly improve the effectiveness of programs in giving impetus to greater State and local action. The above-mentioned modification, contained in the Senate bill, of the maintenance-of-effort requirement of § 104(b) of the Clean Air Act-which would apply to both the new maintenance grants and the establishment and improvement grants under existing law—is substantially as suggested by us in testimony before the Senate Committee. The present law (the third sentence of § 104 (b)) provides that no agency may receive a grant during any fiscal year if its expenditures of non-Federal funds for air pollution programs will be less than such expenditures in the preceding fiscal year. Over a period of years, many factors may justifiably cause the level of expenditures necessary to maintain an effective program to fluctuate, such as, for example, non-recurring costs of equipment or facilities acquisition, or the conduct of special studies concerning air quality, special types of sources, or other matters. S. 3112 was therefore amended to modify § 104 of the Act by excluding non-recurring expenditures from the requirement of matching the prior year's expenditures. This is practical. Where the overall workability of the program is not impaired, fluctuations in expenditures resulting from changes in non-recurring costs should not make agencies ineligible for Federal Matching grant support. The bills, as above stated, would also amend section 104 of the Clean Air Act to delete the provision limiting the total for grants in support of air pollution control programs to 20 percent of the total appropriation under the Act for any year. The existing limitation is undesirable, we believe, in imposing a fixed relationship between such grant funds and the total appropriations for all Federal air pollution activities. Air pollution and the possibilities for control action are subject to rapid change. Over a period of time, the pattern of needs and desirable program balance with respect to research, technical assistance, training, Federal abatement activities, grants to State and local control agencies, and other activities may vary considerably. We therefore believe it would be wise to leave the determination of the relative emphasis to be given to each of these activities to judgments based upon overall requirements existing at any given time. In conclusion, for the reasons stated above, we urge the prompt enactment of this legislation, with the improvements and corrections contained in the Senatepassed version and the additional amendment (relating to construction and initial equipment) above recommended. We are advised by the Bureau of the Budget that the enactment of legislation as above proposed would be in accord with the program of the President. Sincerely, JOHN W. GARDNER, Secretary. Hon. HARLEY O. STAGGERS, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, Washington, D.C., September 27, 1966. Chairman, Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, House of Representatives, Washington, D.C. DEAR MR. STAGGERS: Your Committe has requested this Department's report on H.R. 13199, a bill "To amend the Clean Air Act so as to authorize grants to air pollution control agencies for maintenance of air pollution control programs in addition to present authority for grants to develop, establish, or improve such programs; make the use of appropriations under the Act more flexible by consolidating the appropriation authorizations under the Act and deleting the provision limiting the total of grants for support of air pollution control programs to 20 per centum of the total appropriation for any year; extend the duration of the programs authorized by the Act; and for other purposes." |