Bill Summary
The Environmental Justice Legacy Pollution Cleanup Act of 2020 is a bill that provides additional funding for various environmental cleanup and remediation efforts. This includes money for cleaning up pollution at National Priority List sites, abandoned coal mining sites, and formerly used defense sites. Additionally, the bill allocates funds for replacing lead drinking water service lines and grants for certain programs. It also amends the Clean Air Act to prohibit new major source air pollution permits in overburdened communities. The bill also includes a waiver of matching funds requirements and designates the funding as an emergency requirement. It defines and addresses overburdened census tracts, updates a list of these tracts annually, and prohibits the granting and renewal of permits for major sources in these tracts. Overall, the bill aims to address environmental justice issues and protect public health.
Possible Impacts
1. If a person lives in an overburdened census tract, they may be affected by the Clean Air Act amendment which prohibits the issuance of new major source air pollution permits in these areas. This could potentially limit or prevent industrial development and expansion in the community, leading to economic impacts and potential job loss.
2. Individuals who rely on private wells for their drinking water may benefit from the funding allocated to replace lead drinking water service lines. This could improve the quality and safety of their water, reducing potential health risks associated with lead exposure.
3. Low-income individuals living in housing with lead-based paint hazards may benefit from the grants provided under the Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act. These grants can be used to evaluate and reduce lead hazards in their homes, potentially improving their overall health and living conditions.
[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8271 Introduced in House (IH)]
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116th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 8271
To provide supplemental appropriations for the cleanup of legacy
pollution, including National Priority List sites, certain abandoned
coal mining sites, and formerly used defense sites, to replace lead
drinking water service lines, to provide grants under certain programs,
and to amend the Clean Air Act to prohibit the issuance of new major
source air pollution permits in overburdened communities, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 16, 2020
Ms. Haaland (for herself, Mr. Grijalva, and Mr. McEachin) introduced
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
Appropriations, and in addition to the Committee on the Budget, for a
period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the
committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide supplemental appropriations for the cleanup of legacy
pollution, including National Priority List sites, certain abandoned
coal mining sites, and formerly used defense sites, to replace lead
drinking water service lines, to provide grants under certain programs,
and to amend the Clean Air Act to prohibit the issuance of new major
source air pollution permits in overburdened communities, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Environmental Justice Legacy
Pollution Cleanup Act of 2020''.
SEC. 2. SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL CLEANUP AND
REMEDIATION OF THREATS TO PUBLIC HEALTH.
(a) In General.--The following amounts are appropriated, out of
amounts in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for fiscal year
2020, to remain available until expended:
(1) For the Department of the Interior, $10,000,000,000 to
provide grants to States and Indian Tribes for abandoned mine
land and water reclamation projects under the Surface Mining
Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 1201 et seq.),
which shall be distributed to States and Indian Tribes that
have a State or Tribal program approved under section 405 of
that Act (30 U.S.C. 1235) or are referred to in section
402(g)(8)(B) of that Act (30 U.S.C. 1232(g)(8)(B)), and have
not made a certification under section 411(a) of that Act (30
U.S.C. 1240a(a)) in which the Secretary of the Interior has
concurred: Provided, That such amount shall be allocated based
on the proportion of the quantity of coal historically produced
in each applicable State or from the land of each applicable
Indian Tribe before August 3, 1977: Provided further, That the
total amount of grants provided under this paragraph to each
eligible State and Indian Tribe shall be not less than
$20,000,000, to the extent that the amount needed for
reclamation projects described in this paragraph in the State
or on the land of the Indian Tribe is not less than
$20,000,000.
(2) For the Environmental Protection Agency--
(A) $10,000,000,000 for remedial actions at sites
on the National Priorities List developed by the
President in accordance with section 105(a)(8)(B) of
the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation,
and Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9605(a)(8)(B));
(B) $20,000,000,000 for capitalization grants to
State drinking water treatment revolving loan funds
established under section 1452 of the Safe Drinking
Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300j-12) for States to provide
forgivable loans to replace lead service lines and take
other actions necessary to address threats to public
health as a result of heightened exposure to lead in
drinking water without requiring a contribution to the
cost of the replacement of those lead services lines by
any individual homeowner;
(C) $1,000,000,000 for the Diesel Emissions
Reduction Program under sections 792 and 793 of the
Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16132, 16133);
(D) $1,000,000,000 to carry out Brownfields
projects authorized by section 104(k) of the
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and
Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9604(k)); and
(E) $1,000,000,000 for grants to States and Indian
Tribes under section 128(a) of the Comprehensive
Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act
of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9628(a)).
(3) For the Department of Housing and Urban Development--
(A) $30,000,000,000 for grants to States and units
of local government under section 1011 of the
Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act (42
U.S.C. 4852) to evaluate and reduce lead-based paint
hazards and other housing-related health and safety
hazards in low-income housing; and
(B) $1,000,000,000 for grants under the Healthy
Homes Production Grant Program for Tribal Housing, as
authorized under sections 501 and 502 of the Housing
and Urban Development Act of 1970 (12 U.S.C. 1701z-1,
1701z-2), to identify and address housing-related
health and safety hazards in Tribal communities.
(4) For the Corps of Engineers--
(A) $10,000,000,000 for environmental restoration
of formerly used defense sites under section 2701 of
title 10, United States Code; and
(B) $3,000,000,000 for the Formerly Utilized Sites
Remedial Action Program of the Corps of Engineers.
(5) For the Department of Agriculture, $10,000,000,000 to
provide grants to private nonprofit organizations under section
306E of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (7
U.S.C. 1926e) for the purpose of providing subgrants to
eligible individuals (as defined in subsection (a) of that
section) in accordance with that section: Provided, That a
private nonprofit organization that receives such a grant shall
give priority to the provision of subgrants to eligible
individuals (as so defined) who do not have access to a
functioning sanitary sewage disposal system.
(6) For the Indian Health Service, $3,000,000,000 for the
sanitation facilities program established under section 7 of
the Act of August 5, 1954 (68 Stat. 674, chapter 658; 42 U.S.C.
2004a), to provide safe drinking water and adequate sewer
systems in the homes of Indians and Alaska Natives.
(b) Waiver of Matching Funds Requirements.--Notwithstanding any
other provision of law, including section 104(k)(10)(B)(iii) of the
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act
of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9604(k)(10)(B)(iii)) and section 793(c)(3) of the
Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16133(c)(3)), no matching funds
requirement or matching funds incentive shall apply to amounts made
available under subsection (a).
(c) Emergency Designation.--
(1) In general.--The amounts provided by this section are
designated as an emergency requirement pursuant to section 4(g)
of the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010 (2 U.S.C. 933(g)).
(2) Designation in senate.--In the Senate, this section is
designated as an emergency requirement pursuant to section
4112(a) of H. Con. Res. 71 (115th Congress), the concurrent
resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2018.
SEC. 3. AVOIDING CUMULATIVE IMPACTS ON OVERBURDENED COMMUNITIES.
(a) Definitions.--Section 501 of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7661)
is amended--
(1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking ``As
used in this title--'' and inserting ``In this title:'';
(2) by redesignating paragraphs (3) and (4) as paragraphs
(4) and (5), respectively; and
(3) by inserting after paragraph (2) the following:
``(3) Overburdened census tract.--The term `overburdened
census tract' means a census tract that--
``(A) has been identified within the National Air
Toxics Assessment published by the Administrator as
having a greater than 100 in 1,000,000 total cancer
risk; or
``(B) has been determined to have an annual mean
concentration of PM<INF>2.5</INF> of greater than 8
micrograms per cubic meter, as determined over the most
recent 3-year period for which data are available.''.
(b) Permit Programs.--Section 502 of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C.
7661a) is amended--
(1) in subsection (a), in the first sentence, by striking
``parts (C) or (D)'' and inserting ``part (C) or (D)'';
(2) in subsection (b)--
(A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1)--
(i) in the first sentence, by striking
``The Administrator'' and inserting ``Except
for the requirements described in paragraphs
(11) and (12), the Administrator''; and
(ii) in the second sentence, by striking
``These'' and inserting ``For the requirements
described in paragraphs (11) and (12), the
Administrator shall promulgate the regulations
required by those paragraphs as soon as
practicable after the date of enactment of the
Environmental Justice Legacy Pollution Cleanup
Act of 2020. Those'';
(B) in paragraph (3)(B)(i), by striking
``subparagraphs (ii) through (v) of this subparagraph''
and inserting ``clauses (ii) through (v)'';
(C) in paragraph (10), in the matter before the
proviso, by striking ``total emissions:'' and inserting
``total emissions):''; and
(D) by adding at the end the following:
``(11) After the date of enactment of the Environmental
Justice Legacy Pollution Cleanup Act of 2020, no permit shall
be granted by a permitting authority for a proposed major
source that would be located in an overburdened census tract.
``(12) After January 1, 2025, no permit for a major source
in an overburdened census tract shall be renewed.''.
(c) List of Overburdened Census Tracts.--
(1) In general.--Title V of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C.
7661 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``SEC. 508. LIST OF OVERBURDENED CENSUS TRACTS.
``(a) In General.--Not later than 30 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall publish in the Federal
Register a list of overburdened census tracts.
``(b) Update.--On an annual basis, the Administrator shall update
the list under subsection (a) based on the most recently available
modeling and monitoring data.''.
(2) Clerical amendment.--The table of contents for title V
of the Clean Air Act (69 Stat. 322, chapter 360; 104 Stat.
2635) is amended by adding after the item relating to section
507 the following:
``Sec. 508. List of overburdened census tracts.''.
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