I
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 161
To amend sections 111, 169, and 171 of the Clean Air Act to clarify
when a physical change in, or change in the method of operation of,
a stationary source constitutes a modification or construction, and for
other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY3, 2025
Mr. G
RIFFITHintroduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Energy and Commerce
A BILL
To amend sections 111, 169, and 171 of the Clean Air
Act to clarify when a physical change in, or change
in the method of operation of, a stationary source con-
stitutes a modification or construction, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘New Source Review 4
Permitting Improvement Act’’. 5
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SEC. 2. CLARIFICATION OF DEFINITION OF A MODIFICA-1
TION: EMISSION RATE INCREASES, POLLU-2
TION CONTROL, EFFICIENCY, SAFETY, AND 3
RELIABILITY PROJECTS. 4
Paragraph (4) of section 111(a) of the Clean Air Act 5
(42 U.S.C. 7411(a)) is amended— 6
(1) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ before ‘‘The term’’; 7
(2) by inserting before the period at the end the 8
following: ‘‘. For purposes of the preceding sentence, 9
a change increases the amount of any air pollutant 10
emitted by such source only if the maximum hourly 11
emission rate of an air pollutant that is achievable 12
by such source after the change is higher than the 13
maximum hourly emission rate of such air pollutant 14
that was achievable by such source during any hour 15
in the 10-year period immediately preceding the 16
change’’; and 17
(3) by adding at the end the following: 18
‘‘(B) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), the 19
term ‘modification’ does not include a change at a 20
stationary source that is designed— 21
‘‘(i) to reduce the amount of any air pol-22
lutant emitted by the source per unit of produc-23
tion; or 24
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‘‘(ii) to restore, maintain, or improve the 1
reliability of operations at, or the safety of, the 2
source, 3
except, with respect to either clause (i) or (ii), when 4
the change would be a modification as defined in 5
subparagraph (A) and the Administrator determines 6
that the increase in the maximum achievable hourly 7
emission rate of a pollutant from such change would 8
cause an adverse effect on human health or the envi-9
ronment.’’. 10
SEC. 3. CLARIFICATION OF DEFINITION OF CONSTRUCTION 11
FOR PREVENTION OF SIGNIFICANT DETERIO-12
RATION. 13
Subparagraph (C) of section 169(2) of the Clean Air 14
Act (42 U.S.C. 7479(2)) is amended to read as follows: 15
‘‘(C) The term ‘construction’, when used in con-16
nection with a major emitting facility, includes a 17
modification (as defined in section 111(a)) at such 18
facility, except that for purposes of this subpara-19
graph a modification does not include a change at 20
a major emitting facility that does not result in a 21
significant emissions increase, or a significant net 22
emissions increase, in annual actual emissions at 23
such facility.’’. 24
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SEC. 4. CLARIFICATION OF DEFINITION OF MODIFICA-1
TIONS AND MODIFIED FOR NONATTAINMENT 2
AREAS. 3
Paragraph (4) of section 171 of the Clean Air Act 4
(42 U.S.C. 7501) is amended to read as follows: 5
‘‘(4) The terms ‘modifications’ and ‘modified’ 6
mean a modification as defined in section 111(a)(4), 7
except that such terms do not include a change at 8
a major emitting facility that does not result in a 9
significant emissions increase, or a significant net 10
emissions increase, in annual actual emissions at 11
such facility.’’. 12
SEC. 5. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 13
Nothing in this Act or the amendments made by this 14
Act shall be construed to treat any change as a modifica-15
tion for purposes of any provision of the Clean Air Act 16
(42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.) if such change would not have 17
been so treated as of the day before the date of enactment 18
of this Act. 19
Æ
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