[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5118 Introduced in House (IH)]
111th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 5118
To amend the Clean Air Act to require the exclusion of data of an
exceedance or violation of a national ambient air quality standard
caused by a prescribed fire in the Flint Hills Region, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 22, 2010
Mr. Moran of Kansas introduced the following bill; which was referred
to the Committee on Energy and Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Clean Air Act to require the exclusion of data of an
exceedance or violation of a national ambient air quality standard
caused by a prescribed fire in the Flint Hills Region, 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 ``Flint Hills Preservation Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) The Flint Hills Region of Kansas and Oklahoma contains
the world's largest share of the remaining tallgrass prairie,
and is the only place where that habitat is in landscape
proportions. Only 4 percent of North America's presettlement
tallgrass prairie survives to this day, and 80 percent is
located in Kansas.
(2) The Flint Hills Region is also home to certain
declining avian species such as the greater prairie chicken and
Henslow's sparrow that cannot continue to exist without large
expanses of native tallgrass prairie in an original state.
Further, it is a significant corridor for migrating shorebirds
such as the American golden plover, the buff-breasted sand-
piper, and the upland sandpiper.
(3) Beginning in the mid-19th century, cattlemen understood
that the richness of the Flint Hills grasses depended on a good
spring burn--something they learned from the Native Americans.
Fire still thrives in the Flint Hills because the ranchers, and
others using the land, know that the natural ecosystem depends
on fire.
(4) Ranchers, landowners, and conservation groups use
prescribed burns to mimic the seasonal fires that have shaped
the tallgrass prairie for thousands of years. Areas not burned
for several years develop mature grasses and thicker, thatch-
like vegetation, which habitat is preferred by invasive
species.
(5) The Flint Hills Region is one of the few places in the
United States where the prevailing agricultural system works
essentially in tandem with an ancestral native ecosystem,
preserving most of its complexity and the dynamic processes
that helped shape it.
(6) Due to the uniqueness of the Flint Hills tallgrass
prairie and the historic manner in which the tallgrass prairie
has been managed by fire, existing prescribed burn practices
should be allowed to continue and ambient air data resulting
from fires used to manage the Flint Hills tallgrass prairie
should be not be included in determinations of compliance with
the Clean Air Act.
SEC. 3. PRESCRIBED FIRES.
The Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.) is amended by inserting
after section 329 the following:
``SEC. 330. PRESCRIBED FIRES IN THE FLINT HILLS REGION.
``(a) In General.--In determining whether, with respect to a
specific air pollutant, an exceedance or violation of a national
ambient air quality standard has occurred for purposes of this Act, a
State and the Administrator shall exclude data from a particular air
quality monitoring location if emissions from one or more prescribed
fires in the Flint Hills Region cause a concentration of the air
pollutant at the location to be in excess of the standard.
``(b) Specific Limitations.--If emissions data is excluded under
subsection (a) from a particular air quality monitoring station because
of emissions from one or more prescribed fires in the Flint Hills
Region--
``(1) the Administrator shall not, as a result of such
emissions, find under section 113 that a State has failed to
enforce, or that a person has violated, a State implementation
plan (for national primary or secondary ambient air quality
standards) under section 110; and
``(2) a State shall not, as a result of such emissions,
find that a person has violated, or bring an enforcement action
for violation of, a State implementation plan (for national
primary or secondary ambient air quality standards) under
section 110.
``(c) Prohibition Against Smoke Management Plans.--The
Administrator shall not require, and a State shall not adopt, a smoke
management plan under this Act in connection with any prescribed fire
in the Flint Hills Region.
``(d) Not a Stationary Source.--No building, structure, facility,
or installation may be treated as a stationary source under section 111
as a result of one or more prescribed fires in the Flint Hills Region.
``(e) No Title V Permit Required.--No person shall be required to
obtain or modify a permit under title V in connection with a prescribed
fire in the Flint Hills Region.
``(f) Definition.--In this section:
``(1) The term `Flint Hills Region'--
``(A) means the band of hills in eastern Kansas
that stretch into north-central Oklahoma; and
``(B) includes--
``(i) Butler, Chase, Chautauqua, Clay,
Cowley, Dickinson, Elk, Geary, Greenwood,
Harvey, Jackson, Lyon, Marion, Marshall,
Morris, Ottawa, Pottawatomie, Riley, Saline,
Shawnee, Wabaunsee, Washington, and Woodson
Counties in Kansas; and
``(ii) Osage, Tulsa, and Washington
counties in Oklahoma.
``(2) The term `prescribed fire' means a fire that is set
or managed by a person with the goal of enhancing a fire-
dependent ecosystem or enhancing the productivity of
agricultural grazing land, irrespective of the frequency with
which the burn occurs.''.
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