S 989
112th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 989
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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
May 12, 2011
Mr. MORAN (for himself and Mr. INHOFE) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and
Public Works
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.
(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 in which that habitat occurs in landscape proportions;
(2) only 4 percent of the presettlement tallgrass prairie in North
America survives to this day, and 80 percent of that prairie is located
in Kansas;
(3) 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;
(4) the Flint Hills Region is a significant corridor for migrating
shorebirds, such as the American golden plover, the buff-breasted
sandpiper, and the upland sandpiper;
(5) 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;
(6) fire still thrives in the Flint Hills because the ranchers, and
others using the land, understand that the natural ecosystem depends
on fire;
(7) ranchers, landowners, and conservation groups use prescribed burns
to mimic the seasonal fires that have shaped the tallgrass prairie
for thousands of years;
(8) areas not burned for several years develop mature grasses and
thicker, thatch-like vegetation, a habitat that is preferred by invasive
species;
(9) the Flint Hills Region is a place in the United States that is
an example of the prevailing agricultural system working essentially
in tandem with an ancestral native ecosystem, preserving most of the
complexity and the dynamic processes that helped shape the area; and
(10) due to the uniqueness of the Flint Hills tallgrass prairie and
the historic manner in which the tallgrass prairie has been managed
by fire--
(A) prescribed burn practices used as of the date of enactment of
this Act to manage the Flint Hills tallgrass prairie should be allowed
to continue; and
(B) ambient air data resulting from fires used for that management
should be not be included in determinations of compliance with the
Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.).
SEC. 3. PRESCRIBED FIRES.
The Clean Air Act is amended by inserting after section 329 (42 U.S.C.
7628) the following:
`SEC. 330. PRESCRIBED FIRES IN THE FLINT HILLS REGION.
`(a) Definitions- In this section:
`(A) IN GENERAL- The term `Flint Hills Region' means the band of
hills located in eastern Kansas and north-central Oklahoma.
`(B) INCLUSIONS- The term `Flint Hills Region' 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 the State of Kansas; and
`(ii) Osage, Tulsa, and Washington counties in the State of Oklahoma.
`(2) PRESCRIBED FIRE- 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.
`(b) Exclusion of Data- In determining whether, with respect to a specific
air pollutant, an exceedance or violation of a national ambient air
quality standard has occurred, or for any other purpose under this Act,
a State and the Administrator shall exclude data from a particular air
quality monitoring location if emissions from 1 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.
`(c) Specific Limitations- If emission data is excluded under subsection
(b) from a particular air quality monitoring station because of emissions
from 1 or more prescribed fires in the Flint Hills Region--
`(1) the Administrator shall not, as a result of the 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 the 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.
`(d) 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.
`(e) Not a Stationary Source- No building, structure, facility, or installation
may be treated as a stationary source under this Act as a result of
1 or more prescribed fires in the Flint Hills Region.
`(f) 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.'.
END
