Document DJya4J53LGVmBe3kpNozKDVo

MCC17105 S.L.C. 115t1hstCSOeNssGioRnESS To prPortaeicriteanNdatsiuosntaalinPtrheesePrvrea,iriteo Gamraessnldantdhse RCegleiaonn, AinircluAdcitngtothreeqTuailrlegrtahses Reaxiercglqiuousniao,lniatynodsftfaodnradtoaatrhdoefrcapauunsrepedoxsbceeyse.daapnrceescorribevdiolfairteionin othfeaPnraaitriioenaGlraasmslbainednst IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES Mr. Moran intrtoodtuhceedCothmemfiotltleoewoinng bill; which was read twice and referred A BILL To protect and sustain the Prairie Grasslands Region, includ ing the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve, 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 Prai rie Grasslands Region, and for other purposes. 1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States ofAmerica in Congress assembled, 3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 4 This Act may be cited as the "Prairie Grasslands 5 Preservation Act". Sierra Club v. EPA 18cv3472 NDCA Tier 1 ED 002061 00067024-00001 MCC17105 S.L.C. 2 1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 2 Congress finds that-- 3 (1) the Flint Hills Region of Kansas and the 4 Osage Hills Region of Oklahoma contain the world's 5 largest share of the remaining tallgrass prairie, and 6 are among the few places in which that habitat oc 7 curs in landscape proportions; 8 (2) the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve is 9 located in the Flint Hills Region and is intended to 10 protect and sustain the only tallgrass prairie in the 11 National Park System; 12 (3) the Smoky Hills Region of Kansas contains 13 tallgrass and mixed-grass prairie vegetation in large 14 tracts that provide-- 15 (A) important seasonal habitat for migrat 16 ing birds; and 17 (B) crucial nesting and brooding habitat 18 for birds that nest in grassland; 19 (4) the Red Hills Region of Kansas is a mixed- 20 grass and sand sage prairie ecosystem that is eco 21 logically important because-- 22 (A) after the Flint Hills Region, the Red 23 Hills Region is the largest intact tract of native 24 prairie in Kansas; and 25 (B) the Red Hills Region is home to sev 26 eral declining wildlife species, such as the lesser Sierra Club v. EPA 18cv3472 NDCA Tier 1 ED 002061 00067024-00002 MCC17105 S.L.C. 3 1 prairie chicken, that require large, 2 unfragmented tracts of native prairie; 3 (5) only 4 percent of the presettlement tallgrass 4 prairie in North America survives to this day, and 5 80 percent of that prairie is located in Kansas; 6 (6) the Flint Hills Region, the Osage Hills Re- 7 gion, and the Smoky Hills Region are also home to 8 certain declining avian species, such as the greater 9 prairie chicken and Henslow's sparrow, that cannot 10 continue to exist without large expanses of native 11 tallgrass prairie in an original state; 12 (7) the Flint Hills Region, the Osage Hills Re- 13 gion, the Red Hills Region, and the Smoky Hills Re- 14 gion are significant corridors for migrating 15 shorebirds, such as the American golden plover, the 16 buff-breasted sandpiper, and the upland sandpiper; 17 (8) beginning in the mid-19th century, eattle- 18 men understood that, the richness of the grasses of 19 the Flint Hills Region, the Osage Hills Region, the 20 Red Hills Region, and the Smoky Hills Region de- 21 pended on a good spring burn, something the cattle- 22 men learned from the Native Americans; 23 (9) fire still thrives in the Flint Hills Region, 24 the Osage Hills Region, the Red Hills Region, and 25 the Smoky Hills Region because the ranchers, and Sierra Club v. EPA 18cv3472 NDCA Tier 1 ED 002061 00067024-00003 MCC17105 S.L.C. 4 1 others using the land, understand that the natural 2 ecosystem depends on fire; 3 (10) ranchers, landowners, and conservation or 4 ganizations use prescribed burns to mimic the sea 5 sonal fires that have shaped the tallgrass prairie for 6 thousands of years; 7 (11) areas not burned for several years develop 8 mature grasses and thicker, thatch-like vegetation, a 9 habitat that is preferred by invasive species; 10 (12) the Flint Hills Region, the Osage Hills Re 11 gion, the Red Hills Region, and the Smoky Hills Re 12 gion are places in the United States that are exam 13 ples of the prevailing agricultural system working es 14 sentially in tandem with an ancestral native eco 15 system, preserving most of the complexity and the 16 dynamic processes that helped shape the area; and 17 (13) due to the uniqueness of the prairie grass 18 land of the Flint Hills Region, the Osage Hills Re 19 gion, the Red Hills Region, and the Smoky Hills Re 20 gion and the historic manner in which the Prairie 21 Grasslands Region has been managed by fire-- 22 (A) prescribed burn practices used as of 23 the date of enactment of this Act to manage the 24 Prairie Grassland Region should be allowed to 25 continue; and Sierra Club v. EPA 18cv3472 NDCA Tier 1 ED 002061 00067024-00004 MCC17105 S.L.C. 5 1 (B) ambient air data resulting from fires 2 used for that management should be not be in 3 cluded in determinations of compliance with the 4 Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.). 5 SEC. 3. PRESCRIBED FIRES. 6 The Clean Air Act is amended by inserting after sec 7 tion 329 (42 U.S.C. 7628) the following: 8 "SEC. 330. PRESCRIBED FIRES IN THE PRAIRIE GRASS 9 LANDS REGION. 10 "(a) Definitions.--In this section: 11 "(1) Flint hills region.-- 12 "(A) I n general.--The term `Flint Hills 13 Region' means the band of hills located in east 14 ern Kansas that exhibits characteristics of a 15 tallgrass prairie ecosystem. 16 "(B) Inclusions.--The term `Flint, Hills 17 Region' includes-- 18 "(i) Butler, Chase, Chautauqua, Clay, 19 Cowley, Dickinson, Elk, Geary, Greenwood, 20 Harvey, Jackson, Lyon, Marion, Marshall, 21 Morris, Ottawa, Pottawatomie, Riley, Sa 22 line, Shawnee, Wabaunsee, Washington, 23 arid Woodson Counties in the State of 24 Kansas; and Sierra Club v. EPA 18cv3472 NDCA Tier 1 ED 002061 00067024-00005 MCC17105 S.L.C. 6 1 "(ii) any county contiguous to a coun 2 ty described in clause (i). 3 "(2) Osage hills region.-- 4 "(A) In general.--The term `Osage Hills 5 Region' means the band of hills located in 6 northeastern Oklahoma that exhibits character 7 istics of a tallgrass prairie ecosystem. 8 "(B) Inclusions.--The term `Osage Hills 9 Region' includes-- 10 "(i) Osage, Tulsa, and Washington 11 Counties in the State of Oklahoma; and 12 "(ii) any county contiguous to a coun 13 ty described in clause (i). 14 "(3) Prairie grasslands region.--The term 15 `Prairie Grasslands Region' means the landscape 16 comprised of-- 17 "(A) the Flint Hills Region; 18 "(B) the Osage Hills Region; 19 "(C) the Red Hills Region; 20 "(D) the Smoky Hills Region; and 21 "(E) any other area designated by the Ad 22 ministrator under subsection (g). 23 "(4) Prescribed fire.--The term `prescribed 24 fire' means a fire that is set or managed by a person 25 with the goal of enhancing a fire-dependent eco Sierra Club v. EPA 18cv3472 NDCA Tier 1 ED 002061 00067024-00006 MCC17105 S.L.C. 7 1 system or enhancing the productivity of agricultural 2 grazing land, irrespective of the frequency with 3 which the burn occurs. 4 "(5) Red hills region.-- 5 "(A) In general.--The term Tied Hills 6 Region' means the band of hills located in 7 southern and central Kansas that exhibits char 8 acteristics of a mixed-grass and sand sage eco 9 system. 10 "(B) Inclusions.--The term `Red Hills 11 Region' includes-- 12 "(i) Barber, Clark, Comanche, Har 13 per, Kingman, and Meade Counties in the 14 State of Kansas; and 15 "(ii) any county contiguous to a coun 16 ty described in clause (i). 17 "(6) Smoky tttl l s region.-- 18 "(A) In general.--The term `Smoky 19 Hills Region' means the band of hills located in 20 north-central Kansas that exhibits characteris 21 tics of a tallgrass and mixed-grass prairie eco 22 system. 23 "(B) Inclusions.--The term `Smoky 24 Hills Region' includes-- Sierra Club v. EPA 18cv3472 NDCA Tier 1 ED 002061 00067024-00007 MCC17105 S.L.C. 8 1 "(i) Barton, Clay, Cloud, Dickinson, 2 Edwards, Ellis, Ellsworth, Ford, Gove, 3 Graham, Gray, Hodgeman, Jewell, Lane, 4 Lincoln, Logan, Marion, McPherson, 5 Mitchell, Ness, Norton, Osborne, Ottawa, 6 Pawnee, Phillips, Republic, Rice, Rooks, 7 Rush, Russell, Saline, Trego, and Wash 8 ington Counties in the State of Kansas; 9 and 10 "(ii) any county contiguous to a coun 11 ty described in clause (i). 12 "(b) E x c l u sio n o f D a t a .--In determining whether, 13 with respect to a specific air pollutant, an exceedance or 14 violation of a national ambient air quality standard has 15 occurred, or for any other purpose under this Act, a State 16 and the Administrator shall exclude data from a particular 17 air quality monitoring location if emissions from 1 or more 18 prescribed fires in the Prairie Grasslands Region cause a 19 concentration of the air pollutant at the location to be in 20 excess of the standard. 21 "(c) Sp e c if ic L im it a t io n s .--If emission data is ex 22 cluded under subsection (b) from a particular air quality 23 monitoring station because of emissions from 1 or more 24 prescribed fires in the Prairie Grasslands Region-- Sierra Club v. EPA 18cv3472 NDCA Tier 1 ED 002061 00067024-00008 MCC17105 S.L.C. 9 1 "(1) the Administrator shall not, as a result of 2 the emissions, find under section 113 that a State 3 has failed to enforce, or that a person has violated, 4 a State implementation plan (for national primary 5 or secondary ambient air quality standards) under 6 section 110; and 7 "(2) a State shall not, as a result of the einis- 8 sions, find that a person has violated, or bring an 9 enforcement action for violation of, a State iinple- 10 mentation plan (for national primary or secondary 11 ambient air quality standards) under section 110. 12 "(d) P r o h ib it io n A g a in st S m o k e Management 13 Plans.-- 14 "(1) I n GENERAL.--The Administrator shall 15 not require a smoke management plan under this 16 Act in connection with any prescribed fire in the 17 Prairie Grasslands Region. 18 "(2) V o l u n ta r y st a t e p l a n .--Nothing in 19 this section prohibits a State from administering a 20 voluntary smoke management plan to assist vol- 21 untary participants to mitigate the effects of a pre- 22 scribed fire on air quality. 23 "(e) Not a Stationary Source.--No building, 24 structure, facility, or installation may be treated as a sta- Sierra Club v. EPA 18cv3472 NDCA Tier 1 ED 002061 00067024-00009 MCC17105 S.L.C. 10 1 tionary source under this Act as a result of 1 or more 2 prescribed fires in the Prairie Grasslands Region. 3 "(f) No T it l e V P e r m it R e q u ir e d .--No person 4 shall be required to obtain or modify a permit under title 5 V in connection with a prescribed fire in the Prairie Grass- 6 lands Region. 7 "(g) D e s ig n a t io n b y t h e Ad m in is t r a t o r .--The 8 Administrator, on request by a State, shall designate a 9 county of the State as part of the Prairie Grasslands Re- 10 gion if-- 11 "(1) the county is located in the Prairie Grass- 12 lands Region Critical Conservation Area, as des- 13 ignated by the Secretary of Agriculture on May 27, 14 2014; and 15 "(2) a prescribed fire has been or will be used 16 on any portion of the landscape of the county.". Sierra Club v. EPA 18cv3472 NDCA Tier 1 ED 002061 00067024-00010