{
  "id": "97-722",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "97-722",
  "active": false,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 347610,
      "date": "2002-04-09",
      "retrieved": "2016-05-24T20:12:23.914941",
      "title": "Air Quality Standards: The\u00a0Decisionmaking\u00a0Process",
      "summary": "The decisions by the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in July 1997 to revise ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for ozone and particulate matter refocused attention on the criteria and the process by which these decisions are made. The new standards were the subject of numerous oversight hearings as well as litigation, which culminated in a Supreme Court ruling February 27, 2001. The court upheld the NAAQS-setting procedures at question, in particular definitively rejecting the consideration of costs in setting NAAQS.\nHowever, the court\u2019s ruling also raised questions concerning the implementation of the EPA\u2019s new ozone standard. With continuing controversy over the PM and ozone standards, along with other concerns about the Clean Air Act (CAA), the expiration in 1998 of the authorizations for appropriations in the statute, and the Bush Administration\u2019s proposal for amendments, it is possible that the Congress may take up amendments to the CAA. If so, the NAAQS decisionmaking process may command attention, especially with respect to how scientific evidence is used. Because of the role NAAQS might play in bringing amendments onto the legislative agenda, this report provides background on the processes and procedures for setting and revising NAAQS. The basic steps are as follows:\nEPA identifies a pollutant that is emitted from numerous or diverse mobile or stationary sources and that endangers public health or welfare.\nEPA prepares a \u201ccriteria document\u201d that summarizes the scientific information relevant to the pollutant; this document is formally reviewed by a Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC).\nEPA prepares a \u201cstaff paper\u201d that summarizes the criteria document and lays out policy options for the Administrator; it is also reviewed by CASAC.\nBased on the criteria document, the staff paper, and CASAC\u2019s \u201cclosure letters,\u201d the Administrator proposes a NAAQS; this proposal is published in the Federal Register, a \u201cdocket\u201d created, and an opportunity for public review and comment provided. And,\nThe Administrator\u2019s final decision, \u201cwhich, in the judgment of the Admin-istrator, ... [is] requisite to protect the public health ... or public welfare.\u201d\nThe CAA spells out requirements for the criteria document, the CASAC review, the basis on which the Administrator chooses the standard, and the procedural process for promulgating the standard. EPA administratively added the preparation of a \u201cstaff paper\u201d; in addition, Executive Order 12866 requires a Regulatory Impact Analysis (RIA), although the economic analysis is essentially irrelevant to the decision a NAAQS. Other laws also raise regulatory assessment issues. The Act requires EPA to revisit each NAAQS every 5 years, following the same process.\nSeveral aspects in the NAAQS-setting process have been the foci of attention in the past and might be revisited: these include the Act\u2019s requirement that NAAQS be set to protect health with an adequate margin of safety, without consideration of costs; the process for verifying the scientific underpinnings of a proposed standard; the boundaries on the Administrator\u2019s judgment in accounting for risk and uncertainty in setting NAAQS; EPA\u2019s responsiveness to public comments; and the extent to which EPA must respond to requirements exogenous to the CAA that direct EPA to consider impacts of its regulations.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORTS",
      "active": false,
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          "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/97-722",
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      "topics": []
    }
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Appropriations"
  ]
}