1.4a (3) (b) Oct. 12: Considered in Senate, pp. S17743-S17764, S17774-S17785
ENVIRONMENTAL NOISE AIR CONTROL ACT OF 1972
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. STAFFORD). Under the previous order, the Senate will proceed to the consideration of S. 3342, which the clerk will report. The legislative clerk read as follows: Calendar No. 1105 (S. 3342) a bill to amend title IV of the Clean Air Act, and for other purposes.
The Senate proceeded to the consideration of the bill which had been reported from the Committee on Public Works with an amendment to strike out all after the enacting clause and insert:
SECTION 1. This Act may be cited as the "Environmental Noise Control Act of 1972". SEC. 2. Title IV of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1970 is amended to read as follows: "SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS
"SEC. 401. This Act, including the following table of contents, may be cited as the 'Environmental Noise Control Act'.
"Sec. 408. Noise emission standards for new products.
"Sec. 409. Labeling.
"Sec. 410. Imports.
"Sec. 411. Prohibited acts.
"Sec. 412. Enforcement.
"Sec. 413. Citizen suits.
"Sec. 414. Emergency situations.
"Sec. 415. Judicial review.
"Sec. 416. Records, reports, and information. "Sec. 417. Federal procurement. "Sec. 418. Grants for support of environmental noise planning and control programs.
"Sec. 419. Development of low-noise-emissión products.
"Sec. 420. Authorization of appropriations. "FINDINGS AND POLICY
"SEC. 402. (a) The Congress finds"(1) that environmental noise presents a growing danger to the health and welfare of the Nation's population, particularly in urban areas;
"(2) that the major sources of noise emissions include aircraft, vehicles, machinery, appliances, and other products in commerce; and
"(3) that, while primary responsibility for control of environmental noise rests with State and local governments, Federal regu
latory action is essential to deal with major noise emission sources, and Federal assistance is necessary to encourage and support programs for the control of environmental noise.
"(b) The Congress declares that it is the policy of the United States to promote an environment for all Americans free from noise that jeopardizes their public health or welfare. To that end, it is the purpose of this Act to establish a means for effective coordination of Federal research and activities in environmental noise control, to authorize the establishment of Federal noise emission standards for new products, to provide information to the public of the noise emission and noise reduction characteristics of new products, to encourage and support State and municipal programs for the control of environmental noise through planning and program grants to State and local environmental noise control agencies, and to provide information to the public on the control of environmental noise through regulation of use of products and other methods and procedures to reduce environmental noise.
"(c) Public participation in the development, revision, and enforcement of any regulation, noise emission standard, program or plan established by the Administrator or any State or municipality under this Act shall be provided for, encouraged, and assisted by the Administrator and the States and municipalities. The Administrator, in cooperation with the States and municipalities, within ninety days after enactment of this section, shall develop and publish regulations specifying minimum guidelines for public participation in such processes.
"OFFICE OF NOISE ABATEMENT AND CONTROL
"SEC. 403. (a) The Administrator shall establish within the Environmental Protection Agency an Office of Noise Abatement and Control, and shall carry out through such Office a full and complete investigation and study of noise and its effect on the public health and welfare and administer the provisions of this Act.
"(b) The Administrator is authorized to prescribe such regulations as are necessary to carry out his function under this Act. The Administrator may delegate to any officer or employee of the Environmental Protection Agency such of his powers and duties under this Act, except the making of regulations, as he may deem necessary or expedient.
"(c) Upon the request of an environmental noise control agency, personnel of the Environmental Protection Agency may be detailed to such agency for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this Act.
"(d) Payments under grants made under this Act may be made in installments, and in adavnce or by way of reimbursement, as may be determined by the Administrator.
"SEC. 404. For purposes of this title and title V of this Act:
"(a) The term 'Administrator' means the Administrator of the Environmental Protec- tion Agency.
"(b) The term 'person' means an indi- vidual, corporation, partnership, or associa- tion, and (except as provided in section 413 (a)(1) of this Act) includes any officer, em- ployee, department, agency, or instrumen- tality of the United States, a State, or any political subdivision of a State.
"(c) The term 'product' means any manu- factured article or goods or component there- of; except that such term does not include-
"(1) any aircraft, aircraft engine, propel- ler, or appliance, as such terms are defined in section 101 of the Federal Aviation Act, as amended (49 U.S.C. 1431); or
“(2)(A) any military aircraft, rockets, weapons, or equipment which are designed for combat use; or (B) any aircraft, rockets, launch vehicles, spacecraft, or equipment which are designed for research, experi- mental, or developmental work to be per- formed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, as determined by the President under section 406 of this Act.
"(d) The term 'ultimate purchaser' means the first person who in good faith purchases a product for purposes other than resale. "(e) The term 'new product' means product the equitable or legal title to which has never been transferred to an ultimate purchaser. Products remanufactured or re- built by a manufacturer from used products to restore original functions shall be con- sidered to be new products for the purposes of this title and title V of this Act.
"(f) The term 'manufacturer' means any person engaged in the manufacturing, as- sembling, or importing of new products, or who acts for, and is controlled by, any such person in connection with the distribution of such products, but shall not include any
"(4) An agency of two or more municipal- ities located in the same State or in different States and having substantial powers or duties pertaining to the prevention and con- trol of environmental noise.
"(1) The term 'municipality' means a city, town, borough, county, parish, district, or other public body created by or pursuant to State law.
"(m) The term 'noise emission standard' means a statement of a noise level or other acoustical characteristic which may not be exceeded under specified conditions or meth- od of operation. Such standard shall include the test procedures to be followed and shall be stated in terms of performance rather than design criteria.
"(n) The term 'environmental noise' means the intensity, duration, and character of sounds from all sources.
"(o) The term 'cumulative noise exposure' means the exposure of individuals in defined areas around airports to noise from aircraft operations weighted by time of day." "RESEARCH, INVESTIGATION, TRAINING, AND OTHER ACTIVITIES
"SEC. 405. (a) The Administrator shall es- tablish a national research and development program for the prevention and control of environmental noise and as part of such program shall-
"(1) conduct, and promote the coordina- tion and acceleration of, research, investiga- tions, experiments, training, demonstrations, surveys, and studies relating to the causes, effects, extent, prevention, and control of en- vironmental noise;
"(2) conduct and finance research by con- tract with any person, on the effects, meas- urement, and control of noise, including but not limited to-
"(A) investigation of the direct or indirect effects of noise on humans (including physiological and psychological effects), and the direct or indirect effects of noise on do- mestic animals, fish, wildlife, and property,
with other public and private agencies, in- sttiutions, and organizations, and with any industries involved, in the preparation and conduct of such research and other activities, including technical assistance;
"(3) make grants to environmental noise control agencies, to other public or nonprofit private agencies, institutions and organiza- tions, and to individuals, for purposes stated in subsection (a) of this section;
"(4) contract with public or private agen- cies, institutions and organizations, and with individuals, without regard to sections 3648 and 3709 of the Revised Statutes (31 U.S.C. 529; 41 U.S.C. 5);
“(5) provide training (without fee) for, and make training grants to personnel of environmental noise control agencies and other persons with suitable qualifications;
"(6) establish and maintain research fel- lowships, in the Environmental Protection Agency and at public or nonprofit private educational institutions or research orga- nizations;
"(7) collect and make available through publications and other appropriate means, in cooperation with other Federal depart- ments and agencies, and with other public or private agencies, institutions, and orga- nizations having related responsibilities, basic data on physical, and human and other effects of varying levels of noise and other information pertaining to noise and the pre- vention and control thereof; and
"(8) develop effective
and practical processes, methods, and prototype devices for the prevention or control of environmental noise.
"(c) In carrying out the provisions of sub- section (a) of this section the Administra- tor shall conduct research on, and survey the results of other scientific studies on, the harmful effects on the health or wel- fare of persons by the various known noise
"(d) In carrying out research pursuant to
dealer with respect to any new product re- ceived by him in commerce.
"(g) The term 'dealer' means any person engaged in the sale or the distribution of new products to the ultimate purchaser who may prepare a product for sale or distribution to the ultimate purchaser: Provided, That when such dealer's preparatory or final assembly work involves modifications which increase the noise emission characteristics of such product, such dealer shall then be considered a manufacturer of such product for the pur- poses of this title and title V of this Act.
"(h) The term 'commerce' means trade, traffic, commerce, or transportation-
"(1) between a place in a State and any place outside thereof, or
"(2) which affects trade, traffic, commerce, or transportation described in paragraph (1) of this subsection.
"(i) The term 'State' includes the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, the Canal Zone, American Samoa, Guam, and the Trust Ter- ritory of the Pacific Islands.
"(j) The term 'Federal agency' means any department, agency, or instrumentality of the United States including United States Postal Service.
"(k) The term 'environmental noise con- trol agency' means any of the following:
"(1) A single State agency designated by the Governor of that State as the official State environmental noise control agency for pur- poses of this Act;
"(2) An agency established by two or more States and having substantial powers or duties pertaining to the prevention and con- trol of environmental noise;
"(3) A city, county, or other local govern ment authority charged with responsibility for enforcing ordinances or laws relating to the prevention and control of environmental noise; or,
and determination of acceptable levels of noise on the basis of such effects; and
"(B) development of improved methods and standards for measurement and moni- toring of noise, in cooperation with the Na- tional Bureau of Standards, Department of Commerce.
"(3) encourage, cooperate with, and ren- der technical services (including the drafting of model ordinances) and provide financial assistance to environmental noise control agencies and other appropriate public or private agencies, institutions and organiza- tions, and individuals in the conduct of such activities;
"(4) conduct investigations and research and make surveys concerning any specific problem of environmental noise in coopera- tion with any noise pollution control agency with a view to recommending a solution of such problem, if he is requested to do so by such agency or if, in his judgment, such problem may affect any community or com- munities in a State other than that in which the source of the matter causing or contrib- uting to the noise is located; and
"(5) establish technical advisory commit- tees composed of recognized experts in vari- ous aspects of noise to assist in the examina- tion and evaluation of research progress and proposals and to avoid duplication of re- search, and for other purposes.
"(b) In carrying out the provisions of the preceding subsection the Administrator is authorized to-
"(1) collect and make available, through publications and other appropriate means, the results of activities pursuant to sub- section (a) and other information, including appropriate recommendations by him in con- nection therewith, pertaining to such re- search and other activities;
"(2) cooperate with other Federal agencies, with environmental noise control agencies,
"SEC. 406. (a) The Congress authorizes and directs that Federal agencies shall, to the fullest extent consistent with their authority under Federal laws administered by them, carry out the programs within their control in such a manner as to further the policy de- clared in section 402 of this Act.
"(b) Each department, agency, or instru- mentality of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the Federal Government (1) having jurisdiction over any property or facility, or (2) engaged in any activity re- sulting, or which may result, in the emission of noise shall comply with Federal, State, in- terstate, and local requirements respecting control and abatement of environmental noise to the same extent that any person is subject to such requirements. The President may exempt any single activity or facility, including noise emission sources or classes thereof, of any department, agency, or instru- mentality in the executive branch from com- pliance with any such requirement if he de- termines it to be in the paramount interest of the United States to do so; except that no exemption, other than for those products specified pursuant to section 404 (c) (2) of this Act may be granted from the require- ments of sections 408, 511, and 521 of this Act. No such exemption shal: be granted due to lack of appropriation unless the President shall have specifically requested such appro- priation as a part of the budgetary process and the Congress shall have failed to make available such requested appropriation. Any exemption shall be for a period not in excess of one year, but additional exemptions may be granted for periods of not to exceed one year upon the President's making a new de- [p. S17744]
termination. The President shall report each January to the Congress all exemptions from the requirements of this section granted dur- ing the preceding calendar year, together with his reason for granting such exemption.
(c) (1) The Administrator shall coordinate the programs of all Federal agencies relating to environmental noise research and envi- ronmental noise control. Each Federal agency shall furnish to the Administrator such in- formation as he may reasonably require, to determine, as provided under section 309 of the Clean Air Act, if the nature, scope, and results of the noise research and environ- mental noise control programs of the agency are consistent with the purposes of this Act.
"(2) Each Federal agency shall consult with the Administrator in prescribing any regulations respecting environmental noise. If at any time the Administrator has reason to believe that a standard or regulation, or any proposed standard or regulation of any Federal agency, respecting noise, does not protect the public health and welfare to the extent he believes to be required he shall request such agency to review and report to him on the advisability of revising such standard or regulation to provide such pro- tection. Any such request shall be published in the Federal Register and shall be accom- panied by a detiled statement of the informa- tion on which such request is based. Such agency shall complete the requested review and report to the Administrator within 180 days after the date of the publication in the shall be published in the Federal Register Federal Register of the request. The report and shall be accompanied by a detailed state- ment of the findings and conclusions of the agency respecting the revision of its stand- ard or regulation.
"(3) On the basis of regular consultation with appropriate Federal agencies, the Ad- ministrator shall compile and publish an- nually a report to the Congress on the status and progress of Federal activities relating to
municipal agencies, and other appropriate persons, shall compile and provide informa- tion on methods and techniques of control- ling environmental noise through, among other means, product use control, land use regulation, and construction and building standards. Such information shall be com- piled and published to assist State and local governments in establishing and enforcing environmental noise control programs sup- ported under section 418 of this Act.
"(d) The Administrator shall from time to time review and, as appropriate, revise or supplement any criteria or reports pub- lished under this section.
"(e) Any report under subsection (b) (1) of this section identifying major noise sources shall be published in the Federal Register. The publication or revision of any criteria or information on control techniques under this section shall be announced in the Federal Register, and copies shall be made available to the general public.
"NOISE EMISSION STANDARDS FOR NEW PRODUCTS
"SEC. 408. (a) (1) The Administrator shall publish proposed regulations establishing noise emission standards for new products or classes of products-
"(A) identified in any report published un- der section 407(b)(1) of this Act as a major source of noise, and
"(B) which falls in one of the following categories:
"(i) Construction equipment.
"(ii) Transportation equipment (includ- ing snowmobiles, motorcycles, and recrea- tional vehicles and related equipment).
"(iii) Any motor or engine (including any equipment of which an engine or motor is an integral part).
"(iv) Turbines and compressors.
"(v) Electrical and electronic equipment, except those products which are designed for the production or reproduction of music or sound (to the extent such reproduction is identical, except in amplitude, to the source
based on information published under sec- tion 407 of this Act, reflects the degree of noise reduction achievable through the ap- plication of the best available technology, taking into account the cost of compliance. In establishing such standards for any new product the Administrator shall assure that such standards are compatible with standards under other laws respecting emission of air or water pollutants and safety, including (but not limited to) any standard under the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966 (15 U.S.C. 1381 et seq.), the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 1857 et seq.), or the Fed- eral Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1151 et seq.). Any standard prescribed under subsection (a) or (b) of this section may contain provisions respecting instructions of the manufacturer for the maintenance or use of the product.
"(2) After publication of any proposed regulations under this section, the Adminis- trator shall allow the public an opportunity to participate in rulemaking in accordance with section 553 of title 5, United States Code.
"(3) The Administrator may revise any noise emission standard prescribed by him in accordance with this section.
"(4) Any regulation prescribed under this section (and any revision thereof) shall take effect after a period not to exceed two years or such lesser time as the Ad- ministrator finds necessary to permit the development and application of the requisite technology, giving appropriate consideration to the cost of compliance within such period. Standards prescribed under this section shall apply to products manufactured on or after the effective date of such standards.
“(5) The Administrator may prescribe reg- ulations defining 'effective date' for the pur- pose of assuring that products manufactured before the effective date of a regulation un- der this section were not manufactured for purposes of circumventing the effective date
environmental noise research and environmental noise control. This report shall de
scribe the environmental
noise control pro
and assess the
grams of each Federal agency contributions of those programs to the Fed- eral Government's overall efforts to control environmental noise.
"NOISE CRITERIA AND CONTROL TECHNOLOGY
"SEC. 407. (a) The Administrator shall, after consultation with appropriate Federal, State, and municipal agencies, and other ap- propriate persons, within nine months after the date of enactment of this section, issue, noise criteria. Such criteria shall reflect the scientific knowledge most useful in indicating the kind and extent of all identifiable effects on the public health or welfare which may be expected from differing quantities and qualities of noise, and such criteria shall set forth levels of environmental noise the at- tainment and maintenance of which in de- fined areas under various conditions are req- uisite to protect the public health and wel- fare with an adequate margin of safety.
"(b) The Administrator, after consultation with appropriate Federal, State, and munici- pal agencies, and other appropriate persons, shall within fifteen months after date of enactment of this section compile and pub- lish a report or series of reports (1) identify- ing products (or classes of products) which on the basis of information available to him appear to be major sources of noise, and (2) giving information on the processes, proce- dures, or operating methods which result in the control of the emission of noise, to imple- ment noise emission control standards under sections 408, 501, 503, 511, and 521 of this Act, which such information shall include tech- nical and other data, including costs, as are available on alternative methods of noise control.
"(c) The Administrator, after consulta- tion with appropriate Federal, State, and
"(vi) Percussion and explosive equipment. "(2) (A) Regulations proposed under para- graph (1) shall be promulgated not later than eighteen months after the date of en- actment of this Act, and shall apply to any appropriate new product described in para- graph (1) which is identified (or in a class identified) in any report published under
section 407(b)(1) of this Act on or before the date of publication of such initial pro- posed regulations.
"(B) In the case of any new product de- scribed in paragraph (1) which is identified (or is part of a class identified) as a major source of noise in a report published under section 407(b) (1) of this Act after publica- tion of the initial proposed regulations under subparagraph (A) of this paragraph, regula- tions under paragraph (1) of this subsection for such new product shall be promulgated by the Administrator not later than nine months after such report is published.
"(b) The Administrator may publish pro- posed regulations establishing noise emis- sion standards respecting any new product for which he is not required to establish standards under subsection (a) of this sec- tion but for which, in his judgment, noise emission standards are requisite to protect the public health and welfare. Not later than six months after the date of publication of such regulations respecting such new prod- uct, he shall promulgate regulations estab- lishing noise emission standards for such new prdouct.
"(c) (1) Any noise emission standard pre- scribed under subsection (a) or (b) of this section respecting a new product shall set limits on noise emissions from such new product over the useful life of the product (as determined by the Administrator taking into account the range of possible uses for the same type of product) and shall be a stand- ard which in the Administrator's judgment,
"(d) (1) On and after the effective date of any standards prescribed under this sec- tion, the manufacturer of each new product shall warrant to the ultimate purchaser and each subsequent purchaser that such prod- uct is (A) designed, built, and equipped to as to conform at the time of sale with appli- cable regulations under this section, and (B)
free from defects in materials and workman- ship which cause such product, under normal use, operation, and maintenance to fail to conform with applicable regulations for its useful life, as determined by the Admin- istrator, taking into account the range of uses for such product.
"(2) Any cost obligation of any dealer in- curred as a result of any requirement im- posed by paragraph (1) of this subsection shall be borne by the manufacturer. The transfer of any such cost obligation from a manufacturer to any dealer through fran- chise or other agreement is prohibited.
"(3) If a manufacturer includes in any advertisement a statement respecting the cost or value of noise emission control de- vices or systems, such manufacturer shall set forth in such statement the cost or value attributed to such devices or systems by the Secretary of Labor (through the Bureau of Labor Statitics). The Secretary of Labor, and his representatives, shall have the same ac- cess for this purpose to the books, documents, papers, and records of a manufacturer as the Comptroller General has to those of a recipient of assistance for purposes of sec- tion 311 of the Clean Air Act, as amended.
"(e) (1) No State or political subdivision thereof may adopt or enforce, with respect to (A) any product manufactured after the effective date of a regulation prescribed by the Administrator under this section or (B) any component incorporated into such prod- uct by the manufacturer of such product,
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