42 U.S.C. § 7405 : US Code - Section 7405: Grants for support of air pollution planning and control programs

Search 42 U.S.C. § 7405 : US Code - Section 7405: Grants for support of air pollution planning and control programs

(a) Amounts; limitations; assurances of plan development capability
(1)(A) The Administrator may make grants to air pollution control
agencies, within the meaning of paragraph (1), (2), (3), (4), or
(5) of section 7602 of this title, in an amount up to three-fifths
of the cost of implementing programs for the prevention and control
of air pollution or implementation of national primary and
secondary ambient air quality standards. For the purpose of this
section, "implementing" means any activity related to the planning,
developing, establishing, carrying-out, improving, or maintaining
of such programs.
(B) Subject to subsections (b) and (c) of this section, an air
pollution control agency which receives a grant under subparagraph
(A) and which contributes less than the required two-fifths minimum
shall have 3 years following November 15, 1990, in which to
contribute such amount. If such an agency fails to meet and
maintain this required level, the Administrator shall reduce the
amount of the Federal contribution accordingly.
(C) With respect to any air quality control region or portion
thereof for which there is an applicable implementation plan under
section 7410 of this title, grants under subparagraph (A) may be
made only to air pollution control agencies which have substantial
responsibilities for carrying out such applicable implementation
plan.
(2) Before approving any grant under this subsection to any air
pollution control agency within the meaning of sections 7602(b)(2)
and 7602(b)(4) of this title, the Administrator shall receive
assurances that such agency provides for adequate representation of
appropriate State, interstate, local, and (when appropriate)
international, interests in the air quality control region.
(3) Before approving any planning grant under this subsection to
any air pollution control agency within the meaning of sections
7602(b)(2) and 7602(b)(4) of this title, the Administrator shall
receive assurances that such agency has the capability of
developing a comprehensive air quality plan for the air quality
control region, which plan shall include (when appropriate) a
recommended system of alerts to avert and reduce the risk of
situations in which there may be imminent and serious danger to the
public health or welfare from air pollutants and the various
aspects relevant to the establishment of air quality standards for
such air quality control region, including the concentration of
industries, other commercial establishments, population and
naturally occurring factors which shall affect such standards.
(b) Terms and conditions; regulations; factors for consideration;
State expenditure limitations
(1) From the sums available for the purposes of subsection (a) of
this section for any fiscal year, the Administrator shall from time
to time make grants to air pollution control agencies upon such
terms and conditions as the Administrator may find necessary to
carry out the purpose of this section. In establishing regulations
for the granting of such funds the Administrator shall, so far as
practicable, give due consideration to (A) the population, (B) the
extent of the actual or potential air pollution problem, and (C)
the financial need of the respective agencies.
(2) Not more than 10 per centum of the total of funds
appropriated or allocated for the purposes of subsection (a) of
this section shall be granted for air pollution control programs in
any one State. In the case of a grant for a program in an area
crossing State boundaries, the Administrator shall determine the
portion of such grant that is chargeable to the percentage
limitation under this subsection for each State into which such
area extends. Subject to the provisions of paragraph (1) of this
subsection, no State shall have made available to it for
application less than one-half of 1 per centum of the annual
appropriation for grants under this section for grants to agencies
within such State.
(c) Maintenance of effort
(1) No agency shall receive any grant under this section during
any fiscal year when its expenditures of non-Federal funds for
recurrent expenditures for air pollution control programs will be
less than its expenditures were for such programs during the
preceding fiscal year. In order for the Administrator to award
grants under this section in a timely manner each fiscal year, the
Administrator shall compare an agency's prospective expenditure
level to that of its second preceding fiscal year. The
Administrator shall revise the current regulations which define
applicable nonrecurrent and recurrent expenditures, and in so
doing, give due consideration to exempting an agency from the
limitations of this paragraph and subsection (a) of this section
due to periodic increases experienced by that agency from time to
time in its annual expenditures for purposes acceptable to the
Administrator for that fiscal year.
(2) The Administrator may still award a grant to an agency not
meeting the requirements of paragraph (l) (!1) of this subsection
if the Administrator, after notice and opportunity for public
hearing, determines that a reduction in expenditures is
attributable to a non-selective reduction in the expenditures in
the programs of all Executive branch agencies of the applicable
unit of Government. No agency shall receive any grant under this
section with respect to the maintenance of a program for the
prevention and control of air pollution unless the Administrator is
satisfied that such a grant will be so used to supplement and, to
the extent practicable, increase the level of State, local, or
other non-Federal funds. No grants shall be made under this section
until the Administrator has consulted with the appropriate official
as designated by the Governor or Governors of the State or States
affected.
(d) Reduction of payments; availability of reduced amounts; reduced
amount as deemed paid to agency for purpose of determining amount
of grant
The Administrator, with the concurrence of any recipient of a
grant under this section, may reduce the payments to such recipient
by the amount of the pay, allowances, traveling expenses, and any
other costs in connection with the detail of any officer or
employee to the recipient under section 7601 of this title, when
such detail is for the convenience of, and at the request of, such
recipient and for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of
this chapter. The amount by which such payments have been reduced
shall be available for payment of such costs by the Administrator,
but shall, for the purpose of determining the amount of any grant
to a recipient under subsection (a) of this section, be deemed to
have been paid to such agency.
(e) Notice and opportunity for hearing when affected by adverse
action
No application by a State for a grant under this section may be
disapproved by the Administrator without prior notice and
opportunity for a public hearing in the affected State, and no
commitment or obligation of any funds under any such grant may be
revoked or reduced without prior notice and opportunity for a
public hearing in the affected State (or in one of the affected
States if more than one State is affected).