A bill to amend the Clean Air Act with respect to temporary emergency suspensions of implementation plan provisions.
Latest action. Referred to Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works.
Amends the Clean Air Act, with regard to State implementation plans for a national primary ambient air quality standard, to authorize the President, as well as the Governor of a State, to issue a temporary emergency suspension of any part of such plan applicable to a fuel burning stationary source. Requires either the President or the Governor to issue such an emergency suspension if either finds that foreign imports of fuels used by such source have reached an excessive level and that such imports can be reduced by the emergency suspension. Requires such suspension to remain in effect for a maximum of five years, or longer as the owner or operator of such source may persuade the suspension issuer as reasonable. Allows the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency in a disapproval order to require a lesser period if the suspension is issued by a Governor. Limits any suspension for violation of any national ambient air quality standard to not more than four months. Requires any person who issued a suspension for a period in excess of four months to revoke such suspension if he determines that the fuel burning stationary source in question did not change to an alternate fuel.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in Senate" stage on June 26, 1979. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on June 26, 1979: Referred to Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the Senate
- Passage by the House
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 96th Congress (1979-80), 613 of the 12,581 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 4.9 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
WALTER HUDDLESTON (D-KY) introduced it on June 26, 1979, and 2 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 1 Democrat, 1 Republican.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on June 26, 1979, 17243 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 17243 days ago, on June 26, 1979.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 96th Congress has not finished by January 3, 1981 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- SenateIn committee, no floor vote yet
- HouseAwaits Senate passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers