Commonsense Legislative Exceptional Events Reforms Act of 2014
Latest action. Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
Commonsense Legislative Exceptional Events Reforms Act of 2014 - Amends the Clean Air Act to revise the requirements for regulations that govern the review and handling of air quality monitoring data influenced by exceptional events. (The Environmental Protection Agency [EPA] may exclude monitored exceedances of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards from consideration when designating an area as nonattainment, redesignating an area as nonattainment, or reclassifying an existing nonattainment area to a higher classification if a state demonstrates that an exceptional event caused the exceedances.)
Requires the criteria used to determine if an exceptional event was demonstrated to be specific in order to minimize the discretion of the EPA in approving or disapproving the demonstration.
Requires the EPA to make a determination within 90 days after the submission of a petition by a state of an exceptional event demonstration. Considers the demonstration approved if the EPA does not make a determination by that deadline.
Requires a determination to be based on a preponderance of the evidence and to accord substantial deference to the findings of the state exceptional event demonstration. Establishes an appeal process for reviewing a disapproval of a demonstration.
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 25, 2014. 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 25, 2014: Read twice and referred to the 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 113th Congress (2013-14), 296 of the 9,091 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.3 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?
JEFF FLAKE (R-AZ) introduced it on June 25, 2014, and 10 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They are 10 Republicans.
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 25, 2014, 4507 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 4507 days ago, on June 25, 2014.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 113th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2015 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