April 6, 1967
Page 8573
THE AIR QUALITY ACT OF 1967 AMENDMENT NO. 154
Mr. RANDOLPH. Mr. President, I introduce, for appropriate reference, several proposed amendments to S. 780, the Air Quality Act of 1957. These amendments are designed to expand the scope and purpose, and to increase the effectiveness of the measure which has been proposed by the administration.
It seems important to me to underscore the fact that the citizenry of the State from which I come, and the Nation of which all of us are a part, have spoken clearly and emphatically for the purposes of air pollution control.
It is also true, that that voice which we have already heard is much stronger than even the call of a few years ago for effective legislation to control water pollution in our waters throughout the United States.
Mr. President, in 1965 and 1966, the Congress responded to the challenge of water pollution by requiring the establishment of State water quality standards on interstate waters. This came about in the act of 1965. Our several States are to comply with this requirement by June 30, 1967.
Failure to comply by the States would mean that the standards of the Federal Government would be accepted as of that date.
To implement this national commitment, for effective implementation of water quality standards, the Congress in 1966 authorized – without a dissenting vote – a $3.4 billion municipal waste treatment construction program. I emphasize that this was a grant program, and we increased, to a very considerable degree, the Federal funds to be used for research into new and improved methods of treating all types of fluid waste.
It is important also to indicate that the initiative in these programs and in the effort to abate other forms of environmental pollution has stemmed from the leadership of my colleague from Maine, who is on the floor at the present time [Mr. MUSKIE].
Senator MUSKIE became the chairman of the Subcommittee on Air and Water Pollution in 1963.
Since that time Senator MUSKIE has earned national recognition as the foremost spokesman in this body, and perhaps in the Nation, for carrying forward an aggressive but realistic pollution abatement program.
I know of the constructive contribution which he has made. I want my colleagues in the Senate to understand from my words as chairman of the Public Works Committee, and as a member of this particular subcommittee within that committee, that I have the utmost confidence in – and I applaud the work of – the Senator from Maine.
I must speak also of the able and cooperative ranking minority member of that subcommittee, the distinguished junior Senator from Delaware [Mr. BOGGS]. He also has the same characteristics that I have attributed to the Senator from Maine.
I add that both of these Members of this body and of the Public Works Committee and of the Subcommittee on Air and Water Pollution have served with distinction as Governors of their respective States. So they have seen the situation from that level of executive responsibility and they have an awareness of the responsibilities of the States in this field.
We have had differences within the committee, of course. I am never worried by differences which occur between Members of the Senate or members of a committee or of a subcommittee in regard to legislation. I am concerned when people are indifferent. Certainly, if the American people and the American Congress are indifferent to this urgent task, of abating and controlling pollution in our water and air, we are going to suffer because of the attitude of apathy.
However, such an attitude of apathy is not evident in this body. The Congress is responsive to the requests of the people of our country that the Federal Government, in concert with the States and other political subdivisions, and industry as well, move affirmatively with an all-out, frontal attack on the basic causes of pollution which affect our country.
This issue can be summed up in the expression that we are the greatest industrialized Nation in the world, and yet we pour into the atmosphere and into our waters pollution which has a devastating effect.
Mr. MUSKIE. Mr. President, will the Senator yield?
Mr. RANDOLPH. I yield to the Senator from Maine.
Mr. MUSKIE. Mr. President, first of all, I should like to express my appreciation to the distinguished Senator from West Virginia, and chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Works, for the kind references he has made to me.
Mr. RANDOLPH. And I say they are not mere pleasantries; they are deserved.
Mr. MUSKIE. I appreciate it. I would like to add to that my appreciation for the unqualified support which he has given in the work of the subcommittee before he became chairman of the full committee and since that time. We have never felt inhibited. Indeed, we have felt stimulated by the kind of support and understanding which he has given to our efforts in the air pollution problems as they have developed over the past 3 or 4 years.
I appreciate his attendance during the recent field hearings which we held through the country, particularly in Los Angeles and St. Louis. The chairman of the committee contributed to those hearings constructively, and affirmatively expressed the same philosophy which he has been expressing on the Senate floor, about the need to eliminate indifference in all segments of our society toward this pressing and most urgent problem.
The amendments which he is offering today – and I think they typify the problems – are addressed to difficult and controversial points in the legislative program which we are considering. They are constructive suggestions for dealing with those problems. I am sure the subcommittee will give them thoughtful consideration.
As the Senator knows, it has been the practice of the Subcommittee on Air and Water Pollution and of the Public Works Committee as a whole to consider legislative bills not in terms of the finality of the original form which they took, but as departures for discussion and legislative draftsmanship, and the final product that has been produced by the subcommittee and the committee in the past has often been a version that little resembled the original legislation introduced.
The reason for that is that we have tried to be responsive to the discussions had before the committee, and we have tried to be responsive to the enlightenment which we have received from those persons who understand the problem in all its ramifications, and we undertook to reflect a realistic attitude in the final legislation toward what is and what can be done.
It is in that spirit that I welcome the amendments being introduced by the distinguished Senator from West Virginia this afternoon and express my appreciation for his continuing interest and contribution.
Mr. RANDOLPH. I thank the Senator from Maine. I know he has another commitment that is very pressing at this time. If it were not for that fact, I am sure he would find it convenient to remain on the floor. I appreciate his remarks, and I understand his need to meet other commitments. We discussed the matter of these amendments in considerable detail before I came to the floor this afternoon.
Mr. MUSKIE. Mr. President, will the Senator yield?
Mr. RANDOLPH. I yield.
Mr. MUSKIE. I understand that among the amendments the Senator is introducing this afternoon the Senator will also offer a bill that will provide for certain tax relief relating to private industry as a stimulant to the development of air pollution control equipment. I am delighted to join in cosponsoring that legislation, which I think will probably get the unanimous support of the Senate Public Works Committee as the bill goes to the Senate Committee on Finance.
I may say that my other commitment is not more important than this one, but that it is an unavoidable one.
Mr. RANDOLPH. I understand. Reference has been made by the Senator from Maine to the introduction of the bill which I shall present to the Senate this afternoon as I make these remarks.
This will not be referred to the Public Works Committee, but to the Finance Committee, because it will deal with amendments to the Internal Revenue Code.
We think – and I have discussed this proposal with the Senator from Maine [Mr. MUSKIE] and other Senators – that it is necessary to provide for amortization of air pollution control facilities over a period of 36 months.
I think it is very important to realize that industry must be a full partner in moving forward in this program; and that an industry that has made expenditures of huge sums of money – I know of many instances where industries have spent tens of millions of dollars to abate pollution either of the waters or of the air – be given installation incentives such as is indicated in the legislation I shall introduce this afternoon – legislation in the general area of permitting more rapid writeoff than ordinarily is allowed.
I had discussed this proposed legislation earlier this week with Senator MUSKIE. I had not known until now that he felt he could sponsor it with me. I asked him to review it very carefully.
I am hopeful that we may have the sponsorship of the Senator from Kentucky [Mr. COOPER], the ranking minority member of the Committee on Public Works, and of the Senator from Delaware [Mr. BOGGS], the ranking minority member of the Subcommittee on Air and Water Pollution. I am sure they are as intensely interested in this subject, and the approach which is offered in this tax legislative proposal, as am I.
Mr. President, we have heard the call from the President of the United States on this matter of the control of pollutants in the air. I shall not take the time to read those parts of the President's message – except to say that the President indicated that–
Ten years from now, when industrial production and waste disposal have increased, and the number of automobiles on our streets and highways exceeds 110 million, we shall have lost the battle for clean air, unless we strengthen our regulatory and research efforts now.
I especially note the emphasis of the President particularly on the matter of research, because I deem this to be an area in which additional funds must be expended, and expended wisely, but as quickly as possible.
The President went farther, and said that "Federal action alone cannot master pollution. The States, the cities, and private industry must commit themselves more fully, more effectively, and with a new sense of urgency, to America's struggle against polluted air."
This calls for a partnership, Mr. President – not a junior or senior partnership, but a partnership of all these component parts, these elements of government, industry, and in the final analysis, the individual citizen. Each must accept his own responsibility in this urgent area. It is imperative that we act. This is the reason, Mr. President, that I offer these amendments this afternoon – because I, in my way, hope to speed the accomplishment of the objectives of President Johnson and the administration. We can do that, I think, in an orderly fashion, without a hit and miss approach, which to a degree we have been guilty of in the past.
There is a gap between what we desire and what we must achieve in the immediate or near future. That gap must be closed with this program of research. It has to be greatly expanded, and of course pilot projects and demonstrations must be expanded. I shall speak of that in more detail in connection with further amendments to be submitted.
To summarize, Mr. President, the amendments to S. 780 which I send to the desk at this time will accomplish, if enacted into law, the following results:
First, the time-consuming conference stage of abatement and enforcement procedure would be eliminated by the conferees going directly to a hearing. This, I remind the Senators present and those who will read these remarks, was our objective in the Clean Air Act of 1963.
I think we must accelerate our pollution abatement efforts. At present there is undue delay between the time the need for abatement action is first acknowledged and the ultimate response to that need. So we would eliminate, by this proposal, the conference stage. The Secretary, on finding that interstate pollution affecting the public health exists, can go directly to a hearing rather than wait the 6 months which is required under existing law. Industries and other polluters – and industry certainly is not blameless – will be authorized to participate in such a hearing as would be encompassed by my amendment, and will therefore have an opportunity, I think, to fully present evidence in accordance with the prescribed rules of procedure and of evidence.
Amendment No. 2 would provide for the establishment of air quality standards by the States. In different parts of the country, in the various regions of our Nation, we know, after having studied this problem, that there are different air pollution problems, and different standards and solutions are necessary if we are to realistically and reasonably and yet effectively solve these problems.
An obvious example, I think, is shown by comparing New York and Los Angeles. Those cities differ, Mr. President, very much in meteorological and topographical conditions, as well as in the comparative pollution loads of moving and stationary sources of pollution. Our hearings have underscored that difference.
I would not suggest that the people of the varying regions do not have equal rights to breathe air of an equally pure quality. It is evident, however, because of these varying conditions – that different standards will be required in different areas, if we are to achieve the same level of ambient air quality.
Amendment No. 3 would increase the amount of fines to be levied on polluters who refuse to comply with the reporting requirements of this Act.
Amendment No. 4 would create a Federal Air Quality Administration within the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, to be headed by a new Assistant Secretary of that Department and to have control of the Federal aspects of air quality improvement and solid waste disposal.
Mr. President, implicit in all that I have said today is the urgent need for the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare to promulgate the ambient air quality criteria authorized by the mandate of Congress in the Clean Air Act of 1963.
Mr. President, I shall submit additional amendments to the Senate next week. I, of course, am thinking in terms of the one subject that I believe is perhaps paramount at this moment as we study air pollution. That subject concerns the need for accelerated research and development programs and provisions for an interdepartmental advisory committee on air pollution, and a technical advisory committee to assist the States in the establishment of air quality standards.
I think especially of the need for the establishment of air commissions in different regions of the United States. It is apart from what I am now saying, but I allude to the Appalachian Regional Development Commission. This was a new concept in congressional lawmaking. It has been effective.
We do experience a need for certain of our regions to come to grips with some of the problems indigenous to those regions. This is especially true in the field of economic growth. We must study the problems presented in air pollution abatement programs.
This can be better done in many areas – rather than following the Federal approach or the State approach – by the regional approach. A regional approach has been proposed in S. 780, and I shall submit an amendment to that provision at a later date.
The amendment (No. 154), submitted by Mr. RANDOLPH, intended to be proposed by him, to the bill (S. 780) to amend the Clean Air Act to improve and expand the authority to conduct or assist research relating to air pollutants, to assist in the establishment of regional air quality commissions, to authorize establishment of standards applicable to emissions from establishments engaged in certain types of industry, to assist in establishment and maintenance of State programs for annual inspections of automobile emission control devices, and for other purposes, was received, ordered to be printed, and referred to the Committee on Public Works.
I ask unanimous consent that the amendments which I have sent to the desk be printed at this point in the RECORD.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
AMENDMENT No. 154
At the end of the bill insert the following new sections:
"REVISION OF ABATEMENT PROCEEDINGS
"SEC, 8. Section 105 of the Clean Air Act is amended to read as follows:
"'ABATEMENT OF AIR POLLUTION
"'SEC. 105. (a) The pollution of the air in any State or States which endangers the health or welfare of any persons, shall be subject to abatement as provided in this section.
“'(b) Consistent with the policy declaration of this title, municipal, State, and interstate action to abate air pollution shall be encouraged and shall not be displaced by Federal enforcement action except as otherwise provided by or pursuant to a court order under this section.
"'(c) (1) Whenever requested by the Governor of any State, a State air pollution control agency, or (with the concurrence of the Governor and the State air pollution control agency for the State in which the municipality is situated) the governing body of any municipality, the Secretary shall, if such request refers to air pollution which is alleged to endanger the health or welfare of persons in a State other than that in which the discharge or discharges (causing or contributing to such pollution) originate, promptly call a hearing with respect to such air pollution and give formal notification thereof to the alleged polluter or polluters, and effective notice as provided under the terms of the Administrative Procedures Act to the air pollution control agency of the municipality where such discharge or discharges originate, to the air pollution control agency of the State in which such municipality is located, and to the interstate air pollution control agency, if any, in whose jurisdictional area such municipality is located.
"'(2) Whenever requested by the Governor of any State, a State air pollution control agency, or (with the concurrence of the Governor and the State air pollution control agency for the State in which the municipality is situated) the governing body of any municipality, the Secretary shall, if such request refers to alleged air pollution which is endangering the health or welfare of persons only in the State in which the discharge or discharges (causing or contributing to such pollution) originate and if a municipality affected by such air pollution, or the municipality in which such pollution originates, has either made or concurred in such request, promptly call a hearing with respect to such air pollution and give formal notification thereof to the alleged polluter or polluters, and effective notice as provided under the terms of the Administrative Procedures Act to the State air pollution control agency, to the air pollution control agencies of the municipality where such discharge or discharges originate and of the municipality or municipalities alleged to be adversely affected thereby, and to any interstate air pollution control agency, whose jurisdictional area includes any such municipality, unless, in the judgment of the Secretary, the effect of such pollution is not of such significance as to warrant exercise of Federal jurisdiction under this section.
"’ (3) The Secretary may, after consultation with State officials of all affected States, also call such a hearing whenever, on the basis of reports, surveys, or studies, he has reason to believe that any pollution referred to in subsection (a) is occurring and is endangering the health and welfare of persons in a State other than that in which the discharge or discharges originate. The Secretary shall give formal notification of such hearing to the originators of such pollution and to any municipal, State, or interstate air pollution control agencies having jurisdiction in the affected area, and effective notice as provided under the terms of the Administrative Procedures Act.
"'(4) whenever the Secretary, upon receipt of reports, surveys, or studies from any duly constituted international agency, has reason to believe that any pollution referred to in subsection (a) which endangers the health or welfare of persons in a foreign country is occurring, or whenever the Secretary of State requests him to do so with respect to such pollution which the Secretary of State alleges is of such a nature, the Secretary shall promptly call a hearing with respect to such air pollution and give formal notification thereof to the alleged polluter or polluters, and effective notice as provided under the terms of the Administrative Procedures Act to the air pollution control agency of the municipality where such discharge or discharges originate, to the air pollution control agency of the State in which such municipality is located, and to the interstate air pollution control agency, if any, in the jurisdictional area of which such municipality is located. The Secretary shall invite the foreign country which may be adversely affected by the pollution to attend and participate in the hearing, and the representative of such country shall, for the purpose of the hearing and any further proceeding resulting from such hearing, have all the rights of a State air pollution control agency. This subparagraph shall apply only to a foreign country which the Secretary determines has given the United States essentially the same rights with respect to the prevention or control of air pollution occurring in that country as is given that country by this subparagraph.
"'(5) Not less than thirty days' prior notice of the hearing date shall be given to such parties and agencies, and effective notice as provided under the terms of the Administrative Procedure Act.
"'(d) (1) Any such hearing shall be public and shall be held in or near one or more of the places where the discharge or discharges causing or contributing to such pollution originated, before a hearing board of five or more persons appointed by the Secretary. Each State in which any discharge causing or contributing to such pollution originates and each State claiming to be adversely affected by such pollution shall be given an opportunity to select one member of such hearing board and each Federal department, agency, or instrumentality having a substantial interest in the subject matter as determined by the Secretary Shall be given an opportunity to select one member of such hearing board, and one member shall be a representative of the appropriate interstate air pollution agency if one exists, and not less than a majority of such hearing board shall be persons other than officers or employees of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.
"'(2) On the basis of evidence presented at such hearing, the hearing board shall make findings as to whether pollution referred to in subsection (a) is occurring and whether effective progress toward abatement thereof is being made. If the hearing board finds such pollution is occurring and effective progress toward abatement thereof is not being made it shall make recommendations to the Secretary concerning the measures, if any, which it finds to be reasonable and suitable to secure abatement of Such pollution, giving consideration to the technological and economic feasibility and time scheduling of pollution abatement measures.
“‘(3) The Secretary shall send notice of such findings and recommendations to the person or persons discharging any matter causing or contributing to such pollution; to air pollution control agencies of the State or States and of the municipality or municipalities where such discharge or discharges originate; to any interstate air pollution control agency whose jurisdictional area includes any such municipality, and to all other persons who participated in the hearing, together with a notice specifying a reasonable time (not more than ninety days) to secure abatement or effective progress toward abatement of such pollution.
"'(e) If action in accordance with said recommendations calculated to secure abatement or effective progress toward abatement of the pollution within ninety days after such notice is not taken, the Secretary
"'(1) in the case of pollution of air which is endangering the health or welfare of persons (A) in a State other than that in which the discharge or discharges (causing or contributing to such pollution) originate, or (B) in a foreign country which has participated in a hearing called under this section, may request the Attorney General to bring a suit on behalf of the United States to secure abatement of the pollution, and
"'(2) in the case of pollution of air which is endangering the health or welfare of persons only in the State in which the discharge or discharges (causing or contributing to such pollution) originate, at the request of the Governor of such State, shall provide such technical and other assistance as in his judgment is necessary to assist the State in judicial proceedings to secure abatement of the pollution under. State or local law or, at the request of the Governor of such State, shall request the Attorney General to bring suit on behalf of the United States to secure abatement of the pollution.
"'(f) The court shall receive in evidence in any suit brought in a United States court under subsection (e) of this section a transcript of the proceedings before the board and a copy of the board's recommendations and shall receive such further evidence as the court in its discretion deems proper. The court, giving due consideration to the practicability of complying with such standards as may be applicable and to the technological and economic feasibility of securing abatement of any pollution proved, shall have jurisdiction to enter such judgment, and orders enforcing such judgment, as the public interest and the equities of the case may require.
“‘(g) Members of any hearing board appointed pursuant to subsection (d) who are not regular full-time officers or employees of the United States shall, while participating in the hearing conducted by such board or otherwise engaged on the work of such board, be entitled to receive compensation at a rate fixed by the Secretary, but not exceeding $50 per diem, including travel time, and while away from their homes or regular places of business they may be allowed travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, as authorized by law for persons in the Government Service employed intermittently.
"AIR QUALITY STANDARDS, REGIONAL. AIR QUALITY COMMISSIONS, AND RECORDS AND REPORTING COMPLIANCE
"SEC. 9. Title I of the Clean Air Act is amended by redesignating section 107 as section 110 and by inserting after section 106 the following new sections:
“‘AIR QUALITY STANDARDS
"'SEC. 107. (a) If the Governor of a State or a State air pollution control agency files, within one year after the date of enactment of this section, a letter of intent that such State, after public hearings, will within two years of such date of enactment, adopt (1) air quality standards applicable to interstate air emission sources within such State, and (2) a plan for the implementation and enforcement of the air quality standards adopted, and if such standards and plans are established in accordance with the letter of intent, and if the Secretary determines that such State standards and plan are consistent with subsection (c) of this section, such State standards and plan shall thereafter be the air quality standards applicable to such interstate air emission sources within that State.
"'(b) If a State does not (1) file such a letter of intent or (2) establish air quality standards in accordance with this section, or if the Secretary or the Governor of any State affected by air quality standards established pursuant to this subsection desires a revision in such standards, the Secretary may, after reasonable notice and a conference of representatives of appropriate Federal departments and agencies, interstate agencies, States, municipalities and industries involved, prepare regulations setting forth standards of air quality to be applicable to interstate air emission sources within such State. If, within six months from the date the Secretary publishes such regulations, the State has not adopted air quality standards found by the Secretary to be consistent with subsection (c) of this section, or a petition for public hearing has not been filed under subsection (d) of this section, the Secretary shall promulgate such standards.
"'(c) Standards established pursuant to this section shall be such as to enhance the quality of the air in the area affected, to protect the public health and welfare, and otherwise serve the purposes of this Act. In establishing such standards, the Secretary, the hearing board, or the appropriate State authority shall take into consideration their use and value for encouraging and accelerating a national program for enhancing the quality of this Nation's air by controlling, abating, preventing or reducing hazardous air emissions from any private, public, or industrial device or installation, and shall also take into consideration existing air quality in the area affected and the technological and economic feasibility of achieving the prescribed air quality.
"'(d) If at any time prior to 30 days after standards have been promulgated under subsection (b) of this section, the Governor of any State affected by such standards petitions the Secretary for a hearing, the Secretary shall call a public hearing, to be held at an appropriate location determined by the Secretary, before a hearing board appointed by the Secretary. The Secretary shall appoint two members from each State affected by such standards who shall be recommended by the Governor of such State, one at large and one from the scientific community within the State. The Secretary shall appoint the other members of such hearing board as follows: one from the National Academy of Science, one from the National Academy of Engineering, with the other members to be appointed one each from the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare and from any other affected Federal departments or independent agencies. The hearing board chairman shall be the member appointed from the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. Notice of such hearing shall be published in the Federal Register and given to the State air pollution control agencies, interstate agencies, and municipalities involved and all participants in the hearing under subsection (b) of this section at least 30 days prior to the date of such hearing. On the basis of the evidence presented at such hearing, such hearing board shall make findings as to whether the standards published or promulgated by the Secretary are reasonable and whether they carry out the purposes of this Act. The standards shall be approved or modified by the Secretary in accordance with such findings. If such hearing board approves the standards as published or promulgated by the Secretary, the standards shall take effect on receipt by the Secretary of such hearing board's recommendations. If such hearing board recommends modifications in the standards as published or promulgated by the Secretary, the Secretary shall promulgate revised regulations setting forth standards of air quality in accordance with the hearing board's recommendations which will become effective immediately upon promulgation.
“‘(e) Any action which reduces the quality of air below the standards established under this section is subject to abatement in the manner provided in section 105 (e) of this Act, except that at least one hundred eighty days before any abatement action is initiated as authorized by this subsection, the Secretary shall notify the violators and other interested parties of the violation of such standards. In any suit brought under the provisions of this subsection the court shall receive in evidence a transcript of the proceedings of any hearing held pursuant to this section with respect to the standards involved provided for in this subsection, together with such standards as promulgated by the Secretary, and such additional evidence, including that relating to the alleged violation of the standards, as it deems necessary to a complete review of the standards and to a determination of all other issues relating to the alleged violation. The court, giving due consideration to the practicability and to the technological and economic feasibility of complying with such standards, shall have jurisdiction to enter such judgment and orders enforcing such judgment as the public interest and the equities of the case may require.
“‘(f) Nothing in this section shall prevent the application of this section to any case to which section 105 of this Act would otherwise be applicable.
" 'RECORDS AND REPORTING COMPLIANCE
"'SEC. 109. (a) For carrying out the purposes of sections 105 and 107 of this Act, the Secretary is authorized to require any person whose activities result in the emission of air pollutants causing or contributing to air pollution to file in such form as he may prescribe, a report, furnishing to the Secretary such information as may reasonably be required as to the character, kind, and quantity of pollutants discharged and the use of devices or other means to prevent or reduce the emission of pollutants by the person filing such reports. Such report shall be made under oath or otherwise, as the Secretary may prescribe, and shall be filed with the Secretary within such reasonable period as the Secretary may prescribe, unless additional time be granted by the Secretary. All information in such report shall be considered confidential for the purposes of section 1905 of title 18 of the United States Code.
“‘(b) If any person required to file any report under this section shall fail to do so within the time fixed by the Secretary for filing the same without reasonable cause, and such failure shall continue for thirty days after notice of such default, such person shall forfeit to the United States the sum of $1,000 for each and every day of the continuance of such failure, which forfeiture shall be payable into the Treasury of the United States, and shall be recoverable in a civil suit in the name of the United States brought in the district where such person has his principal office or in any district in which he does business: Provided, That the Secretary may upon application therefor remit or mitigate any forfeiture provided for under this subsection and he shall have authority to determine the facts upon all such applications. It shall be the duty of the various United States attorneys, under the direction of the Attorney General of the United States, to prosecute for the recovery of such forfeitures.
"'(c) Any person who willfully fails to furnish the information required in this Act shall be subject to a fine of $10,000 and one year imprisonment.
"FEDERAL AIR QUALITY ADMINISTRATION
"SEC. 10. The Clean Air Act is amended by redesignating sections 302 through 307 as sections 303 through 308, respectively, and by inserting after section 301 a new section as follows:
“‘FEDERAL AIR QUALITY ADMINISTRATION .
"'SEC, 302. (a) The Secretary shall administer the provisions of this Act and the provisions of the Solid Waste Disposal Act through the administration created by this section and with the assistance of an Assistant Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare designated by him pursuant to this section, shall supervise and direct (1) the head of such administration in administering this Act and the Solid Waste Disposal Act, and (2) the administration of all other functions of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare related to air pollution control and solid waste disposal. Such Assistant Secretary shall also perform such additional functions as the Secretary may prescribe.
"'(b) There shall be in the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, in addition to the assistant secretaries now provided for by law, one additional Assistant Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare who shall be appointed by the President by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. The provisions of section 2 of Reorganization Plan Numbered 1 of 1953 (67 Stat. 631) shall be applicable to such additional Assistant Secretary to the same extent as they are applicable to the other Assistant Secretaries in such department.
"'(c) Effective ninety days after the date of enactment of this section there is created within the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare a Federal Air Quality Administration (hereinafter in this Act referred to as the "Administration"). The head of the Administration shall be appointed, and his compensation fixed, by the Secretary. The head of the Administration may, in addition to the regular staff of the Administration, which shall be initially provided from the personnel of the Department, obtain, from within the Department or otherwise as authorized by law, such professional, technical, and clerical assistance as may be necessary to discharge the Administration's functions and may for that purpose use funds available for carrying out such functions; and he may delegate any of his functions to, or otherwise authorize their performance by, any officer or employee of, or assigned or detailed to, the Administration.
"'(d) Subject to such requirements as the Civil Service Commission may prescribe, any commissioned officer of the Public Health Service who, on the day before the effective date of the establishment of the Federal Air Quality Administration, was, as such officer, performing functions relating to the Clean Air Act or the Solid Waste Disposal Act may acquire competitive civil service status and be transferred to a classified position in the Administration if he so transfers within six months (or such further period as the Secretary may find necessary in individual cases) after such effective date. No commissioned officer of the Public Health Service may be transferred to the Administration under this section if he does not consent to such transfer. As used in this section, the term "transferring officer" means an officer transferred in accordance with this subsection.
“‘(e) (1) The Secretary shall deposit in the Treasury of the United States to the credit of the civil service retirement and disability fund, on behalf of and to the credit of each transferring officer, an amount equal to that which such individual would be required to deposit in such fund to cover the years of service credited to him for purposes of his retirement as a commissioned officer of the Public Health Service to the date of his transfer as provided in subsection (d), but only to the extent that such service is otherwise creditable under the civil service retirement laws. The amount so required to be deposited with respect to any transferring officer shall be computed on the basis of the sum of his basic pay, allowance for quarters, and allowance for subsistence and in the case of a medical officer, his special pay, during the years of service so creditable, including all such years after June 30, 1960.
"'(2) The deposits which the Secretary is required to make under this subsection with respect to any transferring officer shall be made within two years after the date of his transfer as provided in subsection (d), and the amounts due under this subsection shall include interest computed from the period of service credited to the date of payment in accordance with section 8334(e) of title 5 of the United States Code.
"'(f) All past service of a transferring officer as a commissioned officer of the Public Health Service shall be considered as civilian service for all purposes under the civil service retirement laws, effective as of the date any such transferring officer acquires civil service status as an employee of the Federal Air Quality Administration, but no transferring officer may become entitled to benefits under both the civil service retirement laws and title II of the Social Security Act based on service as such a commissioned officer performed after 1956, and the individual (or his survivors) may irrevocably elect to waive benefit credit for the service under one Act to secure credit under the other.
“‘(g) A transferring officer on whose behalf a deposit is required to be made by subsection (e) and who, after transfer to a classified position in the Federal Air Quality Administration under subsection (d), is separated from Federal service or transfers to a position not covered by the civil service retirement laws, shall not be entitled, nor shall his survivors be entitled, to a refund of any amount deposited on his behalf in accordance with this section. In the event he transfers, after transfer under subsection (d), to a position covered by another Government staff retirement system under which credit is allowable for service with respect to which a deposit is required under subsection (e), no credit shall be allowed under the civil service retirement laws with respect to such service.
"'(h) Each transferring officer who prior to January 1, 1957, was insured pursuant to the Federal Employees' Group Life Insurance Act of 1954, and who subsequently waived such insurance shall be entitled to become insured under such Act upon his transfer to the Federal Air Quality Administration regardless of age and insurability.
"'(1) Any commissioned officer of the Public Health Service who, pursuant to subsection (d) of this section, is transferred to a position in the Federal Air Quality Administration which is subject to the provisions of chapter 51 of title 5 of the United States Code, relating to classification of Federal employees, shall receive a salary rate of the general schedule grade of such position which is nearest to but not less than the sum of (1) basic pay, quarters and subsistence allowances, and, in the case of a medical officer, special pay, to which he was entitled as a commissioned officer of the Public Health Service on the day immediately preceding his transfer, and (2) an amount equal to the equalization factor (as defined in this Subsection); but in no event shall the rate so established exceed the maximum rate of such grade. As used in this section, the term "equalization factor" means (A) 6½ per centum of such basic pay and (B) the amount of Federal income tax which the transferring officer, had he remained a commissioned officer, would have been required to pay on such allowances for quarters and subsistence for the taxable year then current if they had not been tax free.
"' (j) A transferring officer who has had one or more years of commissioned service in the Public Health Service immediately prior to his transfer under subsection (d) shall, on the date of such transfer, be credited with thirteen days of sick leave.
“‘(k) Nothing contained in this section shall be construed to restrict or in any way limit the head of the Federal Air Quality Administration in matters of organization or in otherwise carrying out his duties under this Act or the Solid Waste Disposal Act as he deems appropriate to the discharge of the functions of such Administration.
"'(1) The Surgeon General shall be consulted by the head of the Administration on the public health aspects relating to air quality control and the disposal of solid wastes over which the head of such Administration has administrative responsibility.
"'(m) The Civil Service Commission shall make an investigation and study for the purpose of determining means by which commissioned officers of the Public Health Service may transfer to the employ of any State or local government or other public agency whose functions are in the fields of air or water quality or solid waste disposal control without losing retirement, insurance and other benefits acquired as such an officer. The Commission shall report the results of such investigation and study, together with its recommendations, as soon as practicable to the President and the Congress."'
Mr. RANDOLPH. Mr. President, this measure, as I have indicated, goes to the matter of the amortization of air pollution control facilities.
It is my belief that, although this will not be referred to the Committee on Public Works, it is an area in which those of us who work almost daily in the Committee on Public Works on this problem of air pollution would want to have a certain amount of responsibility and, we hope, responsible leadership in proposing possible solutions to help industry move forward with tax incentives.
I ask unanimous consent that the tax proposal measure I have just sent to the desk be printed at this point in the RECORD.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
S. 1466
A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 to provide an amortization deduction, based on a 36-month period, for air pollution control facilities.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That (a) Part VI of subchapter B of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 (relating to itemized deductions for individuals and corporations) is amended by adding at the end thereof the following new section:
"SEC. 183. AMORTIZATION OF AIR POLLUTION CONTROL FACILITIES.
"(a) GENERAL RULE.– Every person, at his election, shall be entitled to a deduction with respect to the amortization of the adjusted basis (for determining gain) of any air pollution control facility (as defined in subsection (d) (1) ) based on a period of 36 months. Such amortization deduction shall be an amount, with respect to each month of such period within the taxable year, equal to the adjusted basis of the facility at the end of such month divided by the number of months (including the month for which the deduction is computed) remaining in the period. Such adjusted basis at the end of the month shall be computed without regard to the amortization deduction for such month. The amortization deduction with respect to any month shall, except to the extent provided in subsection (f), be in lieu of the depreciation deduction with respect to the facility for such month provided by section 167. The 36-month period shall begin as to any facility, at the election of the taxpayer, with the month following the month in which the facility was completed or acquired, or with the succeeding taxable year.
"(b) ELECTION Of AMORTIZATION.– The election of the taxpayer to take the amortization deduction and to begin the 36-month period with the month following the month in which the air pollution control facility was completed or acquired, or with the taxable year succeeding the taxable year in which the facility was completed or acquired, shall be made by filing with the Secretary or his delegate, in such manner, in such form, and within such time as the Secretary or his delegate may by regulations prescribe, a statement of such election.
"(c) TERMINATION Of AMORTIZATION DEDUCTION.– A taxpayer which has elected under subsection (b) to take the amortization deduction provided in subsection (a) may, at any time after making such election, discontinue the amortization deduction with respect to the remainder of the amortization period, such discontinuance to begin at the beginning of any month specified by the taxpayer in a notice in writing filed with the Secretary or his delegate before the beginning of such month. The depreciation deduction provided under section 167 shall be allowed with respect to the air pollution control facility beginning with the first month to which the amortization deduction does not apply, and the taxpayer shall not be entitled to any further amortization deduction under this section with respect to such facility.
"(d) AIR POLLUTION CONTROL FACILITY.–
"(1) DEFINITION.– For purposes of this section, the term ‘air pollution control facility’ means any property subject to the allowance of depreciation under section 167–
"(A) the construction or acquisition of which is completed after December 31, 1966;
"(B) which is used primarily to control atmospheric pollution or contamination by removing, altering, or disposing of atmospheric pollutants or contaminants; and
"(C) which is certified by the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare under paragraph (2) (A).
"(2) CERTIFICATION.–
“(A) IN GENERAL.– If, on application of the taxpayer in such form as the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare shall prescribe, the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare determines–
"(i) that property (of the taxpayer) described in paragraph (1) (B) is in compliance with the applicable regulations of Federal agencies and the general policies of the United States for cooperation with the States in the prevention and abatement of air pollution under the Clean Air Act, or
"(ii) that property (of the taxpayer) described in paragraph (1) (B) has been certified by an air pollution control agency (as defined in section 302(b) of the Clean Air Act) as property which is in conformity with such agency's program or requirements for control of air pollution, the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare shall certify such property for purposes of paragraph (I) (C). Such certificate shall contain description of the property sufficient to permit the application of subsection (e) (2).
"(B) INTERIM CERTIFICATION.– At any time before the acquisition or completion of construction of property described in paragraph (1) (B) a taxpayer may apply for an interim certificate of compliance under this subparagraph. The Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare shall issue such a certificate if he determines that the property described in the application will, upon acquisition or completion of construction, be property for which a certificate may be issued under subparagraph (A). If he issues an interim certificate under this subparagraph with respect to property described in an application under this subparagraph and if such property is acquired or construction thereof is completed, he shall issue a certificate with respect to such property under subparagraph (A) unless he determines that the property is completed as acquired does not conform to the description of it in such application.
"(3) CONSTRUCTION.– For purposes of this subsection the term 'construction' includes preconstruction, erection, and installation.
"(e) DETERMINATION Of ADJUSTED BASIS OF AIR POLLUTION CONTROL FACILITY. – In determining, for purposes of subsection (a), the adjusted basis of any air pollution control facility–
"(1) LIMITATION ON PROFITABLE FACILITIES.– If the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare shall find that there is a reasonable possibility of the taxpayer deriving a net profit from the operation of any air pollution control facility, through the recovery and profitable utilization of wastes, or otherwise, only the portion, if any, of the amount of adjusted basis of such facility (computed without regard to this section) as shall be found to be in excess of a reasonable maximum capital investment for the production of such profit shall be treated as part of the adjusted basis for purposes of this section.
The finding required by the preceding sentence, shall be made pursuant to such regulations as may be prescribed from time to time by the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare.
"(2) SPECIAL RULE FOR SEPARATE FACILITIES.– After completion or acquisition of any air pollution control facility, any expenditure (attributable to such facility and to the period after such completion or acquisition) which does not represent construction, reconstruction, erection, installation, or acquisition covered by a prior certification under subsection (d) (2) (A), but with respect to which separate certification is made, shall not be applied in adjustment of the basis of such facility, but a separate basis shall be computed therefor pursuant to paragraph (1) as if such expenditure constituted a new and separate air emission pollution facility.
"(f) DEPRECIATION DEDUCTION.– If the adjusted basis of the air pollution control facility computed without regard to this section is in excess of the adjusted basis computed under subsection (e), the depreciation deduction provided by section 167 shall, despite the provisions of subsection (a) of this section, be allowed with respect to such facility as if its adjusted basis for the purpose of Such deduction were an amount equal to the amount of such excess.
"(g) CROSS REFERENCE.– For rules with respect to gain derived from the sale or exchange of property the adjusted basis of which is determined under this section, see section 1238."
(b) The table of sections for part VI of subchapter B of chapter I of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 is amended by adding at the end thereof the following new item:
"SEC. 183. AMORTIZATION Of AIR POLLUTION CONTROL FACILITIES."
(c) Section 642(f) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 (relating to special rules for credits and deductions of estates and trusts) is amended by striking out "Amortization of Emergency or Grain Storage Facilities" in the heading of such section and inserting in lieu thereof "Amortization Deduction", and by inserting after "169" in the first sentence of such section "and for amortization of air pollution control facilities provided by section 183".
(d) Section 1238 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 (relating to amortization in excess of depreciation) is amended by inserting after "emergency facilities" the following: "and section 183 (relating to amortization deduction for air pollution control facilities) ".
(a) Section 48(a) is amended by adding at the end thereof the following new paragraph:
"(7) USEFUL LIFE OF CERTAIN AMORTIZABLE PROPERTY.– For purposes of this subpart, the useful life of an air pollution control facility (as defined in section 183 (d) (1) ) shall be determined without regard to any election under section 183 (relating to amortization deduction for air pollution control facilities)."
SEC. 2. The amendments made by this Act shall apply only with respect to taxable years ending after December 31, 1966.
Mr. RANDOLPH. Mr. President, in conclusion I quote the language of a great President of the United States more than 100 years ago, Abraham Lincoln, when he said:
The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate for the stormy present. We must think anew. We must act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves.
I do not look upon this as an idle reference to an oratorically structured expression by Abraham Lincoln. I think that in every period of this country's history there must be men who propose
programs to solve the problems of our time. And in this period of American history we must. move realistically, reasonably, and effectively to clear the air and cleanse the water so that the increasing population of the United States can live on the good earth.