PRIOR PRINTER'S NO. 1091

PRINTER'S NO. 1260

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

SENATE RESOLUTION

No.

168

Session of

2017

INTRODUCED BY LANGERHOLC, VOGEL AND BROOKS, JULY 14, 2017

SENATOR YAW, ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES AND ENERGY, AS AMENDED,

OCTOBER 17, 2017

WHEREAS, The Clean Air Act of 1963 was the first Federal

legislation regarding air pollution control, authorizing

research into techniques for monitoring and controlling air

pollution; and

WHEREAS, The Clean Air Act of 1970 authorized the development

of comprehensive Federal and state regulations to limit

emissions from both stationary and mobile sources, including the

establishment of National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS)

and requirements for State Implementation Plans (SIPs) to

achieve the NAAQS; and

increased the authority and responsibility of the Federal

Government by authorizing new regulatory programs, increasing

enforcement authority and expanding research programs; and

WHEREAS, To ensure compliance with Federal standards, the

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) required states to submit

for approval an SIP that included regulations the Commonwealth

would use to clean up polluted areas; and

WHEREAS, The SIP that Pennsylvania submitted to the EPA

targeted vehicle emissions standards for 25 of Pennsylvania's 67

counties, including the most heavily polluted areas, mostly

urbanized areas and areas with heavy amounts of industrial

WHEREAS, In 1999, the planned expansion of the emissions

testing program to the Lehigh Valley and South Central regions

was delayed due to, in part, a lack of opportunity for

stakeholder groups to guide the improvement plan for those

regions; and

WHEREAS, The expansion of the emissions testing program to

the Lehigh Valley and South Central regions was again delayed to

allow the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and the

Department of Environmental Protection time to evaluate the

impact of new technology on the emissions inspection program;

the SIP, ultimately leading to the Commonwealth's full

implementation of the vehicle emissions testing program by

bringing the remaining 16 counties identified in the SIP into

compliance with the vehicle emissions testing program, and

resulting in the inclusion of most of the counties which require

this testing today, specifically regions designated as

nonattainment areas for ozone levels by the EPA; and

WHEREAS, The nonattainment classification requires areas

failing to meet the NAAQS for ground-level ozone to adhere to

the SIP and to attain and maintain the standard; and

WHEREAS, Cambria County was designated as a marginal

nonattainment or maintenance area; and

WHEREAS, In order to change which counties are required to

participate in the emissions testing program, the Department of

Environmental Protection is required to submit a revised SIP to

the EPA for approval; and

WHEREAS, The EPA approved Pennsylvania's fully implemented

SIP in 2005; therefore be it

RESOLVED, That the Joint State Government Commission

establish an advisory committee, consisting of representatives

of the Department of Transportation and the Department of

further

RESOLVED, That the Joint State Government Commission, working

with the advisory committee, conduct a thorough and

comprehensive analysis of issues relating to the potential

impact to the Commonwealth of removing Cambria County EACH

PARTICIPATING COUNTY OF THE THIRD, FOURTH AND FIFTH CLASS,

INDIVIDUALLY AND COLLECTIVELY, from the emissions testing

program; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the final report include recommendations to

make up for the loss of environmental credits associated with

the approved SIP, the cost in actual dollars, historically and