article: SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``Flint Hills Preservation Act''. SEC. 2. FINDINGS. Congress makes the following findings: (1) The Flint Hills Region of Kansas and Oklahoma contains the world's largest share of the remaining tallgrass prairie, and is the only place where that habitat is in landscape proportions. Only 4 percent of North America's presettlement tallgrass prairie survives to this day, and 80 percent is located in Kansas. (2) The Flint Hills Region is also home to certain declining avian species such as the greater prairie chicken and Henslow's sparrow that cannot continue to exist without large expanses of native tallgrass prairie in an original state. Further, it is a significant corridor for migrating shorebirds such as the American golden plover, the buff-breasted sand- piper, and the upland sandpiper. (3) Beginning in the mid-19th century, cattlemen understood that the richness of the Flint Hills grasses depended on a good spring burn--something they learned from the Native Americans. Fire still thrives in the Flint Hills because the ranchers, and others using the land, know that the natural ecosystem depends on fire. (4) Ranchers, landowners, and conservation groups use prescribed burns to mimic the seasonal fires that have shaped the tallgrass prairie for thousands of years. Areas not burned for several years develop mature grasses and thicker, thatch- like vegetation, which habitat is preferred by invasive species. (5) The Flint Hills Region is one of the few places in the United States where the prevailing agricultural system works essentially in tandem with an ancestral native ecosystem, preserving most of its complexity and the dynamic processes that helped shape it. (6) Due to the uniqueness of the Flint Hills tallgrass prairie and the historic manner in which the tallgrass prairie has been managed by fire, existing prescribed burn practices should be allowed to continue and ambient air data resulting from fires used to manage the Flint Hills tallgrass prairie should be not be included in determinations of compliance with the Clean Air Act. SEC. 3. PRESCRIBED FIRES. The Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 329 the following: ``SEC. 330. PRESCRIBED FIRES IN THE FLINT HILLS REGION. ``(a) In General.--In determining whether, with respect to a specific air pollutant, an exceedance or violation of a national ambient air quality standard has occurred for purposes of this Act, a State and the Administrator shall exclude data from a particular air quality monitoring location if emissions from one or more prescribed fires in the Flint Hills Region cause a concentration of the air pollutant at the location to be in excess of the standard. ``(b) Specific Limitations.--If emissions data is excluded under subsection (a) from a particular air quality monitoring station because of emissions from one or more prescribed fires in the Flint Hills Region-- ``(1) the Administrator shall not, as a result of such emissions, find under section 113 that a State has failed to enforce, or that a person has violated, a State implementation plan (for national primary or secondary ambient air quality standards) under section 110; and ``(2) a State shall not, as a result of such emissions, find that a person has violated, or bring an enforcement action for violation of, a State implementation plan (for national primary or secondary ambient air quality standards) under section 110. ``(c) Prohibition Against Smoke Management Plans.--The Administrator shall not require, and a State shall not adopt, a smoke management plan under this Act in connection with any prescribed fire in the Flint Hills Region. ``(d) Not a Stationary Source.--No building, structure, facility, or installation may be treated as a stationary source under section 111 as a result of one or more prescribed fires in the Flint Hills Region. ``(e) No Title V Permit Required.--No person shall be required to obtain or modify a permit under title V in connection with a prescribed fire in the Flint Hills Region. ``(f) Definition.--In this section: ``(1) The term `Flint Hills Region'-- ``(A) means the band of hills in eastern Kansas that stretch into north-central Oklahoma; and ``(B) includes-- ``(i) Butler, Chase, Chautauqua, Clay, Cowley, Dickinson, Elk, Geary, Greenwood, Harvey, Jackson, Lyon, Marion, Marshall, Morris, Ottawa, Pottawatomie, Riley, Saline, Shawnee, Wabaunsee, Washington, and Woodson Counties in Kansas; and ``(ii) Osage, Tulsa, and Washington counties in Oklahoma. ``(2) The term `prescribed fire' means a fire that is set or managed by a person with the goal of enhancing a fire- dependent ecosystem or enhancing the productivity of agricultural grazing land, irrespective of the frequency with which the burn occurs.''.
summary: Flint Hills Preservation Act - Amends the Clean Air Act to require states and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in determining whether an exceedance or violation of a national ambient air quality standard has occurred with respect to a specific air pollutant, to exclude data from a particular air quality monitoring location if emissions from prescribed fires in the Flint Hills Region cause a concentration of the air pollutant at the location to be in excess of the standard. Prohibits, if such emission data is excluded: (1) the Administrator from finding that a state has failed to enforce, or that a person has violated, a state implementation plan (SIP) for national primary or secondary ambient air quality standards as a result of such emissions; or (2) a state from finding that a person has violated, or from bringing an enforcement action for violation of, a SIP for such standards as a result of such emissions. Prohibits: (1) the Administrator from requiring, or a state from adopting, a smoke management plan under such Act in connection with any prescribed fire in such region; and (2) a building, structure, facility, or installation from being treated as a stationary source under new stationary source performance standards as a result of such prescribed fires. Provides that no person shall be required to obtain or modify an operating permit under Title V of the Clean Air Act in connection with such a prescribed fire.