42 U.S.C. § 7625
Section 7625 · Exemptions for certain territories
Amended 4 times on record
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
(a)(1) Upon petition by the governor 1 of Guam, American Samoa, the Virgin Islands, or the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Administrator is authorized to exempt any person or source or class of persons or sources in such territory from any requirement under this chapter other than section 7412 of this title or any requirement under section 7410 of this title or part D of subchapter I of this chapter necessary to attain or maintain a national primary ambient air quality standard. Such exemption may be granted if the Administrator finds that compliance with such requirement is not feasible or is unreasonable due to unique geographical, meteorological, or economic factors of such territory, or such other local factors as the Administrator deems significant. Any such petition shall be considered in accordance with section 7607(d) of this title and any exemption under this subsection shall be considered final action by the Administrator for the purposes of section 7607(b) of this title.
(2) The Administrator shall promptly notify the Committees on Energy and Commerce and on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives and the Committees on Environment and Public Works and on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate upon receipt of any petition under this subsection and of the approval or rejection of such petition and the basis for such action.
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, any fossil fuel fired steam electric power plant operating within Guam as of December 8, 1983, is hereby exempted from:
(1) any requirement of the new source performance standards relating to sulfur dioxide promulgated under section 7411 of this title as of December 8, 1983; and
(2) any regulation relating to sulfur dioxide standards or limitations contained in a State implementation plan approved under section 7410 of this title as of December 8, 1983: Provided, That such exemption shall expire eighteen months after December 8, 1983, unless the Administrator determines that such plant is making all emissions reductions practicable to prevent exceedances of the national ambient air quality standards for sulfur dioxide.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Prior Provisions
A prior section 325 of act July 14, 1955, was renumbered section 326 by Pub. L. 98–213 and is classified to section 7625a of this title.
Another prior section 325 of act July 14, 1955, was renumbered section 324 by Pub. L. 96–300 and is classified to section 7625 of this title.
Amendments
1994—Subsec. (a)(2). Pub. L. 103–437 substituted “Natural Resources” for “Interior and Insular Affairs” before “of the House”.
1990—Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 101–549, which directed the insertion of “the Virgin Islands,” after “American Samoa,” in “[s]ection 324(a)(1) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7625–1(a)(1))”, was executed by making the insertion in subsec. (a)(1) of this section to reflect the probable intent of Congress.
Change of Name
Committee on Energy and Commerce of House of Representatives changed to Committee on Commerce of House of Representatives by House Resolution No. 6, One Hundred Fourth Congress, Jan. 4, 1995.
Committee on Natural Resources of House of Representatives changed to Committee on Resources of House of Representatives by House Resolution No. 6, One Hundred Fourth Congress, Jan. 4, 1995.