Part D—Refinery Revitalization

§15951. Findings and definitions

(a) Findings

Congress finds that—

(1) it serves the national interest to increase petroleum refining capacity for gasoline, heating oil, diesel fuel, jet fuel, kerosene, and petrochemical feedstocks wherever located within the United States, to bring more supply to the markets for the use of the American people;

(2) United States demand for refined petroleum products currently exceeds the country's petroleum refining capacity to produce such products;

(3) this excess demand has been met with increased imports;

(4) due to lack of capacity, refined petroleum product imports are expected to grow from 7.9 percent to 10.7 percent of total refined product by 2025;

(5) refiners are still subject to significant environmental and other regulations and face several new requirements under the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.) over the next decade; and

(6) better coordination of Federal and State regulatory reviews may help facilitate siting and construction of new refineries to meet the demand in the United States for refined products.

(b) Definitions

In this part:

(1) Administrator

The term "Administrator" means the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.

(2) State

The term "State" means—

(A) a State;

(B) the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; and

(C) any other territory or possession of the United States.

(Pub. L. 109–58, title III, §391, Aug. 8, 2005, 119 Stat. 748.)

Editorial Notes

References in Text

The Clean Air Act, referred to in subsec. (a)(5), is act July 14, 1955, ch. 360, 69 Stat. 322, which is classified generally to chapter 85 (§7401 et seq.) of this title. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out under section 7401 of this title and Tables.

§15952. Federal-State regulatory coordination and assistance

(a) In general

At the request of the Governor of a State, the Administrator may enter into a refinery permitting cooperative agreement with the State, under which each party to the agreement identifies steps, including timelines, that it will take to streamline the consideration of Federal and State environmental permits for a new refinery.

(b) Authority under agreement

The Administrator shall be authorized to—

(1) accept from a refiner a consolidated application for all permits required from the Environmental Protection Agency, to the extent consistent with other applicable law;

(2) enter into memoranda of agreement with other Federal agencies to coordinate consideration of refinery applications and permits among Federal agencies; and

(3) enter into memoranda of agreement with a State, under which Federal and State review of refinery permit applications will be coordinated and concurrently considered, to the extent practicable.

(c) State assistance

The Administrator is authorized to provide financial assistance to State governments to facilitate the hiring of additional personnel with expertise in fields relevant to consideration of refinery permits.

(d) Other assistance

The Administrator is authorized to provide technical, legal, or other assistance to State governments to facilitate their review of applications to build new refineries.

(Pub. L. 109–58, title III, §392, Aug. 8, 2005, 119 Stat. 749.)