CLEAR Act

The CLEAN Act (CLEAR Act) proposes broad amendments to the Clean Air Act intended to make national air quality standards (NAAQS) easier for states to implement, while expanding certain state-led and market-friendly considerations. Key changes include longer review intervals for NAAQS (10-year cycles instead of 5), allowing the Administrator to weigh attainability as a secondary factor when setting standards, and giving states a formal window to correct deficiencies before the federal plan (FIP) is promulgated. The bill also relaxes some requirements for ozone and particulate matter nonattainment areas, adding economic feasibility into certain planning requirements and extending milestones. It creates new provisions around “emissions beyond control,” including exceptional events and actions to mitigate wildfire risk, and offers a pathway to avoid sanctions or fees if deficiencies would have been avoided by factors outside state control. Finally, it expands the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee to include more state representation and requires consideration of broader adverse effects when establishing or revising standards. Overall, the bill shifts more authority and flexibility to states, introduces new wildfire-related provisions for exceptional events, adjusts timelines and feasibility criteria in plan development, and strengthens state input into scientific advisory processes. It could slow the pace of new or revised standards but aims to reduce penalties for factors beyond a state's control and to incorporate economic and technological feasibility more explicitly into planning.