§793 Protection of public health and environment

Summary

Allocation programs under section 792 or the Emergency Petroleum Allocation Act must, as much as possible, send available low‑sulfur fuel first to places the Environmental Protection Agency says need it to protect public health. The Department of Health and Human Services, through the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and with the EPA, must study long‑term health effects of sulfur oxide air pollution from coal conversions covered by section 119 of the Clean Air Act. Congress authorized $3,500,000 for that study, and any money provided stays available until it is spent. Actions under the Clean Air Act are not treated as major federal actions under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Actions under section 792 are also not treated as major federal actions for one year after they start. If an action under section 792 will have a significant environmental effect, an environmental review like NEPA’s must be done, if possible before the action or within 60 days after it starts. The review must be shared with federal, state, and local agencies and the public for a 30‑day comment period, and a public hearing must be held if asked for. If a prior NEPA review already covered the action, a new one is not needed. Any action under section 792 lasting more than one year must follow NEPA fully. The Federal Power Commission must issue a Presidential permit under Executive Order 10485 of September 3, 1953, to build and operate electric transmission facilities near Fort Covington, New York, to bring in hydroelectric power from Canada without preparing a NEPA environmental impact statement.