State Standing Committee Act

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9663 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 9663

  To amend the Environmental Research, Development, and Demonstration
Authorization Act of 1978 to establish in the Environmental Protection
      Agency the State Standing Committee, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 14, 2026

  Mr. Baird introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
              Committee on Science, Space, and Technology

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

  To amend the Environmental Research, Development, and Demonstration
Authorization Act of 1978 to establish in the Environmental Protection
      Agency the State Standing Committee, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``State Standing Committee Act''.

SEC. 2. STATE STANDING COMMITTEE OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
              AGENCY.

    The Environmental Research, Development, and Demonstration
Authorization Act of 1978 is amended--
            (1) by inserting after section 8 (42 U.S.C. 4365) the
        following new section:

``SEC. 8A. STATE STANDING COMMITTEE.

    ``(a) In General.--There is established in the Environmental
Protection Agency the State Standing Committee (in this section
referred to as the `Committee').
    ``(b) Membership.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Committee shall be composed of one
        member from each State, Federal district, Federal territory, or
        Federally recognized Tribe (as such term is defined in section
        4 of the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-
        Determination Act of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 4103)).
            ``(2) Qualifications.--Each member of the Committee shall
        satisfy the following requirements:
                    ``(A) Reside in the State, Federal district, or
                Federal territory, or be a member of the Federally
                recognized Tribe, such member represents under
                paragraph (1).
                    ``(B) Be an employee of a government agency that
                satisfies the following requirements:
                            ``(i) Is of such State, Federal district,
                        Federal territory, or Federally recognized
                        Tribe, as the case may be.
                            ``(ii) Is an environmental agency, natural
                        resource agency, agricultural agency, or other
                        agency responsible for regulatory compliance
                        with environmental standards.
                    ``(C) Be qualified by education, training, or
                experience to evaluate scientific or technical
                information relevant to such State, Federal district,
                Federal territory, or Federally recognized Tribe, as
                the case may be.
            ``(3) Prohibitions.--A member of the Committee may not be
        any of the following:
                    ``(A) A member or employee of the Science Advisory
                Board established under section 8 (in this section
                referred to as the `Board').
                    ``(B) Except as provided in paragraph (2)(B), an
                employee of the Federal Government.
    ``(c) Appointment.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Administrator of the Environmental
        Protection Agency (in this section referred to as the
        `Administrator') and the Board shall appoint through an open,
        competitive, and merit-based process the members of the
        Committee, who shall serve without pay and on a voluntary, ad
        hoc basis.
            ``(2) Vacancies.--If a vacancy exists on the Committee, not
        later than 90 days after the date on which such vacancy began,
        the Administrator and the Board shall fill such vacancy in the
        manner in which the original appointment was made.
    ``(d) Advice.--
            ``(1) Committee.--The Committee may provide to the
        Administrator and the Board scientific or technical advice,
        including majority and minority views, as applicable, on
        matters specified in subsection (h), regardless of the
        following:
                    ``(A) Whether such matters are referred to the
                Committee by the Administrator or the Board.
                    ``(B) Whether the Committee reaches a majority
                consensus with respect to such advice.
            ``(2) Member.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Notwithstanding paragraph (1), a
                member of the Committee may provide to the
                Administrator and the Board scientific or technical
                advice on matters specified in subsection (h) if such
                advice concerns, to the extent practicable, the State,
                Federal district, Federal territory, or Federally
                recognized Tribe such member represents under
                subsection (b)(1).
                    ``(B) Prohibitions.--Neither the Committee nor a
                member of the Committee may prohibit advice from being
                provided pursuant to subparagraph (A).
    ``(e) Working Groups.--The Committee may establish working groups
with respect to matters specified in subsection (h) that concern one or
more States, Federal districts, Federal territories, or Federally
recognized Tribes.
    ``(f) Publication.--Not later than 30 days after advice is provided
pursuant to paragraph (1) or (2)(A) of subsection (d), the
Administrator shall make publicly available on a website of the
Environmental Protection Agency such advice.
    ``(g) Federal Advisory Committee Act.--Chapter 10 of title 5,
United States Code, (commonly referred to as the Federal Advisory
Committee Act) does not apply to the Committee.
    ``(h) Matters Specified.--The matters specified in this subsection
are matters under any of the following:
            ``(1) The Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.).
            ``(2) The Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C.
        1251 et seq.).
            ``(3) The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976.
            ``(4) The Noise Control Act of 1972 (42 U.S.C. 4901 et
        seq.).
            ``(5) The Toxic Substances Control Act (15 U.S.C. 2601 et
        seq.).
            ``(6) The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide
        Act (7 U.S.C. 136 et seq.).
            ``(7) The Comprehensive Environmental Response,
        Compensation, and Liability Act (42 U.S.C. 9601 et seq.).
            ``(8) The Pollution Prevention Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 13101
        et seq.).
            ``(9) The Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300f et seq.).
            ``(10) Subsection (e)(2)(C) of section 8.
            ``(11) Any other authority of the Administrator.''; and
            (2) in section 8 (relating to the Science Advisory Board)--
                    (A) in subsection (a), by striking ``the
                Administrator,'' and all that follows through the
                period and inserting ``the Administrator or an
                appropriate committee of Congress.'';
                    (B) in subsection (c)(1) (relating to matters
                before the Board)--
                            (i) by striking the comma after
                        ``Resource'';
                            (ii) by inserting ``of 1972'' after ``Noise
                        Control Act''; and
                            (iii) by inserting ``the Federal
                        Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act,
                        the Comprehensive Environmental Response,
                        Compensation, and Liability Act, the Pollution
                        Prevention Act of 1990,'' after ``Substances
                        Control Act,'';
                    (C) by amending subsection (i) to read as follows:
    ``(i) Report to Congress.--Not later than one year after the date
of the enactment of this sentence and annually thereafter, the
Administrator shall submit to each appropriate committee of Congress a
report regarding the membership and activities of, and the advice and
comments provided by, the following for the annual period covered by
such report:
            ``(1) The Board, including each committee and investigative
        panel established under subsection (e).
            ``(2) The State Standing Committee under section 8A.''; and
                    (D) by adding at the end the following new
                subsection:
    ``(j) Appropriate Committee of Congress Defined.--In this section,
the term `appropriate committee of Congress' means any of the
following:
            ``(1) The Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of
        the House of Representatives.
            ``(2) The Committee on Environment and Public Works of the
        Senate.''.
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