CLOSE Act

This section would give the Act the short title "Closing Loopholes for Oil and other Sources of Emissions Act" or the "CLOSE Act."

This section would strike paragraph (4) from section 112(n) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7412(n)). That paragraph provided an exemption that kept emissions from separate oil and gas sources from being aggregated (combined) together. Removing it would eliminate that exemption, so emissions from those oil and gas sources would be aggregated together going forward instead of being kept separate.

This section would require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to take two actions. First, not later than 180 days after the Act is enacted, the Administrator would have to issue a final rule adding hydrogen sulfide to the list of hazardous air pollutants under section 112(b) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7412(b)). Second, not later than 365 days after that final rule is issued (a deadline that runs from the rule, not from enactment), the Administrator would have to revise the list under section 112(c) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7412(c)) to add categories and subcategories of major sources and area sources of hydrogen sulfide, including oil and gas wells.