This act* shall not take effect until a cause of action is filed by the attorney general on behalf of the state of Missouri and other appropriate parties in a federal court of appropriate jurisdiction requesting injunctive relief and to test the constitutionality and legality of sanctions threatened by the Environmental Protection Agency pursuant to the federal Clean Air Act, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 7401, et seq., and shall not take effect so long as a temporary restraining order or injunction relating to such sanctions shall be in effect. Such action may allege, among others, that the standards which determine that the St. Louis metropolitan statistical area is a nonattainment area are unreasonable in relation to the sanctions sought to be imposed by the Environmental Protection Agency by virtue of the following:

1. (1) That there is not sufficient substantial evidence to demonstrate a rational relationship between the ambient air conditions in the St. Louis metropolitan statistical area and the penalties sought to be imposed by the Environmental Protection Agency;

2. (2) That the standards which determine that the St. Louis metropolitan statistical area is a nonattainment area and the penalties threatened by the Environmental Protection Agency are arbitrary and lack a rational relationship to the overall purpose of the federal Clean Air Act, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 7401, et seq. in that;

   1. (a) That at only one of the seventeen monitoring sites in the St. Louis metropolitan statistical area have there been more than the allowed number of exceedances during the past three years; and
   2. (b) That for the exceedances at that single monitoring site, there exist purely local causes which do not reflect nor bear a true relationship to the ambient air quality of the St. Louis metropolitan statistical area; and

3. (3) That the penalties available to be imposed by the Environmental Protection Agency are unreasonable and arbitrary and bear no rational relationship to the ambient air quality of the St. Louis metropolitan statistical area in that:

   1. (a) At the single exceeding monitoring site there exist purely local causes for the exceedances which do not bear a true relationship nor reflect the actual ambient air quality of the St. Louis metropolitan statistical area;
   2. (b) That the state of Missouri should be given a reasonable time to correct the exceedances at the single exceeding site and the penalties should not be assessed nor accrue prior to such time;
   3. (c) That it is unreasonable to impose on the state of Missouri the obligation to expend an estimated one hundred twenty-five million dollars to reach attainment based upon the single exceeding site and the existing local causes for the exceedances where those do not reflect nor bear a true relationship to the ambient air quality of the St. Louis metropolitan statistical area;
   4. (d) That the fifteen percent reduction in volatile organic compound requirement in the federal Clean Air Act bears no relationship to the actual ambient air quality of the St. Louis metropolitan statistical area because the reduction is mandated by the Environmental Protection Agency whether or not the St. Louis metropolitan statistical area reaches attainment status.

(L. 1994 S.B. 590)

* "This act" (S.B. 590, 1994) contains numerous sections. Consult Disposition of Sections table for definitive listing.

EXPLANATION OF CONTINGENT EFFECTIVE DATE;

April 3, 1996

RE: State of Missouri v. United States Civil Action No. 4:94CV1288

"As you are aware, SB 590 contains a provision indicating that it would not take effect until a cause of action was filed by this office on behalf of the state in Federal Court testing the constitutionality and legality of the sanctions threatened by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Also, the Act would not take effect as long as any TRO or injunction relating to EPA's sanction would be in effect. See § 643.360, RSMo."

"Please be advised that on July l, 1994, this office filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri requesting injunctive relief and challenging the constitutionality and legality of the threatened sanctions by the EPA. Although a temporary restraining order, preliminary injunction and permanent injunction were all sought in the course of that matter, to date, no such relief has been entered by the court."

Jeremiah W. (Jay) Nixon

Attorney General

Joseph P. Bindbeutel

Assistant Attorney General