(H.R. Rep. No. 294, reprinted in 1977 U.S. Code
Cong. & Admin. News
1077,1404-05)
Section 306--Employee Protection
Background
In the course of 1975 subcommittee hearings, testimony was
received recommending inclusion of
an "employee protection" provision, similar to that
contained in the Safe Drinking Water Act
(Public Law 93-523) and in the Federal Water Pollution Act
(Public Law 92-500):
This provision has received support not [sic] from the
National Clean Air Coalition and the U.S.
League of Women Voters (H. 720), but also from various labor
unions. The current Clean Air Act
contains no such provision.
Committee Proposal
Section 306 of the committee bill would establish a new
section 317 of the act. That section
contains provisions to protect employees from discharge,
discrimination, or other retaliation which
adversely affects the terms and conditions of employment due to
an employee's participation in, or
assistance to, the administration, implementation, or enforcement
of the Clean Air Act or any
requirements promulgated pursuant to it. These requirements
would include any State or local require-
ments which are incorporated in the applicable implementation
plan as well as any such requirements
adopted pursuant to section 116 of the act.
Retaliatory action by the employer would also be prohibited
if it were in response to an employee's
exercise of rights under Federal, State, or local Clean Air Act
legislation or regulations. This would be
the case even if the employee's action was not directed against
the employer (e.g., the filing of a
citizen suit against the Administrator or against another
company). Moreover, as in the Safe Drinking
Water Act and the Federal Water Pollution Act, the employer would
not have to be proven to be in
violation of a Clean Air Act requirement in order for this
section to protect the employee's action.
The section establishes an administrative procedure for
resolution of allegations of violation of the
prohibition against employer retaliation. The Secretary of Labor
is charged with the responsibility to
investigate complaints under this section. At the conclusion of
the investigation the Secretary must
either deny the complaint, or uphold the complaint and order the
specified relief, unless a settlement is
reached to which the complainant consents in writing.
The Secretary's order--whether denying or upholding the
complaint--is reviewable in U.S. Court of
Appeals for the appropriate circuit, but is not reviewable in any
other judicial forum.
If a person fails to comply with the Secretary's order, the
Secretary must file a civil action to
enforce the order. In such an enforcement action, the Federal
district courts would be authorized, and
have jurisdiction to, issue appropriate relief, including
injunctive relief, compensatory or exemplary
damages.
The section is made inapplicable, however, to any employee
who deliberately causes a violation of
the act or any Federal, State, or local requirements. This
section is applicable, of course, to Federal,
State, or local employees to the same extent as any employee of a
private employer.
