[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3384 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3384

To strengthen provisions in the Energy Policy Act of 1992 with respect 
                      to potential Climate Change.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 16, 1999

 Mr. Barton of Texas introduced the following bill; which was referred 
                      to the Committee on Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To strengthen provisions in the Energy Policy Act of 1992 with respect 
                      to potential Climate Change.

    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 ``Energy and Climate Policy Act of 
1999''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
            (1) although there are significant uncertainties 
        surrounding the science of climate change, human activities may 
        contribute to increasing global concentrations of greenhouse 
        gases in the atmosphere, which in turn may ultimately 
        contribute to global climate change beyond that resulting from 
        natural variability;
            (2) the characteristics of greenhouse gases and the 
        physical nature of the climate system require that any 
        stabilization of atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations must 
        be a long-term effort undertaken on a global basis;
            (3) since developing countries will constitute the major 
        source of greenhouse gas emissions early in the 21st century, 
        all nations must share in an effective international response 
        to potential climate change;
            (4) environmental progress and economic prosperity are 
        interrelated;
            (5) effective greenhouse gas management efforts depend on 
        the development of long-term, cost-effective technologies and 
        practices that can be developed, refined, and deployed 
        commercially in an orderly manner in the United States and 
        around the world;
            (6) in its present form as signed by the Administration, 
        the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention 
        on Climate Change fails to meet the minimum conditions of 
        Senate Resolution 98, 105th Congress, which was adopted by the 
        Senate on July 25, 1997, by a vote of 95-0;
            (7) the President has not submitted the Kyoto protocol to 
        the Senate for debate and advice and consent to ratification 
        under article II, section 2, clause 2 of the United States 
        Constitution and has indicated that the Administration has no 
        intention to do so in the foreseeable future, or to implement 
        any portion of the Kyoto protocol prior to its ratification in 
        the Senate.
    (b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to strengthen provisions 
of the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (42 U.S.C. 13381 et seq.) to--
            (1) further promote voluntary efforts to reduce or avoid 
        greenhouse gas emissions and improve energy efficiency; and
            (2) focus Department of Energy efforts in this area.

SEC. 3. OFFICE OF GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE.

    Section 1603 of the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (42 U.S.C. 13383) is 
amended--
            (1) in the section heading, by striking ``DIRECTOR OF 
        CLIMATE PROTECTION'' and inserting ``OFFICE OF GLOBAL CLIMATE 
        CHANGE''; and
            (2) by striking the first sentence and inserting the 
        following:
    ``(a) Establishment.--There is established by this Act in the 
Department of Energy an Office of Global Climate Change.
    ``(b) Function.--The Office shall serve as a focal point for 
coordinating for the Secretary and Congress all departmental issues and 
policies regarding climate change and related matters.
    ``(c) Director.--The Secretary shall appoint a director of the 
Office, who--
            ``(1) shall be compensated at no less than level IV of the 
        Executive Schedule;
            ``(2) shall report to the Secretary; and
            ``(3) at the request of the Committees of the Senate and 
        House of Representatives with appropriation and legislative 
        jurisdiction over programs and activities of the Department of 
        Energy, shall report to Congress on the activities of the 
        Office.'';
            (3) in the second sentence, by striking ``The Director'' 
        and inserting the following:
    ``(d) Duties.--The Director''; and
            (4) in subsection (c) (as designated by paragraph (2)), by 
        striking paragraphs (2) and (3) and inserting the following:
            ``(2) participate, in cooperation with other federal 
        agencies, in the development and monitoring of domestic and 
        international policies for their effects on any kind of climate 
        change globally and domestically and on the generation, 
        reduction, avoidance, and sequestration of greenhouse gases;
            ``(3) develop and implement a balanced, scientifically 
        sound, nonadvocacy educational and informative public awareness 
        program on--
                    ``(A) potential global climate change, including 
                any known adverse and beneficial effects on the United 
                States and the economy of the United States and the 
                world economy, taking into consideration whether those 
                effects are known or expected to be temporary, long-
                term, or permanent; and
                    ``(B) voluntary means and measures to mitigate or 
                minimize significant adverse effects and, where 
                appropriate, to adapt, to the greatest extent 
                practicable, to climate change;
            ``(4) provide, consistent with applicable provisions of law 
        (including section 1605 (b)(3)), public assess to all 
        information on climate change, effects of climate change, and 
        adaptation to climate change;
            ``(5) promote and cooperate in the research, development, 
        demonstration, and diffusion of environmentally sound, cost-
        effective and commercially practicable technologies, practices 
        and processes that avoid, sequester, control, or reduce 
        anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases not controlled by 
        the Montreal Protocol for all relevant economic sectors, 
        including, where appropriate, the transfer of environmentally 
        sound, cost-effective and commercially practicable 
        technologies, practices, and processes developed with Federal 
        funds by the Department of Energy or any of its facilities and 
        laboratories to interested persons in the United States and to 
        developing country Parties to the United Nations Framework 
        Convention on Climate Change, and Parties thereto with 
        economies in transition to market-based economies, consistent 
        with, and subject to, any applicable Federal law, including 
        patent and intellectual property laws, and any applicable 
        contracts, and taking into consideration the provisions and 
        purposes of section 1608; and
            ``(6) have the authority to participate in the planning 
        activities of relevant Department of Energy programs.''.

SEC. 4. NATIONAL INVENTORY AND VOLUNTARY REPORTING OF GREENHOUSE GASES.

    (a) Updating.--Section 1605 of the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (42 
U.S.C. 13385) is amended--
            (1) by amending the second sentence of subsection (a) to 
        read as follows--
                    ``The Administrator of the Energy Information 
                Administration shall annually update and analyze such 
                inventory using available data, including beginning in 
                calendar year 2001, information collected as a result 
                of voluntary reporting under subsection (b). The 
                inventory shall identify for calendar year 2001 and 
                thereafter the amount of emissions reductions 
                attributed to those reported under subsection (b).'';
            (2) by amending subsection (b)(1)(B) and (C) to read as 
        follows--
            ``(B) annual reductions or avoidance of greenhouse gas 
        emissions and sequestration and carbon fixation achieved 
        through any measures, including agricultural activities, 
        cogeneration, appliance efficiency, energy efficiency, forestry 
        activities that increase carbon sequestration stocks (including 
        the use of forest products), fuel switching, management of 
        grasslands and drylands, manufacture or use of vehicles with 
        reduced greenhouse gas emissions, methane recovery, ocean 
        seeding, use of renewable energy, chlorofluorocarbon capture 
        and replacement, and power plant heat rate improvement; and
            ``(C) reductions in, or avoidance of, greenhouse gas 
        emissions achieved as a result of voluntary activities 
        domestically, or internationally, plant or facility closings, 
        and State or Federal requirements.'';
            (3) by striking in the first sentence of subsection (b)(2) 
        the word ``entities'' and inserting ``persons or entities'' and 
        in the second sentence of such subsection, by inserting after 
        ``Persons'' the words ``or entities'';
            (4) by inserting in the second sentence of subsection 
        (b)(4) the words ``persons or'' before ``entity''; and
            (5) by adding after subsection (b)(4) the following new 
        paragraphs--
    ``(5) Recognition of voluntary reductions or avoided emissions of 
greenhouse gases.--In order to encourage and facilitate new and 
increased voluntary efforts on a continuing basis, particularly by 
persons and entities in the private sector, to reduce global emissions 
of greenhouse gases, including voluntary efforts to limit, control, 
sequester, and avoid such emissions, the Secretary shall promptly 
develop and establish, after an opportunity for public comment of at 
least 60 days, a program of giving annual public recognition, beginning 
not later than January 31, 2001, to all reporting persons and entities 
demonstrating, pursuant to the voluntary collections and reporting 
guidelines issued under this section, voluntarily achieved greenhouse 
gases reductions, including such information reported prior to the 
enactment of this paragraph. Such recognition shall be based on the 
information certified, subject to 18 U.S.C. 1001, by such persons or 
entities for accuracy as provided in paragraph 2 of this subsection. At 
a minimum such recognition shall annually be published in the Federal 
Register.
    ``(6) Changes in guidelines to improve accuracy and reliability.--
The Secretary of Energy, through the Administrator of the Energy 
Information Administration, shall conduct a review, which shall include 
an opportunity for public comment, of what, if any, changes should be 
made to the guidelines established under this section regarding the 
accuracy and reliability of greenhouse gas reductions and related 
information reported under this section. Any such review shall give 
considerable weight to the voluntary nature of this section and to the 
purpose of encouraging voluntary greenhouse gas emission reductions by 
the private sector. Changes to be reviewed shall include the need for, 
and the appropriateness of--
            ``(A) a random or other verification process using the 
        authorities available to the Administrator under other 
        provisions of law;
            ``(B) a range of reference cases for reporting of project-
        based activities in sectors, including, but not limited to, the 
        measures specified in subparagraph (1)(B) of this subsection, 
        and the inclusion of benchmark and default methodologies for 
        use in the reference cases for `greenfield' projects; and
            ``(C) provisions to address the possibility of reporting, 
        inadvertently or otherwise, of some or all of the same 
        greenhouse gas emissions reductions by more than one reporting 
        entity or person and to make corrections where necessary.
    The review should consider the costs and benefits of any such 
changes, the impacts on encouraging participation in this section, 
including by farmers and small businesses, and the need to avoid 
creating undue economic advantages or disadvantages for persons or 
entities of the private sector. The review should provide, where 
appropriate, a range of reasonable options that are consistent with the 
voluntary nature of this section and that will help further the 
purposes of this section. The review should be available in draft form 
for public comment at least 45 days before it is submitted to the 
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate and the 
Committee on Commerce of the House of Representatives. Such submittal 
should be made by December 31, 2000. If the Secretary, in consultation 
with the Administrator, finds, based on the study results, that such 
changes are likely to be beneficial and cost effective in improving the 
accuracy and reliability of reported greenhouse gas reductions and 
related information, are consistent with the voluntary nature of this 
section, and furthers the purposes of this section, the Secretary shall 
propose and promulgate, consistent with such finding, such guidelines, 
together with such findings. In carrying out the provisions of this 
paragraph, the Secretary shall consult with the Secretary of 
Agriculture and the Administrator of the Small Business Administration 
to facilitate greater participation by small business and farmers in 
this subsection for the purpose of addressing greenhouse gas emission 
reductions and reporting such reductions.''.
            (6) in subsection (c), by inserting ``the Secretary of the 
        Department of Agriculture, the Secretary of the Department of 
        Commerce, the Administrator of the Energy Information 
        Administration, and'' before ``the Administrator''.
    (b) Guidelines.--The Secretary shall revise, after opportunity for 
public comment, the guidelines issued under section 1605(b) of the 
Energy Policy Act of 1992 to reflect the amendments made to such 
section 1605(b) by subsection (a)(2) through (4) of this section not 
later than 18 months after the date of enactment of this Act. Such 
revised guidelines shall specify their effective date.
    (c) Effective Date.--The provisions of subsection (a) (5) and (6) 
of this section shall be effective on the date of enactment of this 
Act.

SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.

    For the purpose of this Act and the provisions of the Energy Policy 
Act of 1992 (42 U.S.C. 13381, et seq.) amended by this Act, the 
following terms are defined as follows:
            ``(1) Agricultural activity.--The term `agricultural 
        activity' means livestock production, cropland cultivation, 
        biogas recovery and nutrient management.
            ``(2) Climate change.--The term `climate change' means a 
        change of climate which is attributed directly or indirectly to 
        human activity which is in addition to natural climate 
        variability observed over comparable time periods.
            ``(3) Climate system.--The term `climate system' means the 
        totality of the atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere and 
        geosphere and their interactions.
            ``(4) Greenhouse gases.--The term `greenhouse gases' means 
        those gaseous constituents of the atmosphere, both natural and 
anthropogenic, that absorb and re-emit infrared radiation.
            ``(5) Greenhouse gas reduction.--The term `greenhouse gas 
        reduction' means 1 metric ton of greenhouse gas (expressed in 
        terms of carbon dioxide equivalent) that is voluntarily 
        certified to have been achieved under section 1605 of the 
        Energy Policy Act of 1992 (42 U.S.C. 13385).
            ``(6) Greenhouse gas sequestration.--The term `greenhouse 
        gas sequestration' means extracting one or more greenhouse 
        gases from the atmosphere or an emissions stream through a 
        technological process designed to extract and isolate those 
        gases from the atmosphere or an emissions stream; or the 
        natural process of photosynthesis that extracts carbon dioxide 
        from the atmosphere and stores it as carbon in trees, roots, 
        stems, soils, foliage, and durable wood products.
            ``(7) Forest products.--The term `forest products' means 
        all products or goods manufactured from trees.
            ``(8) Forestry activity.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The term `forestry activity' 
                means any ownership or management action that has a 
                discernible impact on the use and productivity of 
                forests.
                    ``(B) Inclusions.--Forestry activities include, but 
                are not limited to, the establishment of trees on an 
                area not previously forested, the establishment of 
                trees on an area previously forested if a net carbon 
                benefit can be demonstrated, enhanced forest management 
                (e.g., thinning, stand improvement, fire protection, 
                weed control, nutrient application, pest management, 
                other silvicultural practices), forest protection or 
                conservation if a net carbon benefit can be 
                demonstrated, and biomass energy (using wood, grass or 
                other biomass in lieu of fossil fuel).
                    ``(C) Exclusions.--The term `forest activity' does 
                not include a land use change associated with--
                            ``(i) an act of war; or
                            ``(ii) an act of nature, including floods, 
                        storms, earthquakes, fires, hurricanes, and 
                        tornadoes.
            ``(9) Management of grasslands and drylands.--The term 
        `management of grasslands and drylands' means seeding, 
        cultivation, and nutrient management.
            ``(10) Ocean seeding.--The term `ocean seeding' means 
        adding nutrients to oceans to enhance the biological fixation 
        of carbon dioxide.''.
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