[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7250 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 7250

To require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to 
 conduct a study on black carbon emissions and to reduce global black 
                           carbon emissions.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 2, 2008

    Mr. Inslee (for himself, Mr. Waxman, Mr. Honda, and Mr. Olver) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
   Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Foreign 
  Affairs and Science and Technology, for a period to be subsequently 
   determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
 provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to 
 conduct a study on black carbon emissions and to reduce global black 
                           carbon emissions.

    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 ``Arctic Climate Preservation Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) Black carbon is a particulate pollutant that 
        contributes significantly to warming of the Earth's climate 
        system by converting solar radiation to heat, which is released 
        into the atmosphere. Black carbon has a particularly 
        detrimental impact on the Arctic by reducing surface 
        reflectivity and accelerating melting when it settles on snow 
        or ice surfaces. The atmospheric residence of black carbon is 
        less than 2 weeks, making this pollutant an important candidate 
        for immediate policy action to mitigate adverse climate 
        effects.
            (2) Through various clean air programs, the United States 
        has reduced much of its black carbon pollution, though more 
        could be done by governments to help spur technological 
        innovation and energy technology deployment in countries where 
        major black carbon pollution still occurs through industrial 
        activities, agriculture and forestry practices, and residential 
        cooking with high pollution fuels.
            (3) Black carbon is a serious threat to public health and 
        reductions in black carbon will produce immediate public health 
        benefits.
            (4) Black carbon is a component of particulate matter 
        regulated under the Clean Air Act, however it is not explicitly 
        regulated as a global warming agent under United States law or 
        by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change or 
        other international instruments.
            (5) United States foreign policies and assistance programs, 
        as well as directions to multilateral lending organizations 
        such as the World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, and 
        other regional development banks, possess the potential to 
        significantly reduce black carbon pollution globally.
            (6) Taking immediate cost-effective and technologically 
        feasible action to protect the Arctic, especially by 
        significantly reducing black carbon pollution, will protect an 
        ecosystem under imminent threat due to global warming.

SEC. 3. PURPOSES.

    The purposes of this Act are--
            (1) to immediately identify cost-effective ways to reduce 
        black carbon pollution, both in the United States and 
        internationally, to stem and reverse the melting of Arctic Sea 
        ice, as well as contribute to reducing the rate of global 
        warming; and
            (2) to establish the United States as a leader in 
        protecting the Arctic environment.

SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

    As used in this Act:
            (1) The term ``Administrator'' means the Administrator of 
        the Environmental Protection Agency.
            (2) The term ``black carbon'' means the strongly light 
        absorbing component of carbonaceous aerosols.
            (3) The term ``organic carbon'' means the components of 
        carbonaceous aerosols that are not strongly light-absorbing.
            (4) The term ``person'' means any individual, corporation, 
        partnership, trust, association, or any other private entity, 
        or any officer, employee, agent, department, or instrumentality 
        of the Federal Government or of any State, municipality, or 
        political subdivision of a State, or of any foreign government, 
        any State, municipality, or political subdivision of a State, 
        or any other entity subject to the jurisdiction of the United 
        States.

SEC. 5. BLACK CARBON ABATEMENT STUDY.

    (a) Study.--The Administrator shall conduct a study of black carbon 
and organic carbon emissions in consultation with the Administrator of 
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Administrator 
of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Administrator 
of the United States Agency for International Development, the Chief of 
the United States Forest Service, the Secretary of the Interior, and 
other agencies, as appropriate. The study shall include each of the 
following:
            (1) A summary of the research that has been conducted that 
        identifies--
                    (A) an inventory of the major sources of black 
                carbon and organic carbon emissions in the United 
                States and throughout the world, including an estimate 
                of the quantity of current and projected future 
                emissions, and the net climate effects of the emissions 
                from those sources;
                    (B) effective and cost-effective control 
                technologies, operations, or strategies for additional 
                domestic and international black carbon reductions, 
                including the lifecycle climate impacts of installation 
                or implementation of emission control technologies, 
                operations, or strategies, such as diesel particulate 
                filters on existing on-road and off-road engines, and 
                including consideration of emissions from residential 
                cookstoves, forest burning, and other agriculture-based 
                burning;
                    (C) potential metrics quantifying the net radiative 
                forcing, warming, or other climatic effects of black 
                carbon and organic carbon emissions, which might be 
                used to compare the climate benefits of different 
                mitigation strategies; and
                    (D) the health benefits associated with additional 
                controls for black carbon emissions.
            (2) Recommendations of the Administrator regarding--
                    (A) areas of focus for additional research for 
                technologies, operations, and strategies with the 
                highest potential to reduce emissions of black carbon; 
                and
                    (B) actions the Federal Government could carry out 
                to encourage or require black carbon emission 
                reductions that may be additional to those identified 
                under section 6.
    (b) Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of 
this Act, the Administrator shall submit to Congress a report 
describing the results of the study.

SEC. 6. BLACK CARBON REDUCTIONS IN THE UNITED STATES.

    (a) Regulations.--By 270 days after the date of the enactment of 
this Act, the Administrator shall propose regulations under the 
existing authorities of the Clean Air Act to reduce emissions of black 
carbon. The Administrator shall promulgate final regulations under 
those authorities within 635 days after the date of the enactment of 
this Act. In developing such regulations, the Administrator shall take 
into account the full range of health and environmental harms of black 
carbon emissions, including the effects on global warming and the 
Arctic.
    (b) Clean Air Act Provisions.--The obligations of the Administrator 
under subsection (a) shall be considered a nondiscretionary duty for 
purposes of sections 304 of the Clean Air Act.

SEC. 7. UNITED STATES FOREIGN AID AND ASSISTANCE.

    (a) Report.--Within 9 months after enactment of this Act, the 
Secretary of State, in coordination with other appropriate Federal 
agencies such as the Agency for International Development, the 
Secretary of the Treasury, and the Administrator, shall issue a report 
to Congress on the amount, type, and direction of all present and 
potential United States financial and related assistance to foreign 
nations that will reduce, mitigate, and otherwise abate black carbon 
pollution.
    (b) Other Opportunities.--The report required under subsection (a) 
shall also identify opportunities for foreign assistance and direction 
in order to--
            (1) promote sustainable solutions to bring clean, 
        efficient, and affordable stoves to residents of developing 
        countries that are reliant on upon solid fuels such as wood, 
        dung, charcoal, coal, or crop residues for home cooking and 
        heating, so as to help reduce public health and environmentally 
        harmful impacts of black carbon pollution;
            (2) make technological improvements to diesel engines and 
        provide greater access to fuels that emit less or no black 
        carbon;
            (3) reduce unnecessary agricultural or other biomass 
        burning where feasible alternatives exist;
            (4) reduce unnecessary fossil fuel burning that produces 
        black carbon where feasible alternatives exist; or
            (5) reduce other sources of black carbon pollution.

SEC. 8. INTERNATIONAL NEGOTIATIONS.

    (a) Policy.--It is the policy of the United States--
            (1) to engage in the processes of the United Nations 
        Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Convention on 
        Long Range Transboundary Air Pollution to explore the potential 
        to accelerate reductions in black carbon emissions, and to 
        improve our understanding of the climatic effects of black 
        carbon, as well as the mitigation potential in different 
        sectors and regions around the world;
            (2) to work with affected and interested nations and the 
        Arctic Council on an agreement to protect the Arctic 
        environment, consistent with the principles of the Convention 
        on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources;
            (3) to further the goals of the Agreement on the 
        Conservation of Polar Bears ratified by the Governments of 
        Canada, Denmark, Norway, Russia, and the United States, to 
        explicitly take into account the threat to polar bears posed by 
        global warming;
            (4) to abide by the American Declaration of the Rights and 
        Duties of Man with regard to human rights;
            (5) to work with parties to the North American Free Trade 
        Agreement and other related agreements in the Americas share 
        information and coordinate on approaches to reduce black carbon 
        pollution; and
            (6) to further reduce shipping pollution through domestic 
        means and through MARPOL.
    (b) Report.--By January 1, 2010, the Secretary of State shall issue 
a report to the Congress on the advancement of the policies and goals 
enunciated in this section with regard to black carbon.

SEC. 9. EFFECT ON OTHER LAW.

    Nothing in this Act precludes or abrogates the right of any State 
to adopt or enforce any standard, cap, limitation, prohibition, 
requirement, or effort to reduce the emissions of any greenhouse gas. 
States may elect to enact standards that are more stringent than those 
required under this Act.

SEC. 10. APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are necessary 
to carry out this Act.

SEC. 11. SEPARABILITY.

    If any provision of this Act or the application of any provision of 
this Act to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the application 
of such provision to other persons or circumstances, and the remainder 
of the Act, shall not be affected thereby.
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