II 110th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 1227 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES April 26, 2007 Mr. Kerry introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works A BILL To amend the Clean Air Act to establish carbon dioxide new source performance standards for new coal-fired electric generating units.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Clean Coal Act of 2007.

2.

Findings

Congress finds that— (1)fossil fuel-fired power plants are the largest source of carbon dioxide emissions in the United States, releasing approximately 2,500,000,000 tons of heat-trapping carbon dioxide in 2004; (2)United States power plants are responsible for nearly 40 percent of the carbon dioxide emissions of the United States; (3)coal power plants are responsible for producing approximately 30 percent of United States annual carbon dioxide emissions; (4)according to the National Energy Technology Laboratory of the Department of Energy— (A)over 150 new coal-fired electric generating units are proposed to be constructed in the United States, which would produce 96 gigawatts of new electric generating capacity; and (B)if the units described in subparagraph (A) are constructed, the units would produce— (i)an incremental increase of 500,000,000 tons of carbon dioxide per year from the production by the power sector in the United States as in existence on the date of enactment of this Act; and (ii)an estimated 30,000,000,000 additional tons of carbon dioxide over the course of the useful lives of the units; (5)once completed, power plants often operate for 50 years or more; (6)in August 2006, Xcel Energy announced a project for generating electricity from coal that will use available technology to capture carbon dioxide and store the carbon dioxide underground; (7)designing and building power plants to achieve lower carbon dioxide emissions is far less expensive and more efficient than retrofitting conventional power plants that have excessive carbon dioxide emissions; (8)on February 26, 2006, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency published final emission standards for new fossil fuel-fired electric utility steam generating units and improperly failed to include emission standards for heat-trapping carbon dioxide; (9)in 2006, the Energy Information Administration forecast that annual carbon dioxide pollution from power plants will increase by 1,100,000,000 tons between 2004 and 2030; (10)the projected increase in annual carbon dioxide pollution from power plants in 2030 is equivalent to the annual carbon dioxide emissions from 196,000,000 cars; (11)global temperatures increased an average of 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit during the 21st century, which contribute to— (A)melting glaciers; (B)disappearing species; (C)more extreme weather patterns, including heat waves in 2006 that killed more than 200 Americans, including more than 160 Californians; and (D)more intense hurricanes; (12)the temperature of the Earth is now the highest it has been in the past 12,000 years, and is only 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit cooler than the maximum temperature of the past 1,000,000 million years; and (13)unless significant action is taken today to reduce emissions, the Earth could warm between 5 and 9 degrees Fahrenheit causing the ice sheets to melt, sea levels to rise, and flooding to occur.

3.

Carbon dioxide new source performance standards for new coal-fired electric generating units

Section 111 of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7411) is amended by adding at the end the following: (k)

Carbon dioxide standards of performance for affected units

(1)

Definition of affected unit

In this subsection, the term affected unit means a new coal-fired electric generating unit (including a cogeneration facility) that commences construction on or after April 26, 2007. (2)

Emissions limitation

Each affected unit shall meet, without interruption throughout the lifetime operation of the affected unit, a standard of performance that, at a minimum, requires the affected unit to produce not more than 285 pounds of carbon dioxide per megawatt-hour for supply to the grid. (3)

Revisions

(A)

In general

Not later than January 1, 2012, and every 5 years thereafter, the Administrator shall revise the carbon dioxide standard of performance established under paragraph (2) to reduce the maximum rate of carbon dioxide emissions if a reduced level is achievable through the application of the best technological system of continuous emission reduction demonstrated at the time of the revision. (B)

Publication

The revision (or determination that a reduced level is not achievable) shall be published in the Federal Register (after notice and opportunity for public comment) not later than the deadline required, and shall be considered final agency action, under section 307(b)(1). (4)

Injection into geological formations

Carbon dioxide that is injected into a geological formation in a manner that prevents the release of the carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, as determined by the Administrator, shall not be counted as carbon dioxide emissions discharged from an affected unit for purposes of meeting the carbon dioxide standard of performance under this subsection. .