[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1387 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1387

To amend the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986 
                    to provide for greenhouse gases.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 14, 2007

  Ms. Klobuchar (for herself and Ms. Snowe) introduced the following 
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment 
                            and Public Works

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986 
                    to provide for greenhouse gases.

    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 ``National Greenhouse Gas Registry Act 
of 2007''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
            (1) global climate change poses a significant threat to 
        national security, the United States economy, public health and 
        welfare, and the global environment;
            (2) high-quality data will be an important factor in 
        successfully implementing a green house gas regulatory 
        framework; and
            (3) to begin to manage climate change risks, public and 
        private entities will need a comprehensive, accurate inventory, 
        registry, and information system of the sources and quantities 
        of United States greenhouse gas emissions.
    (b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to establish a mandatory 
greenhouse gas inventory, registry, and information system that--
            (1) is complete, consistent, transparent, and accurate;
            (2) will provide accurate data that can be used by public 
        and private entities to design efficient and effective 
        greenhouse gas emission reduction strategies; and
            (3) will provide the appropriate high-quality data to be 
        used in any future greenhouse gas regulatory framework.

SEC. 3. INCLUSION OF GREENHOUSE GASES IN EMERGENCY PLANNING AND 
              COMMUNITY RIGHT-TO-KNOW ACT OF 1986.

    (a) Inclusion on List of Greenhouse Gases.--Section 302 of the 
Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986 (42 U.S.C. 
11002) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)--
                    (A) in paragraph (2)--
                            (i) in the first sentence, by striking 
                        ``Within'' and inserting the following:
                    ``(A) In general.--Not later than'';
                            (ii) in the second sentence, by striking 
                        ``The list'' and inserting the following:
                    ``(B) Contents.--
                            ``(i) In general.--Subject to clause (ii), 
                        the list''; and
                            (iii) by adding at the end the following:
                            ``(ii) Inclusion of greenhouse gases.--
                        Notwithstanding clause (i), the Administrator 
                        shall include greenhouse gases on the list 
                        under this paragraph.''; and
                    (B) in paragraph (3), by adding at the end the 
                following:
                    ``(D) Greenhouse gases.--Notwithstanding any other 
                provision of this section, the Administrator--
                            ``(i) shall establish a threshold planning 
                        quantity for greenhouse gases under 
                        subparagraph (A) of 1 metric ton for each 
                        greenhouse gas; and
                            ``(ii) shall not be required to comply with 
                        subparagraph (A) for purposes of establishing 
                        the threshold planning quantity for greenhouse 
                        gases under clause (i).''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(e) Greenhouse Gas Emissions.--
            ``(1) Definition of affected facility.--In this subsection:
                    ``(A) In general.--The term `affected facility' 
                means--
                            ``(i) a major emitting facility (as defined 
                        in section 169 of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 
                        7479));
                            ``(ii) a major stationary source (as 
                        defined in section 169A(g) of that Act (42 
                        U.S.C. 7491(g)));
                            ``(iii) an electricity generator or 
                        electric utility that emits a greenhouse gas;
                            ``(iv) a facility that manufactures or 
                        imports a greenhouse gas;
                            ``(v) a facility that emits nitrous oxides 
                        associated with the manufacture of adipic or 
                        nitric acid;
                            ``(vi) an aluminum smelter that emits a 
                        greenhouse gas;
                            ``(vii) an underground coal mine that 
                        emitted more than 35,000,000 cubic feet of 
                        methane during calendar year 2004 or 
                        thereafter;
                            ``(viii) a facility that emits 
                        hydrofluorocarbon-23 as a byproduct of 
                        hydrochlorofluorocarbon-22; and
                            ``(ix) any other facility of appropriate 
                        size, as determined by the Administrator, that 
                        emits a greenhouse gas.
                    ``(B) Exclusion.--The term `affected facility' does 
                not include any small business (as described in part 
                121 of title 13, Code of Federal Regulations (or a 
                successor regulation)) that generates fewer than 10,000 
                metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions during a 
                calendar year unless the small business elects to be 
                considered for a de minimis exemption under this 
                subsection, or elects to voluntarily participate in the 
                reporting and registry under section 314, as an 
                affected facility.
            ``(2) De minimis exemptions.--As soon as practicable after 
        the date of enactment of this subsection, the Administrator may 
        determine the level of global warming pollution emissions from 
        a source within an affected facility that shall be considered 
        to be eligible for a de minimis exemption from a requirement 
        under this section.
            ``(3) Requirements.--In making a determination pursuant to 
        paragraph (2), the Administrator shall--
                    ``(A) take into consideration the availability and 
                suitability of simplified techniques and tools;
                    ``(B) establish criteria under which, beginning in 
                calendar year 2010, a third-party entity may be 
                qualified by the Administrator to certify reported 
                greenhouse gas emissions and emission baselines of 
                affected facilities; and
                    ``(C) to the maximum extent practicable, integrate 
                into any applicable reporting and certification 
                procedure each State administering a mandatory carbon 
                registry system, as determined by the Administrator.''.
    (b) Commissions, Districts, and Committees.--Section 301 of the 
Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986 (42 U.S.C. 
11001) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(e) Greenhouse Gases.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
this Act, the establishment of a State emergency response commission, 
an emergency planning district, or an emergency planning committee 
under this section shall not be required with respect to any greenhouse 
gas.''.
    (c) Greenhouse Gas Records.--Subtitle B of the Emergency Planning 
and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986 (42 U.S.C. 11021 et seq.) is 
amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 314. GREENHOUSE GAS REPORTS AND REGISTRY.

    ``(a) Reports.--
            ``(1) In general.--Subject to section 301(e), each affected 
        facility (as defined in section 302(e)(1)) shall submit to the 
        appropriate State emergency response commission under section 
        301 an annual report describing the greenhouse gas emissions 
        and applicable emission baselines of the affected facility 
        during the preceding calendar year.
            ``(2) Requirement.--Each report submitted under paragraph 
        (1) shall express the greenhouse gas emissions of an affected 
        facility--
                    ``(A) in metric tons of each greenhouse gas emitted 
                by the affected facility; and
                    ``(B) in metric tons of the carbon dioxide 
                equivalent of each greenhouse gas so emitted.
    ``(b) Action by Commission.--Each State emergency response 
commission that receives a report under subsection (a) shall--
            ``(1) ensure that the report is certified in accordance 
        with regulations of the Administrator;
            ``(2) for calendar year 2010 and each calendar year 
        thereafter, ensure that the report is certified by a third-
        party entity as described in section 302(e)(3)(B);
            ``(3) submit to the Administrator a copy of each report for 
        inclusion in the greenhouse gas registry under subsection (d); 
        and
            ``(4) establish and maintain in the office of the 
        commission a record of each report submitted to the commission 
        under subsection (a) for each calendar year.
    ``(c) Public Access.--A State emergency response commission shall 
ensure public access to the records maintained under subsection (b)(3), 
except to the extent that information contained in such a record is 
otherwise protected from public access under this Act.
    ``(d) National Greenhouse Gas Registry.--
            ``(1) Establishment.--The Administrator, in consultation 
        with the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Agriculture, 
        the Secretary of Energy, States, the private sector, and 
        nongovernmental organizations concerned with establishing 
        standards for the reporting of greenhouse gas emissions, shall 
        establish and maintain a national greenhouse gas emissions 
        registry (referred to in this subsection as the `registry').
            ``(2) Inclusions.--The Administrator shall include in the 
        registry--
                    ``(A) each report received from a State emergency 
                response commission under subsection (b)(3);
                    ``(B) for each greenhouse gas emitted, according to 
                the reports, an estimate of the quantity of emissions 
                of the greenhouse gas by each category of source;
                    ``(C) a detailed analysis of trends in the 
                quantity, composition, and sources of greenhouse gas 
                emissions in the Unites States; and
                    ``(D) an estimate of--
                            ``(i) mobile source emissions of the 
                        greenhouse gas emitted as a result of 
                        combustion of fuels in transportation 
                        equipment, such as automobiles, trucks, trains, 
                        airplanes, and vessels;
                            ``(ii) direct stationary combustion source 
                        emissions;
                            ``(iii) the total quantity of direct 
                        greenhouse gas emissions from stationary 
                        sources, expressed in units of carbon dioxide 
                        equivalent;
                            ``(iv) the quantity of petroleum products 
                        sold or imported by each affected facility, and 
                        the quantity of greenhouse gases, expressed in 
                        units of carbon dioxide equivalent, that would 
                        be emitted when those products are used for 
                        transportation in the United States, as 
                        determined by the Administrator;
                            ``(v) the total quantity of reductions in 
                        greenhouse gas emissions created by greenhouse 
                        gas offsets;
                            ``(vi) the quantity of hydrofluorocarbons, 
                        perfluorocarbons, and sulfur hexafluoride 
                        (expressed in units of carbon dioxide 
                        equivalent) that--
                                    ``(I) are sold or imported by each 
                                affected facility; and
                                    ``(II) will ultimately be emitted 
                                in the United States, as determined by 
                                the Administrator; and
                            ``(vii) such other categories of emissions 
                        as the Administrator determines may be 
                        practicable and useful for the purposes of this 
                        Act, such as--
                                    ``(I) indirect emissions from 
                                imported electricity, heat, and steam;
                                    ``(II) process and fugitive 
                                emissions; and
                                    ``(III) production or importation 
                                of greenhouse gases.
            ``(3) Public availability.--The Administrator shall publish 
        on the website of the Environmental Protection Agency all 
        information contained in the registry, except in any case in 
        which publishing the information would result in a disclosure 
        of information vital to national security, as determined by the 
        Administrator.
            ``(4) Integration.--The Administrator shall integrate, to 
        the maximum extent practicable, information contained in the 
        registry with any other environmental information system 
        maintained by the Administrator.
    ``(e) New Reporting System.--
            ``(1) In general.--On or after the date that is 3 years 
        after the date of enactment of this section, the Administrator, 
        in consultation with each party described in subsection (d)(1), 
        may, on the record, after providing for a public hearing and 
        opportunity to comment, and accordance with this Act or the 
        authority of the Administrator under any other law administered 
        by the Administrator, establish a new reporting system for 
        greenhouse gases.
            ``(2) Requirements.--A new reporting system established 
        under this subsection shall, as compared with the registry 
        established under subsection (d)--
                    ``(A) incorporate and apply to the same affected 
                facilities, gases, sources, and economic sectors; and
                    ``(B) at a minimum, be equally as comprehensive.
    ``(f) Regulations.--Regulations promulgated under this section may 
be enforced pursuant to section 113 of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 
7413) with respect to any person that--
            ``(1) fails to submit a report under this section; or
            ``(2) otherwise fails to comply with those regulations.''.
    (d) Definition of Greenhouse Gas.--Section 329 of the Emergency 
Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986 (42 U.S.C. 11049) is 
amended--
            (1) by redesignating paragraphs (5) through (10) as 
        paragraphs (6) through (11), respectively; and
            (2) by inserting after paragraph (4) the following:
            ``(5) Greenhouse gas.--The term `greenhouse gas' means any 
        of--
                    ``(A) carbon dioxide;
                    ``(B) mercury;
                    ``(C) methane;
                    ``(D) nitrous oxides;
                    ``(E) hydrofluorocarbons;
                    ``(F) perfluorocarbons;
                    ``(G) sulfur hexafluoride; and
                    ``(H) any other anthropogenically-emitted gas that 
                the Administrator, after notice and comment, determines 
                to contribute to global warming.''.
    (e) Effect of Section.--Nothing in this section or an amendment 
made by this section requires the labeling of a greenhouse gas (as 
defined in paragraph (5) of section 329 of the Emergency Planning and 
Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986 (42 U.S.C. 11049) (as amended by 
subsection (d))) as a toxic substance for purposes of any other Federal 
law (including regulations).
                                 <all>