I 111th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 3033 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES June 24, 2009 Mr. Welch introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and in addition to the Committees on House Administration and Energy and Commerce, 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 authorize Federal agencies and legislative branch offices to purchase greenhouse gas offsets and renewable energy credits, and for other purposes.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Carbon Neutral Government Act of 2009.

2.

Authorization to purchase offsets and credits

(a)

Federal authorities

Subject to the requirements of this Act, each executive agency (as defined in section 105 of title V of the United States Code) and each legislative branch office is authorized to use appropriated funds to purchase either or both of the following in any open market transaction, that complies with all applicable procurement rules and regulations and is approved in accordance with subsection (c): (1)Qualified tradeable greenhouse gas offsets. (2)Qualified tradeable renewable energy credits. (b)

Qualification of offsets and credits

A tradeable greenhouse gas offset or renewable energy credit shall be treated as qualified for purposes of this section if the Secretary of Energy certifies the generator of such offset or credit. Upon the application of any person generating or planning to generate any such offsets or credits, the Secretary shall certify the generator if the Secretary determines that the generator meets, or will, upon implementation, meet, such requirements as the Secretary deems necessary, under rules promulgated by the Secretary, to ensure that the offsets or credits generated will represent the reduction of greenhouse gases as specified or estimated in the offset (in the case of an offset) or in the generation of the amount of renewable energy which the credit represents or is estimated to represent (in the case of a credit). A reduction in greenhouse gases that the Secretary determines would have occurred in the absence of the opportunity to sell an offset for such reduction shall not be treated as a qualified offset for purposes of this Act. (c)

Approval of open market transactions

The Secretary of Energy shall promulgate rules, after notice and opportunity for comment, regarding the open market transactions (involving qualified tradeable greenhouse gas offsets and qualified tradeable renewable energy credits) that will be treated as approved for purposes of this Act. Such rules shall accommodate forward purchasing and crediting of offsets and credits on an estimated basis from small scale offset and renewable energy generators, and other open market transactions that are useful in enabling short-term purchases of greenhouse gas offsets and renewable energy credits to contribute meaningfully to the implementation of small scale offset and renewable energy generators. (d)

Definitions

For purposes of this Act: (1)

Greenhouse gas offset

The term greenhouse gas offset means the reduction in emissions of greenhouse gases that results from an action or actions undertaken for the purpose, among others, of reducing greenhouse gas emissions (including the generation of renewable energy), where: (A) such action or actions would not have occurred in the absence of the opportunity to sell an offset for the resulting reductions; (B) the party claiming credit for the reductions has acquired the exclusive legal rights to claim credit for the reductions; and (C) such exclusive legal rights can be verified and approved by the Secretary through an auditable contract path or other system established by the Secretary. (2)

Greenhouse gas

The term greenhouse gas includes carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and fluorinated gases. (3)

Renewable energy credit

The term renewable energy credit means all of the environmental attributes associated with a single unit of energy generated by a renewable energy source where: (A) those attributes are transferred or recorded separately from that unit of energy; (B) the party claiming ownership of the credit has acquired the exclusive legal ownership of all, and not less than all, the environmental attributes associated with that unit of energy; and (C) exclusive legal ownership of the credit can be verified and approved by the Secretary through an auditable contract path or other system established by the Secretary. (4)

Renewable energy

The term renewable energy means electric energy generated from solar, wind, biomass, landfill gas, ocean (including tidal, wave, current, and thermal), geothermal, municipal solid waste, or new hydroelectric generation capacity achieved from increased efficiency or additions of new capacity at an existing hydroelectric project. (5)

Tradeable

The term tradeable when used in connection with an offset or credit means that the offset or credit is available for purchase and sale in an open and transparent market. (e)

Effective date

The authority of section 1 shall take effect for fiscal years after the enactment of this Act.