[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 849 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 849

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


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 22, 2009

    Mr. Carper (for himself, Mr. Inhofe, Mrs. Boxer, and Mr. Kerry) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
               Committee on Environment and Public Works

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


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

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) black carbon--
                    (A) is a component of ambient particulate matter, 
                the mixture of which has been found to harm public 
                health by causing serious respiratory and 
                cardiovascular effects in developed and developing 
                countries;
                    (B) plays a role in climate change by--
                            (i) absorbing solar radiation; and
                            (ii) reducing the reflectivity of snow and 
                        ice; and
                    (C) is emitted from incomplete combustion of fossil 
                fuels, biomass, and biofuels;
            (2) recent studies have shown that, in the United States, 
        old diesel engines are a major contributor of black carbon;
            (3)(A) the United States has made great progress in 
        reducing black carbon emissions through regulations on new 
        vehicles and engines and a voluntary national diesel retrofit 
        program; but
            (B) there remain in the United States more than 11,000,000 
        diesel engines lacking the latest diesel emission control 
        technology; and
            (4) the collection of information relating to, and research 
        regarding, black carbon would be useful to identify cost-
        effective methods of reducing black carbon emissions in ways 
        and from sources that would have beneficial effects on the 
        public health and the climate.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the 
        Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
            (2) Black carbon.--The term ``black carbon'' means any 
        light-absorbing graphitic (such as elemental) particle produced 
        by incomplete combustion.

SEC. 3. STUDY OF BLACK CARBON EMISSIONS.

    (a) Study.--The Administrator, in consultation with the Secretary 
of Energy, the Secretary of State, and the heads of the National 
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the National Aeronautics and 
Space Administration, the United States Agency for International 
Development, the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention, and other relevant Federal departments and 
agencies and representatives of appropriate industry and environmental 
groups, shall conduct a 4-phase study of black carbon emissions, the 
phases of which shall be the following:
            (1) Phase i-universal definition.--The Administrator shall 
        conduct phase I of the study under this subsection to carry out 
        measures to establish for the scientific community standard 
        definitions of the terms--
                    (A) black carbon; and
                    (B) organic carbon.
            (2) Phase ii-sources and technologies.--The Administrator 
        shall conduct phase II of the study under this subsection to 
        summarize the available scientific and technical information 
        concerning--
                    (A) the identification of the major sources of 
                black carbon emissions in the United States and 
                throughout the world;
                    (B) an estimate of--
                            (i) the quantity of current and projected 
                        future black carbon emissions from those 
                        sources; and
                            (ii) the net climate effects of the 
                        emissions;
                    (C) the most recent scientific data relevant to the 
                public health- and climate-related impacts of black 
                carbon emissions and associated emissions of organic 
                carbon, nitrogen oxides, and sulfur oxides from the 
                sources identified under subparagraph (A);
                    (D) the most effective control strategies for 
                additional domestic and international reductions in 
                black carbon emissions, taking into consideration 
                lifecycle analysis, cost-effectiveness, and the net 
                climate impact of technologies, operations, and 
                strategies, such as--
                            (i) diesel particulate filters on existing 
                        diesel on- and off-road engines; and
                            (ii) particulate emission reduction 
                        measures for marine vessels;
                    (E) carbon dioxide equivalency factors, global or 
                regional modeling, or other metrics to compare the 
                global warming and other climate effects of black 
                carbon emissions with carbon dioxide and other 
                greenhouse gas emissions; and
                    (F) the health benefits associated with additional 
                black carbon emission reductions.
            (3) Phase iii-international funding.--The Administrator 
        shall conduct phase III of the study under this subsection--
                    (A) to summarize the amount, type, and direction of 
                all actual and potential financial, technical, and 
                related assistance provided by the United States to 
                foreign countries to reduce, mitigate, or otherwise 
                abate--
                            (i) black carbon emissions; and
                            (ii) any health, environmental, and 
                        economic impacts associated with those 
                        emissions; and
                    (B) to identify opportunities, including action 
                under existing authority, to achieve significant black 
                carbon emission reductions in foreign countries through 
                the provision of technical assistance or other 
                approaches.
            (4) Phase iv-research and development opportunities.--The 
        Administrator conduct phase IV of the study under this 
        subsection for the purpose of providing to Congress 
        recommendations regarding--
                    (A) areas of focus for additional research for 
                cost-effective technologies, operations, and strategies 
                with the highest potential to reduce black carbon 
                emissions and protect public health in the United 
                States and internationally; and
                    (B) actions that the Federal Government could take 
                to encourage or require additional black carbon 
                emission reductions.
    (b) Reports.--The Administrator shall submit to Congress--
            (1) by not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 
        of this Act, a report describing the results of phases I and II 
        of the study under paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (a);
            (2) by not later than 270 days after the date of enactment 
        of this Act, a report describing the results of phase III of 
        the study under subsection (a)(3); and
            (3) by not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of 
        this Act, a report describing the recommendations developed for 
        phase IV of the study under subsection (a)(4).
    (c) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated such sums as are necessary to carry out this section.
                                 <all>