[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1512 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
115th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1512
To prohibit the Secretary of Energy, the Administrator of the
Environmental Protection Agency, the Secretary of the Interior, the
Secretary of Transportation, and the Chair of the Council on
Environmental Quality from considering, in taking any action, the
social cost of carbon, the social cost of methane, the social cost of
nitrous oxide, or the social cost of any other greenhouse gas, unless
compliant with Office of Management and Budget guidance, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
June 29, 2017
Mr. Lankford (for himself, Mr. Cornyn, Mr. Inhofe, Mr. Barrasso, and
Mr. Blunt) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To prohibit the Secretary of Energy, the Administrator of the
Environmental Protection Agency, the Secretary of the Interior, the
Secretary of Transportation, and the Chair of the Council on
Environmental Quality from considering, in taking any action, the
social cost of carbon, the social cost of methane, the social cost of
nitrous oxide, or the social cost of any other greenhouse gas, unless
compliant with Office of Management and Budget guidance, and for other
purposes.
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 ``Transparency and Honesty in Energy
Regulations Act of 2017''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that--
(1) as a tool to justify Federal actions by the Secretary
of Energy, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection
Agency, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of
Transportation, and the Chair of the Council on Environmental
Quality to address greenhouse gas emissions, including the
regulation or prohibition of the exploration, mining,
production, and use of coal and other fossil fuels as energy
sources, the social cost of greenhouse gases, specifically the
social cost of carbon, the social cost of methane, and the
social cost of nitrous oxide, represents the hypothetical cost
of 1 incremental ton of carbon dioxide, methane, or nitrous
oxide emissions in a given year;
(2) the document of the Office of Management and Budget
entitled ``Circular A-4'' and dated September 17, 2003--
(A) guides Federal agencies on the development of
regulatory impact analysis required under Executive
Order 12866 (5 U.S.C. 601 note; relating to regulatory
planning and review) and other authorities; and
(B) instructs Federal agencies to include discount
rates of 3 and 7 percent and evaluate the costs and
benefits of the regulatory action that accrue to
citizens and residents of the United States;
(3) first developed in 2009 by an interagency working group
that included the Department of Energy, the Environmental
Protection Agency, the Department of Transportation, and the
Council on Environmental Quality, the estimates for the social
cost of carbon and the subsequently developed social cost of
methane and social cost of nitrous oxide fail to comply with
the 3- and 7-percent discount rates prescribed by the document
of the Office of Management and Budget entitled ``Circular A-
4'' and dated September 17, 2003;
(4) while the document of the Office of Management and
Budget entitled ``Circular A-4'' and dated September 17, 2003,
specifies that, in carrying out an evaluation of the global
effects of a rule, regulation, or action, the evaluation shall
be reported separately from domestic costs and benefits of that
rule, regulation, or action, the social cost of carbon, the
social cost of methane, and the social cost of nitrous oxide
instead calculates the global benefits in lieu of, not in
addition to, the domestic costs of a rule, regulation, or
action;
(5) the use of the estimates of the social cost of
greenhouse gases, including the estimates for the social cost
of carbon, the social cost of methane, and the social cost of
nitrous oxide, in the rulemakings and other actions of the
Department of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency, the
Department of the Interior, the Department of Transportation,
and the Council on Environmental Quality was without--
(A) an adequate opportunity for public notice and
comment; and
(B) rigorous scientific peer review;
(6) the Environmental Protection Agency relied on--
(A) the interagency working group estimate of the
social cost of methane, without appropriate peer review
or opportunity for public notice and comment, in
attempting to justify the costs and benefits of--
(i) the proposed rule entitled ``Oil and
Natural Gas Sector: Emission Standards for New
and Modified Sources'' (80 Fed. Reg. 56593
(September 18, 2015)); and
(ii) the final rule entitled ``Oil and
Natural Gas Sector: Emission Standards for New,
Reconstructed, and Modified Sources'' (81 Fed.
Reg. 35824 (June 3, 2016)) and the accompanying
regulatory impact analysis entitled
``Regulatory Impact Analysis of the Final Oil
and Natural Gas Sector: Emission Standards for
New, Reconstructed, and Modified Sources'',
prepared by the Environmental Protection
Agency, Office of Air and Radiation, in May
2016 and identified by docket ID number EPA-HQ-
OAR-2010-0505-7630; and
(B) the interagency working group estimate of the
social cost of carbon, without appropriate peer review
or opportunity for public notice and comment, in
attempting to justify the costs and benefits of--
(i) the final rule entitled ``Standards of
Performance for Greenhouse Gas Emissions From
New, Modified, and Reconstructed Stationary
Sources: Electric Utility Generating Units''
(80 Fed. Reg. 64510 (October 23, 2015)) and the
accompanying regulatory impact analysis
entitled ``Regulatory Impact Analysis for the
Final Standards of Performance for Greenhouse
Gas Emissions from New, Modified, and
Reconstructed Stationary Sources: Electric
Utility Generating Units'', prepared by the
Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Air
and Radiation, in October 2015 and identified
by docket ID number EPA-HQ-OAR-2013-0495; and
(ii) the final rule entitled ``Carbon
Pollution Emission Guidelines for Existing
Stationary Sources: Electric Utility Generating
Units'' (80 Fed. Reg. 64662 (October 23, 2015))
and the accompanying regulatory impact analysis
entitled ``Regulatory Impact Analysis for the
Clean Power Plan Final Rule'', prepared by the
Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Air
and Radiation, in October 2015 and identified
by docket ID number EPA-HQ-OAR-2013-0602;
(7) the Department of the Interior used the social cost of
methane estimate to justify the costs and benefits of the final
rule entitled ``Waste Prevention, Production Subject to
Royalties, and Resource Conservation'' (81 Fed. Reg. 83008
(November 18, 2016));
(8) the Council on Environmental Quality issued final
guidance on August 1, 2016, that, with respect to a monetary
cost-benefit analysis for an evaluation of a proposed Federal
action under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42
U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), directed the head of each Federal agency
to include the social cost of carbon in any consideration of
the effect of greenhouse gas emissions;
(9) continued use of the social cost of greenhouse gases,
including the social cost of carbon, the social cost of
methane, and the social cost of nitrous oxide by the Department
of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department
of the Interior, the Department of Transportation, and the
Council on Environmental Quality ignores sound science;
(10) Executive Order 13777 (82 Fed. Reg. 12285 (March 1,
2017)) states that the policy of the United States is to
alleviate any unnecessary regulatory burden on the people of
the United States; and
(11) Executive Order 13783 (82 Fed. Reg. 16093 (March 31,
2017))--
(A) disbands the interagency working group referred
to in paragraph (3);
(B) withdraws the social cost of carbon, the social
cost of methane, and the social cost of nitrous oxide;
and
(C) directs Federal agencies, in monetizing the
value of changes in greenhouse gas emissions as a
result of a regulation, to follow the document of the
Office of Management and Budget entitled ``Circular A-
4'' and dated September 17, 2003, by using the discount
rates specified in that document and evaluating only
the domestic effects of the regulation.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
(2) Social cost of carbon.--The term ``social cost of
carbon'' means--
(A) the estimate of the social cost of carbon
described in--
(i) the document entitled ``Technical
Support Document: Social Cost of Carbon for
Regulatory Impact Analysis Under Executive
Order 12866'', published by the Interagency
Working Group on Social Cost of Carbon, United
States Government, in February 2010; or
(ii)(I) the document entitled ``Technical
Support Document: Technical Update of the
Social Cost of Carbon for Regulatory Impact
Analysis Under Executive Order 12866'',
published by the Interagency Working Group on
Social Cost of Carbon, United States
Government, in May 2013 and revised in November
2013 and July 2015, and published and revised
by the Interagency Working Group on the Social
Cost of Greenhouse Gases, United States
Government, in August 2016; or
(II) any successor or substantially related
document; and
(B) any other estimate of the monetized damages
associated with an incremental increase in carbon
dioxide emissions in a given year.
(3) Social cost of greenhouse gas.--The term ``social cost
of greenhouse gas'' means--
(A) the estimate of the social cost of any
greenhouse gas that is described in any successor
document to--
(i) the document entitled ``Technical
Support Document: Social Cost of Carbon for
Regulatory Impact Analysis Under Executive
Order 12866'', published by the Interagency
Working Group on Social Cost of Carbon, United
States Government, in February 2010;
(ii) the document entitled ``Technical
Support Document: Technical Update of the
Social Cost of Carbon for Regulatory Impact
Analysis Under Executive Order 12866'',
published by the Interagency Working Group on
Social Cost of Carbon, United States
Government, in May 2013 and revised in November
2013 and July 2015, and published and revised
by the Interagency Working Group on the Social
Cost of Greenhouse Gases, United States
Government, in August 2016; or
(iii) the document entitled ``Addendum to
Technical Support Document on Social Cost of
Carbon for Regulatory Impact Analysis under
Executive Order 12866: Application of the
Methodology to Estimate the Social Cost of
Methane and the Social Cost of Nitrous Oxide'',
published by the Interagency Working Group on
Social Cost of Greenhouse Gases, United States
Government, in August 2016; and
(B) any other estimate of the monetized damages
associated with an incremental increase in greenhouse
gas emissions in a given year.
(4) Social cost of methane.--The term ``social cost of
methane'' means--
(A) the estimate of the social cost of methane
described in--
(i) the proposed rule entitled ``Oil and
Natural Gas Sector: Emission Standards for New
and Modified Sources'' (80 Fed. Reg. 56593
(September 18, 2015));
(ii) the final rule entitled ``Oil and
Natural Gas Sector: Emission Standards for New,
Reconstructed, and Modified Sources'' (81 Fed.
Reg. 35824 (June 3, 2016));
(iii) the regulatory impact analysis
entitled ``Regulatory Impact Analysis of the
Final Oil and Natural Gas Sector: Emission
Standards for New, Reconstructed, and Modified
Sources'', prepared by the Environmental
Protection Agency, Office of Air and Radiation,
in May 2016 and identified by docket ID number
EPA-HQ-OAR-2010-0505-7630; or
(iv)(I) the document entitled ``Addendum to
Technical Support Document on Social Cost of
Carbon for Regulatory Impact Analysis under
Executive Order 12866: Application of the
Methodology to Estimate the Social Cost of
Methane and the Social Cost of Nitrous Oxide'',
published by the Interagency Working Group on
Social Cost of Greenhouse Gases, United States
Government, in August 2016; or
(II) any successor or substantially related
document; and
(B) any other estimate of the monetized damages
associated with an incremental increase in methane
emissions in a given year.
(5) Social cost of nitrous oxide.--The term ``social cost
of nitrous oxide'' means--
(A) the estimate of the social cost of nitrous
oxide described in--
(i) the document entitled ``Addendum to
Technical Support Document on Social Cost of
Carbon for Regulatory Impact Analysis under
Executive Order 12866: Application of the
Methodology to Estimate the Social Cost of
Methane and the Social Cost of Nitrous Oxide'',
published by the Interagency Working Group on
Social Cost of Greenhouse Gases, United States
Government, in August 2016; or
(ii) any other successor or substantially
related document; and
(B) any other estimate of the monetized damages
associated with an incremental increase in nitrous
oxide emissions in a given year.
SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON CONSIDERING THE SOCIAL COST OF GREENHOUSE GAS,
INCLUDING THE SOCIAL COST OF CARBON, THE SOCIAL COST OF
METHANE, AND THE SOCIAL COST OF NITROUS OXIDE.
(a) In General.--The Secretary of Energy, under any authority, the
Administrator, under the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.), the
Secretary of the Interior, under any authority, the Secretary of
Transportation, under any authority, and the Chair of the Council on
Environmental Quality, under the National Environmental Policy Act of
1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), may not consider the social cost of
carbon, social cost of methane, social cost of nitrous oxide, or social
cost of greenhouse gas--
(1) as part of any cost-benefit analysis required under--
(A) any law;
(B) Executive Order 12866 (5 U.S.C. 601 note;
relating to regulatory planning and review); or
(C) Executive Order 13563 (5 U.S.C. 601 note;
relating to improving regulation and regulatory
review);
(2) in any rulemaking;
(3) in the issuance of any guidance;
(4) in taking any other agency action; or
(5) as a justification for any rulemaking, guidance
document, or agency action.
(b) Exception.--The Secretary of Energy, the Administrator, the
Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Transportation, and the
Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality may consider the social
cost of carbon, social cost of methane, social cost of nitrous oxide,
or social cost of greenhouse gas in carrying out an activity described
in subsection (a) only if, after the date of enactment of this Act--
(1) a Federal law is enacted that explicitly authorizes the
consideration; or
(2) the Secretary of Energy, the Administrator, the
Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Transportation, or
the Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality uses an
estimate for the social cost of carbon, social cost of methane,
social cost of nitrous oxide, or social cost of greenhouse gas
that--
(A) complies with the requirements of the document
of the Office of Management and Budget entitled
``Circular A-4'' and dated September 17, 2003;
(B) uses only the discount rates specified in that
document;
(C) considers only the domestic costs and benefits
of the activity; and
(D) has been reviewed by the Director of the Office
of Management and Budget for--
(i) compliance with the document referred
to in subparagraph (A); and
(ii) consistency across Federal agencies.
SEC. 5. REPORT OF THE ADMINISTRATOR.
Not later than 120 days after the date of enactment of this Act,
the Administrator, in coordination and consultation with the Secretary
of Energy, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of
Transportation, and the Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality,
shall submit to the Committees on Environment and Public Works and
Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate and the Committees on Energy
and Commerce and Natural Resources of the House of Representatives a
report describing the number of proposed and final rulemakings,
guidance documents, and agency actions that, since January 2009, have
used the social cost of carbon, the social cost of methane, or the
social cost of nitrous oxide, including the use of the social cost of
carbon, the social cost of methane, or the social cost of nitrous oxide
as part of any cost-benefit analysis required under Executive Order
12866 (5 U.S.C. 601 note; relating to regulatory planning and review)
or other relevant authority.
<all>