[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9 Engrossed in House (EH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 H. R. 9

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT


 
To direct the President to develop a plan for the United States to meet 
 its nationally determined contribution under the Paris Agreement, 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 ``Climate Action Now Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) In Paris, on December 12, 2015, parties to the United 
        Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) reached 
        a landmark agreement to combat climate change and to accelerate 
        and intensify the actions and investments needed for a 
        sustainable low carbon future.
            (2) The Paris Agreement's central aim is to strengthen the 
        global response to the threat of climate change by keeping a 
        global temperature rise well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-
        industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the 
        temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
            (3) The Paris Agreement specifies the need for a strong 
        global response to climate change and when taking action, the 
        need to respect, promote, and safeguard the right to health now 
        and for future generations.
            (4) The Paris Agreement acknowledges that all ``Parties 
        should, when taking action to address climate change, respect, 
        promote and consider their respective obligations on human 
        rights, the right to health, the rights of indigenous peoples, 
        local communities, migrants, children, persons with 
        disabilities and people in vulnerable situations and the right 
        to development, as well as gender equality, empowerment of 
        women and intergenerational equity''.
            (5) The Paris Agreement notes the importance of ``climate 
        justice'' when mitigating and adapting to climate change and 
        recognizes ``the need for an effective and progressive response 
        to the urgent threat of climate change''.
            (6) The Paris Agreement requires all parties to put forward 
        their best efforts through nationally determined contributions 
        (NDCs) and to strengthen these efforts in the years ahead.
            (7) The Paris Agreement further requires each party to 
        update its nationally determined contribution every 5 years, 
        with each successive nationally determined contribution 
        representing a progression beyond the previous nationally 
        determined contribution, and reflecting the party's highest 
        possible ambition.
            (8) The Paris Agreement recognizes that the ocean 
        ecosystems covering more than 70 percent of the Earth's surface 
        have an integral role in climate balance. Seventy percent of 
        nationally determined contributions under the Paris Agreement 
        are ocean-inclusive, and 39 Paris Agreement signatories are 
        focused on the inclusion of ocean action in nationally 
        determined contributions through the Because the Ocean 
        Initiative.
            (9) The United States communicated its nationally 
        determined contribution to achieve an economy-wide target of 
        reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 26 to 28 percent below 
        its 2005 level in 2025 and to make best efforts to reduce its 
        emissions by 28 percent.
            (10) A number of existing laws, regulations, and other 
        mandatory measures in the United States are relevant to 
        achieving this target, including the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 
        7401 et seq.), the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (Public Law 102-
        486), and the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 
        (Public Law 110-140).
            (11) Essential in achieving this target is a thriving clean 
        energy industry in the United States, which currently employs 
        over 500,000 Americans.
            (12) On June 1, 2017, President Trump announced his 
        intention to withdraw the United States from the Paris 
        Agreement, which would leave the United States as the only 
        UNFCCC member state that is not a signatory to the Paris 
        Agreement.
            (13) Article 8 of the Paris Agreement notes Parties 
        recognize the importance of averting, minimizing and addressing 
        loss and damage associated with the adverse effects of climate 
        change, including extreme weather events and slow onset events, 
        and the role of sustainable development in reducing the risk of 
        loss and damage such as strong winds from hurricanes and 
        tropical storms, and flooding from storm surges and heavy rain, 
        that inflict losses on various sectors of the United States 
        economy.
            (14) Under the terms of the Paris Agreement, the earliest 
        possible effective withdrawal date by the United States is 
        November 4, 2020. However, the United States is still obligated 
        to maintain certain commitments under the Paris Agreement, such 
        as continuing to report its emissions to the United Nations.
            (15) The Paris Agreement further requires that parties 
        ``should strengthen their cooperation on enhancing action on 
        adaptation, taking into account the Cancun Adaptation 
        Framework'', which includes ``measures to enhance 
        understanding, coordination and cooperation with regard to 
        climate change induced displacement, migration and planned 
        relocation, where appropriate, at the national, regional and 
        international levels''.
            (16) Article 8 of the Paris Agreement states that ``Parties 
        recognize the importance of averting, minimizing and addressing 
        loss and damage associated with the adverse effects of climate 
        change, including extreme weather events and slow onset 
        events'', such as sea level rise, saltwater intrusion, and 
        flooding.
            (17) The Paris Agreement is an example of multilateral, 
        international cooperation needed to overcome challenges facing 
        the international community, such as reducing emissions, 
        promoting economic growth, and deploying clean energy 
        technologies.
            (18) The Paris Agreement recognizes ``the fundamental 
        priority of safeguarding food security and ending hunger, and 
        the particular vulnerabilities of food production systems to 
        the adverse impacts of climate change.''.
            (19) The Paris Agreement recognizes that adaptation is a 
        global challenge faced by all with local, subnational, 
        national, regional and international dimensions, and that it is 
        a key component of and makes a contribution to the long-term 
        global response to climate change to protect people, 
        livelihoods, and ecosystems.
            (20) American leadership encouraged widespread 
        international participation in the Paris Agreement.
            (21) American cities, States, and businesses are stepping 
        up and pledging to meet the Paris Agreement goals in the wake 
        of absent and uncertain United States Federal leadership.
            (22) Article 8 of the Paris Agreement states that ``Parties 
        recognize the importance of averting, minimizing and addressing 
        loss and damage associated with the adverse effects of climate 
        change, including extreme weather events and slow onset 
        events'' such as drought conditions and water scarcity.
            (23) The Paris Agreement has driven innovation in 
        developing cleaner, more reliable, and more affordable forms of 
        energy, demonstrating that addressing climate change and 
        providing affordable energy to American consumers are not 
        mutually exclusive. The Paris Agreement encouraged the United 
        States to develop a Mid-Century Strategy for Deep 
        Decarbonization, which was submitted on November 16, 2016. The 
        Mid-Century Strategy for Deep Decarbonization stated that 
        ``energy efficiency improvements enable the energy system to 
        provide the services we need with fewer resources and 
        emissions. Over the past several years, the United States has 
        demonstrated that programs and standards to improve the energy 
        efficiency of buildings, appliances and vehicles can cost-
        effectively cut carbon pollution and lower energy bills, while 
        maintaining significant support from U.S. industry and 
        consumers.''.
            (24) In its nationally determined contribution, the United 
        States notes that pursuant to Executive Order No. 13693 (2015), 
        the Federal Government has committed to reduce emissions 40 
        percent below 2005 levels by 2025, and reaffirmed the 
        Department of Defense's goal to procure renewable energy across 
        military installations and operations ``to drive national 
        greenhouse gas reductions and support preparations for the 
        impacts of climate change''.
            (25) Article 10 of the Paris Agreement states that 
        ``Parties, noting the importance of technology for the 
        implementation of mitigation and adaptation actions under this 
        Agreement and recognizing existing technology deployment and 
        dissemination efforts, shall strengthen cooperative action on 
        technology development and transfer.''.

SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON USE OF FUNDS TO ADVANCE THE WITHDRAWAL OF THE 
              UNITED STATES FROM THE PARIS AGREEMENT.

    Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no funds are authorized 
to be appropriated, obligated, or expended to take any action to 
advance the withdrawal of the United States from the Paris Agreement.

SEC. 4. PLAN FOR THE UNITED STATES TO MEET ITS NATIONALLY DETERMINED 
              CONTRIBUTION UNDER THE PARIS AGREEMENT.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 120 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the President shall develop and submit to the 
appropriate congressional committees and make available to the public a 
plan for the United States to meet its nationally determined 
contribution under the Paris Agreement that describes--
            (1) how the United States will achieve an economy-wide 
        target of reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 26 to 28 
        percent below its 2005 level by 2025;
            (2) how the United States will use the Paris Agreement's 
        transparency provisions to confirm that other parties to the 
        Agreement with major economies are fulfilling their announced 
        contributions to the Agreement;
            (3) how the United States may use multilateral and 
        bilateral diplomatic tools, in addition to the expert committee 
        established under Article 15 of the Paris Agreement, to 
        encourage and assist other parties to the Agreement to fulfill 
        their announced contributions;
            (4) how the Paris Agreement's loss and damage provisions 
        would affect infrastructure resiliency in the United States; 
        and
            (5) how the plan takes into consideration populations, 
        regions, industries, and constituencies that could be affected 
        by nationally determined contribution under the Paris 
        Agreement, and the failure to meet such contribution, including 
        but not limited to--
                    (A) American jobs, wage, and pay;
                    (B) the cost of energy, such as electricity and 
                gasoline, for consumers; and
                    (C) the ability to develop and deploy new, 
                innovative, domestically-produced technologies.
    (b) Updates to Plan.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the President shall 
submit to the appropriate congressional committees and make available 
to the public an updated plan under subsection (a).
    (c) Education and Public Awareness.--
            (1) In general.--The plan under this section shall be 
        consistent with Article 12 of the Paris Agreement, which states 
        ``Parties shall cooperate in taking measures, as appropriate, 
        to enhance climate change education, training, public 
        awareness, public participation and public access to 
        information, recognizing the importance of these steps with 
        respect to enhancing actions under this Agreement.''.
            (2) Rule of construction.--Nothing in this Act may be 
        construed to require or prohibit the President from including 
        in the plan under this section, consistent with the prohibition 
        described in section 438 of the General Education Provisions 
        Act (20 U.S.C. 1232a), recommendations to support State and 
        local educational agencies, in integrating instruction on 
        human-caused climate change and the societal, environmental, 
        and economic effects of such climate change into curricula 
        taught in elementary and secondary schools under the control of 
        such State and local educational agencies, in order to meet the 
        goals and ambitions of the Paris Agreement to ensure climate 
        education and awareness in schools.
    (d) Appropriate Congressional Committees Defined.--In this section, 
the term ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
            (1) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on 
        Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives; and
            (2) the Committee on Foreign Relations, the Committee on 
        Environment and Public Works, and the Committee on Energy and 
        Natural Resources of the Senate.
    (e) State and Local Actions.--Nothing in this Act shall be 
construed to prohibit States and cities from taking more ambitious 
actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions than the actions described 
in the plan developed and updated under this section.
    (f) Public Comment.--The President shall--
            (1) in making the plan under subsection (a), and updates 
        under subsection (b), available to the public, and before 
        submitting such plan and updates to the appropriate 
        congressional committees--
                    (A) publish the plan or update, as applicable, in 
                the Federal Register; and
                    (B) provide a period of at least 90 days for public 
                comment; and
            (2) after each such period for public comment, continue to 
        make the proposed plan or update, as well as the comments 
        received, available to the public on regulations.gov (or any 
        successor website).
    (g) Technology Neutral.--Nothing in this Act may be construed to 
require or prohibit the inclusion of a specific energy technology or 
technologies in the plan required by this section.
    (h) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section may be construed 
to require or prohibit the President from including or considering 
voluntary agricultural practices to be undertaken by farmers and 
ranchers, thereby contributing to the development of soil organic 
matter, increasing carbon sequestration, reducing greenhouse gas 
emissions, and contributing to meeting the goals and ambitions of the 
Paris Agreement.

SEC. 5. REPORT.

    Not later than 6 months after the date of the enactment of this 
Act, the President shall produce a report that examines the effect of 
the Paris Agreement on clean energy job development in rural 
communities.

SEC. 6. REPORT.

    Not later than 6 months after the date of the enactment of this 
Act, the President shall enter into a contract with the National 
Academy of Sciences to produce a report that examines the potential 
impacts of a withdrawal by the United States from the Paris Agreement 
on the global economic competitiveness of the United States economy and 
on workers in the United States.

SEC. 7. PARIS AGREEMENT DEFINED.

    In this Act, the term ``Paris Agreement'' means the decision by the 
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change's 21st Conference 
of Parties in Paris, France, adopted December 12, 2015.

SEC. 8. STUDY AND REPORT.

    Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the 
Comptroller General of the United States shall complete a study and 
submit a report to the Congress on the impact of the plan under 
subsection (a) on the United States territories, including the 
potential positive and negative impacts on their economies, taking into 
consideration their unique energy needs and systems and the climate 
change vulnerabilities faced by communities in these jurisdictions.

            Passed the House of Representatives May 2, 2019.

            Attest:

                                                                 Clerk.
116th CONGRESS

  1st Session

                                H. R. 9

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT

To direct the President to develop a plan for the United States to meet 
 its nationally determined contribution under the Paris Agreement, and 
                          for other purposes.