[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9 Introduced in House (IH)]
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116th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 9
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.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 27, 2019
Ms. Castor of Florida (for herself, Ms. Pelosi, Mr. Hoyer, Mr. Pallone,
Mr. Engel, Mr. Grijalva, Ms. Johnson of Texas, Mr. Neal, Mr. McGovern,
Mr. Nadler, Ms. Brownley of California, Ms. Bonamici, Mr. Levin of
California, Mr. Huffman, Mr. McEachin, Mr. Neguse, Mr. Casten of
Illinois, Mr. Lujan, Mr. Hastings, Mr. Schneider, Mr. Beyer, Mr.
Lowenthal, Ms. Porter, Mr. Scott of Virginia, Mr. Soto, Mr. Gallego,
Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney of New York, Mr. Malinowski, Mr. Cisneros, Mr.
Crist, Ms. Norton, Ms. Matsui, Mr. Rouda, Ms. Mucarsel-Powell, Mr.
Kennedy, Mr. Cohen, Mr. Panetta, Ms. Velazquez, Mr. Courtney, Ms.
Frankel, Mr. Cummings, Mr. Welch, Ms. Barragan, Mr. Van Drew, Mr.
Higgins of New York, Mr. Tonko, Mr. Clyburn, Mr. Carbajal, Mr. Thompson
of California, Mr. Jeffries, Mr. Kilmer, Ms. Spanberger, Ms. Blunt
Rochester, Mr. Rose of New York, Ms. Schakowsky, Mrs. Davis of
California, Mr. Brendan F. Boyle of Pennsylvania, Mr. Larsen of
Washington, Mr. McNerney, Ms. Dean, Ms. Clarke of New York, Mr. Levin
of Michigan, Mrs. Trahan, Mr. DeFazio, Mr. Lynch, Ms. Haaland, Mr.
Blumenauer, Ms. Judy Chu of California, Mr. Ruppersberger, Ms. DeGette,
Ms. Schrier, and Ms. Kuster of New Hampshire) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in
addition to the Committee on 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 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 requires all parties to put forward
their best efforts through nationally determined contributions
(NDCs) and to strengthen these efforts in the years ahead.
(4) 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.
(5) 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.
(6) 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).
(7) 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.
(8) 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.
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; and
(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.
(b) Updates to Plan.--Not later than one 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) 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.
SEC. 5. 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.
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