[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3732 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3732

To require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to 
     carry out a study on the environmental impacts of artificial 
  intelligence, to require the Director of the National Institute of 
Standards and Technology to convene a consortium on such environmental 
 impacts, and to require the Director to develop a voluntary reporting 
  system for the reporting of the environmental impacts of artificial 
                 intelligence, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            February 1, 2024

   Mr. Markey (for himself, Mr. Heinrich, Mr. Wyden, Mr. Welch, Mr. 
Padilla, and Mr. Booker) introduced the following bill; which was read 
     twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
                             Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to 
     carry out a study on the environmental impacts of artificial 
  intelligence, to require the Director of the National Institute of 
Standards and Technology to convene a consortium on such environmental 
 impacts, and to require the Director to develop a voluntary reporting 
  system for the reporting of the environmental impacts of artificial 
                 intelligence, 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 ``Artificial Intelligence 
Environmental Impacts Act of 2024''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Multiple estimates indicate that the amount of 
        computational power being used for artificial intelligence 
        applications has increased rapidly over the last decade. A 2022 
        estimate suggested that the number of computational operations 
        being used to create each of the largest artificial 
        intelligence models is currently doubling every 10 months.
            (2) Accelerating use of artificial intelligence has the 
        potential to greatly increase energy consumption due to the 
        power utilization of computer hardware required for training 
        and operating artificial intelligence models, despite ongoing 
        efficiency gains in both artificial intelligence models and 
        hardware.
            (3) Rapid growth in data center infrastructure, including 
        cooling systems and backup power equipment, supporting 
        artificial intelligence and other computing-intensive 
        technologies contributes to pollution, water consumption, and 
        land-use changes.
            (4) Resource and energy-intensive manufacturing processes 
        are required for the hardware that runs artificial intelligence 
        and other computing-intensive technologies, leading to 
        significant environmental impacts.
            (5) Yearly increases in electronic waste (known as ``e-
        waste'') pose increasing environmental and health risks, and 
        will likely be exacerbated by outdated and discarded hardware 
        used for artificial intelligence and other computing-intensive 
        technologies.
            (6) Many applications of artificial intelligence can have 
        direct and indirect positive environmental impacts. Positive 
        environmental impacts may include optimizing systems for energy 
        efficiency, developing renewable energy, advancing planetary 
        systems research, enabling discovery of new materials, and 
        automatically monitoring environmental changes. However, 
        artificial intelligence applications may also have direct and 
        indirect negative environmental impacts, including rebound 
        effects, behavioral impacts, and accelerating high-pollution 
        activities.
            (7) Estimates of the current and future environmental 
        impacts of artificial intelligence are currently uncertain.
            (8) Negative environmental effects may have a disparate 
        impact across different regions and communities.
            (9) Various options exist to reduce the negative 
        environmental impacts of artificial intelligence, including 
        using more efficient models, hardware, and data centers, using 
        renewable energy, and examining the impacts of artificial 
        intelligence applications.
            (10) Promoting transparency and environmental protection 
        measures may help mitigate negative environmental impacts of 
        the rapid growth in artificial intelligence use, while 
        promoting artificial intelligence uses with net positive 
        environmental impacts.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Artificial intelligence.--The term ``artificial 
        intelligence'' has the meaning given such term in section 5002 
        of the National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act of 2020 
        (15 U.S.C. 9401).
            (2) Artificial intelligence model.--The term ``artificial 
        intelligence model'' means a component of an information system 
        that implements artificial intelligence technology and uses 
        computational, statistical, or machine-learning techniques to 
        produce outputs from a given set of inputs.
            (3) Artificial intelligence system.--The term ``artificial 
        intelligence system'' means any data system, software, 
        hardware, application, tool, or utility that operates in whole 
        or in part using artificial intelligence.
            (4) Voluntary reporting entity.--The term ``voluntary 
        reporting entity'' means any company, organization, or other 
        entity that--
                    (A) develops or operates an artificial intelligence 
                system; and
                    (B) chooses to participate in the reporting system 
                developed under section 6.

SEC. 4. STUDY ON ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, 
in collaboration with the Secretary of Energy, the Director of the 
National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the Director of the 
Office of Science and Technology Policy, shall carry out, and submit to 
Congress and make publicly available a report describing the results 
of, a comprehensive study on the environmental impacts of artificial 
intelligence.
    (b) Requirements.--The study required under subsection (a) shall 
include an examination of--
            (1) the energy consumption and pollution associated with 
        the full lifecycle of artificial intelligence models, including 
        the design, development, deployment, and use of those 
        artificial intelligence models;
            (2) the energy consumption and pollution associated with 
        the full lifecycle of artificial intelligence hardware, 
        including the extraction of raw materials, manufacturing, and 
        electronic waste associated with that hardware;
            (3) the energy and water consumption for the cooling of the 
        data centers used in the design, development, deployment, and 
        use of artificial intelligence models;
            (4) how choices made during the design, development, 
        deployment, and use of artificial intelligence models, 
        including the efficiency of the artificial intelligence models 
        used, the location, power source, and design of data centers 
        used, and the type of hardware used, impact the resulting 
        environmental impacts;
            (5) potential environmental impacts that could be acute at 
        local scales, which may include added power loads that create 
        grid stress, water withdrawals that create water stress, or 
        local noise impacts;
            (6) the positive environmental impacts associated with 
        applications of artificial intelligence, which may include 
        optimizing systems for energy efficiency, developing renewable 
        energy, advancing planetary systems research, enabling 
        discovery of new materials, and automatically monitoring 
        environmental changes;
            (7) the negative environmental impacts associated with 
        applications of artificial intelligence, which may include 
        rebound effects, behavioral impacts, and accelerating high-
        pollution activities;
            (8) disparate impacts in the negative environmental impacts 
        of artificial intelligence;
            (9) other environmental impacts, as determined by the 
        Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency; and
            (10) the results of the updated data center study carried 
        out under section 453(e)(2) of the Energy Independence and 
        Security Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 17112(e)(2)).
    (c) Public Comment Required.--In conducting the study required 
under subsection (a), the Administrator of the Environmental Protection 
Agency shall solicit and consider public comments.

SEC. 5. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS CONSORTIUM.

    (a) In General.--The Director of the National Institute of 
Standards and Technology shall, in consultation with the Administrator 
of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Secretary of Energy, and 
such others as the Director considers appropriate, convene a consortium 
of stakeholders, including members from academia, civil society, and 
industry, to identify the future measurements, methodologies, 
standards, and other appropriate needs, in order to measure and report 
the full range of environmental impacts of artificial intelligence.
    (b) Location.--The Director may determine the location of the 
consortium within the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
    (c) Goals.--The goals of the consortium shall include the 
following:
            (1) Facilitating consistent, comparable reporting on the 
        environmental impacts of the full lifecycle of artificial 
        intelligence models, systems, and hardware.
            (2) According to technical feasibility, the development or 
        cataloging of open source software and hardware tools and other 
        resources designed to facilitate the measurement of 
        environmental impacts of artificial intelligence models, 
        systems, and hardware.
            (3) Providing recommendations on how to mitigate the 
        negative, and promote the positive, environmental impacts of 
        artificial intelligence.

SEC. 6. REPORTING SYSTEM FOR VOLUNTARY REPORTING OF ENVIRONMENTAL 
              IMPACTS OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE.

    (a) Voluntary Reporting System.--The Director of the National 
Institute of Standards and Technology shall, in consultation with the 
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Secretary of 
Energy, the consortium convened under section 5, and such others as the 
Director considers appropriate, develop a system for voluntary 
reporting by voluntary reporting entities of the full range of 
environmental impacts of artificial intelligence.
    (b) Guidelines.--
            (1) In general.--The Director shall develop guidelines for 
        voluntary reporting entities on how to participate in the 
        voluntary reporting system developed under subsection (a). Such 
        guidelines may include guidelines on how to calculate and 
        report energy consumption, water consumption, pollution, and 
        electronic-waste associated with the full lifecycle of 
        artificial intelligence models and hardware, as well as other 
        positive and negative impacts of artificial intelligence use, 
        as determined by the Director.
            (2) Public comments.--Before finalizing the guidelines 
        under paragraph (1), the Director shall solicit comments from 
        the public on a draft version of the guidelines.
    (c) Availability.--The Director shall, to the maximum extent 
practicable and with consideration to privileged business information, 
make submissions to the voluntary reporting system under subsection (a) 
available on a public website.

SEC. 7. REPORT TO CONGRESS.

    Not later than 4 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Secretary 
of Energy, and the Director of the National Institute of Standards and 
Technology shall jointly submit to Congress a report detailing the 
following:
            (1) The main findings of the consortium convened under 
        section 5.
            (2) A description of the reporting system created under 
        section 6.
            (3) Recommendations for legislative or administrative 
        action to mitigate the negative and promote the positive 
        environmental impacts of artificial intelligence.
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