[House Report 113-374]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


113th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session                                                     113-374

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   PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF THE BILL (H.R. 2824) TO AMEND THE 
SURFACE MINING CONTROL AND RECLAMATION ACT OF 1977 TO STOP THE ONGOING 
   WASTE BY THE DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR OF TAXPAYER RESOURCES AND 
IMPLEMENT THE FINAL RULE ON EXCESS SPOIL, MINING WASTE, AND BUFFERS FOR 
 PERENNIAL AND INTERMITTENT STREAMS, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES; PROVIDING 
   FOR CONSIDERATION OF THE BILL (H.R. 2641) TO PROVIDE FOR IMPROVED 
   COORDINATION OF AGENCY ACTIONS IN THE PREPARATION AND ADOPTION OF 
 ENVIRONMENTAL DOCUMENTS FOR PERMITTING DETERMINATIONS, AND FOR OTHER 
  PURPOSES; AND PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF MOTIONS TO SUSPEND THE 
                                 RULES

                                _______
                                

   March 5, 2014.--Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be 
                                printed

                                _______
                                

               Mr. Webster, from the Committee on Rules, 
                        submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                       [To accompany H. Res. 501]

    The Committee on Rules, having had under consideration 
House Resolution 501, by a record vote of 7 to 4, report the 
same to the House with the recommendation that the resolution 
be adopted.

                SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS OF THE RESOLUTION

    The resolution provides for consideration of H.R. 2824, 
Preventing Government Waste and Protecting Coal Mining Jobs in 
America, under a structured rule. The resolution provides one 
hour of general debate equally divided and controlled by the 
chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Natural 
Resources. The resolution waives all points of order against 
consideration of the bill. The resolution makes in order as 
original text for the purpose of amendment an amendment in the 
nature of a substitute consisting of the text of Rules 
Committee Print 113-41, modified by the amendment printed in 
part A of this report, and provides that it shall be considered 
as read. The resolution waives all points of order against that 
amendment in the nature of a substitute. The resolution makes 
in order only those further amendments to H.R. 2824 printed in 
part B of this report. Each such amendment may be offered only 
in the order printed in this report, may be offered only by a 
Member designated in this report, shall be considered as read, 
shall be debatable for the time specified in this report 
equally divided and controlled by the proponent and an 
opponent, shall not be subject to amendment, and shall not be 
subject to a demand for division of the question in the House 
or in the Committee of the Whole. The resolution waives all 
points of order against the amendments printed in part B of 
this report. The rule provides one motion to recommit with or 
without instructions.
    Section 2 of the resolution provides for consideration of 
H.R. 2641, the Responsibly And Professionally Invigorating 
Development Act of 2013, under a structured rule. The 
resolution provides one hour of general debate equally divided 
and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the 
Committee on the Judiciary. The resolution waives all points of 
order against consideration of the bill. The resolution makes 
in order as original text for the purpose of amendment an 
amendment in the nature of a substitute consisting of the text 
of Rules Committee Print 113-39 and provides that it shall be 
considered as read. The resolution waives all points of order 
against that amendment in the nature of a substitute. The 
resolution makes in order only those further amendments to H.R. 
2641 printed in part C of this report. Each such amendment may 
be offered only in the order printed in this report, may be 
offered only by a Member designated in this report, shall be 
considered as read, shall be debatable for the time specified 
in this report equally divided and controlled by the proponent 
and an opponent, shall not be subject to amendment, and shall 
not be subject to a demand for division of the question in the 
House or in the Committee of the Whole. The resolution waives 
all points of order against the amendments printed in part C of 
this report. The resolution provides one motion to recommit 
with or without instructions.
    Section 3 of the resolution provides that it shall be in 
order at any time on the legislative day of March 6, 2014, for 
the Speaker to entertain motions that the House suspend the 
rules relating to a measure addressing loan guarantees to 
Ukraine.

                         EXPLANATION OF WAIVERS

    Although the resolution waives all points of order against 
consideration of H.R. 2824, the Committee is not aware of any 
points of order. The waiver is prophylactic in nature.
    Although the resolution waives all points of order against 
the amendment in the nature of a substitute to H.R. 2824 made 
in order as original text, the Committee is not aware of any 
points of order. The waiver is prophylactic in nature.
    Although the resolution waives all points of order against 
the amendments to H.R. 2824 printed in part B of this report, 
the Committee is not aware of any points of order. The waiver 
is prophylactic in nature.
    Although the resolution waives all points of order against 
consideration of H.R. 2641, the Committee is not aware of any 
points of order. The waiver is prophylactic in nature.
    Although the resolution waives all points of order against 
the amendment in the nature of a substitute to H.R. 2641 made 
in order as original text, the Committee is not aware of any 
points of order. The waiver is prophylactic in nature.
    Although the resolution waives all points of order against 
the amendments to H.R. 2641 printed in part C of this report, 
the Committee is not aware of any points of order. The waiver 
is prophylactic in nature.

                            COMMITTEE VOTES

    The results of each record vote on an amendment or motion 
to report, together with the names of those voting for and 
against, are printed below:

Rules Committee record vote No. 114

    Motion by Ms. Slaughter to report open rules for H.R. 2824 
and H.R. 2641. Defeated: 4-7.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                Majority Members                      Vote               Minority Members               Vote
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ms. Foxx........................................          Nay   Ms. Slaughter.....................          Yea
Mr. Bishop of Utah..............................  ............  Mr. McGovern......................          Yea
Mr. Cole........................................          Nay   Mr. Hastings of Florida...........          Yea
Mr. Woodall.....................................  ............  Mr. Polis.........................          Yea
Mr. Nugent......................................          Nay
Mr. Webster.....................................          Nay
Ms. Ros-Lehtinen................................          Nay
Mr. Burgess.....................................          Nay
Mr. Sessions, Chairman..........................          Nay
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rules Committee record vote No. 115

    Motion by Ms. Foxx to report the rule. Adopted: 7-4.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                Majority Members                      Vote               Minority Members               Vote
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ms. Foxx........................................          Yea   Ms. Slaughter.....................          Nay
Mr. Bishop of Utah..............................  ............  Mr. McGovern......................          Nay
Mr. Cole........................................          Yea   Mr. Hastings of Florida...........          Nay
Mr. Woodall.....................................  ............  Mr. Polis.........................          Nay
Mr. Nugent......................................          Yea
Mr. Webster.....................................          Yea
Ms. Ros-Lehtinen................................          Yea
Mr. Burgess.....................................          Yea
Mr. Sessions, Chairman..........................          Yea
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 SUMMARY OF THE AMENDMENT TO H.R. 2824 IN PART A CONSIDERED AS ADOPTED

    Hastings, Doc (WA): MANAGER'S Updates the legislation to 
reflect and address recent litigation.

     SUMMARY OF THE AMENDMENTS TO H.R. 2824 IN PART B MADE IN ORDER

    1. Lowenthal (CA): Requires States to implement the June 
30, 1983 Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement 
stream buffer zone rule, unless a State has a program with 
greater stream protection. (10 minutes)
    2. Cartwright (PA), Van Hollen (MD), Lowenthal (CA): 
Ensures that states maintain the ability to issue their own 
stream buffer rules. (10 minutes)

     SUMMARY OF THE AMENDMENTS TO H.R. 2641 IN PART C MADE IN ORDER

    1. Jackson Lee (TX): Strikes deemed approved language for 
any project for which an agency does not meet the deadlines 
contained in the bill. (10 minutes)
    2. McKinley (WV): Does not allow agencies under this 
legislation to take into account the ``social cost of carbon'' 
from the ``Technical Support Document: Social Cost of Carbon 
for Regulatory Impact Analysis Under Executive Order 12866 from 
May 2013 or November 2013.'' (10 minutes)
    3. Webster (FL), Rigell (VA): Provides for projects that 
are under environmental review at the time of enactment to be 
completed within the deadlines that the underlying bill 
outlines. (10 minutes)
    4. Nadler (NY): Exempts from the bill any construction 
project for a nuclear facility planned in an area designated as 
an earthquake fault zone. (10 minutes)
    5. Johnson, Hank (GA): Clarifies that nothing in the bill 
will change or limit any law or regulation allowing for public 
comment or participation in an agency decision making process. 
(10 minutes)

      PART A--TEXT OF AMENDMENT TO H.R. 2824 CONSIDERED AS ADOPTED

  Page 1, line 17, before the last period insert ``which 
complies with the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 
1531 et seq.) in view of the 2006 discussions between the 
Director of the Office of Surface Mining and the Director of 
the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Office of 
Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement's consideration and 
review of comments submitted by the United States Fish and 
Wildlife Service during the rulemaking process in 2007''.
  Page 2, strike ``and'' after the semicolon at line 12, and 
after line 12 insert the following (and redesignate the 
subsequent subparagraph accordingly):
                  ``(C) carry out all required consultation on 
                the benefits and other impacts of the 
                implementation of the rule to any threatened 
                species or endangered species, with the 
                participation of the United States Fish and 
                Wildlife Service and the United States 
                Geological Survey; and

         PART B--TEXT OF AMENDMENTS TO H.R. 2824 MADE IN ORDER

1. An Amendment To Be Offered by Representative Lowenthal of California 
               or His Designee, Debatable for 10 Minutes

  Page 1, beginning at line 16, strike ``December 12, 2008 (73 
Fed. Reg. 75813 et seq.)'' and insert ``June 30, 1983 (48 Fed. 
Reg. 30312), except that this paragraph shall not apply to a 
State if the Governor of the State notifies the Secretary that 
such application would reduce stream protection from the level 
of protection achieved by the State program as in effect on the 
date of the enactment of the Preventing Government Waste and 
Protecting Coal Mining Jobs in America''.
                              ----------                              


     2. An Amendment To Be Offered by Representative Cartwright of 
         Pennsylvania or His Designee, Debatable for 10 Minutes

  Page 1, line 17, before the last period insert ``, except 
that this subsection shall not apply to a State if, upon 
request from the Governor of the State, the Secretary finds 
that the State's existing program exceeds the standards 
established by such rule regarding excess spoil, coal mine 
waste, and buffers for perennial and intermittent streams''.

         PART C--TEXT OF AMENDMENTS TO H.R. 2641 MADE IN ORDER

1. An Amendment To Be Offered by Representative Jackson Lee of Texas or 
                 Her Designee, Debatable for 10 Minutes

  Page 25, strike lines 1 through 19.
                              ----------                              


   2. An Amendment To Be Offered by Representative McKinley of West 
           Virginia or His Designee, Debatable for 10 Minutes

  Page 27, insert after line 17 the following, and redesignate 
succeeding subsections accordingly:
  ``(k) Limitation on Use of Social Cost of Carbon .--
          ``(1) In general.--In the case of any environmental 
        review or environmental decisionmaking process, a lead 
        agency may not use the social cost of carbon.
          ``(2) Definition.--In this subsection, the term 
        `social cost of carbon' means the social cost of carbon 
        as described in the technical support 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, revised in 
        November 2013, or any successor thereto or 
        substantially related document, or any other estimate 
        of the monetized damages associated with an incremental 
        increase in carbon dioxide emissions in a given 
        year.''.
                              ----------                              


 3. An Amendment To Be Offered by Representative Webster of Florida or 
                 His Designee, Debatable for 10 Minutes

  Page 30, line 9, insert after ``subchapter.'' the following: 
``In the case of a project for which an environmental review or 
environmental decisionmaking process was initiated prior to the 
date of enactment of this subchapter, the provisions of 
subsection (i) shall apply, except that, notwithstanding any 
other provision of this section, in determining a deadline 
under such subsection, any applicable period of time shall be 
calculated as beginning from the date of enactment of this 
subchapter.''.
                              ----------                              


 4. An Amendment To Be Offered by Representative Nadler of New York or 
                 His Designee, Debatable for 10 Minutes

  Page 30, line 23, insert after ``112-141).'' the following:
  ``(q) Exception.--
          ``(1) In general.--Notwithstanding any other 
        provision of this section, the provisions of this 
        section shall not apply in the case of a project 
        described in paragraph (2), or an environmental 
        document pertaining to such a project.
          ``(2) Project described.--A project described in this 
        paragraph is any project that pertains to a nuclear 
        facility in an area designated as an earthquake fault 
        zone.''.
                              ----------                              


 5. An Amendment To Be Offered by Representative Johnson of Georgia or 
                 His Designee, Debatable for 10 Minutes

  Page 32, after line 2, insert the following:
  (d) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this Act or the 
amendments made by this Act shall have the effect of changing 
or limiting any law or regulation that requires or provides for 
public comment or public participation in an agency decision 
making process.

                                  
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