[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 228 (Tuesday, November 26, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Page 70586]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-28242]


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OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET


Technical Support Document: Technical Update of the Social Cost 
of Carbon for Regulatory Impact Analysis Under Executive Order No. 
12866

AGENCY: Office of Management and Budget, Executive Office of the 
President.

ACTION: Notice of availability and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) requests comments on 
the Technical Support Document entitled Technical Update of the Social 
Cost of Carbon for Regulatory Impact Analysis Under Executive Order 
12866, available at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/assets/inforeg/technical-update-social-cost-of-carbon-for-regulator-impact-analysis.pdf. The Social Cost of Carbon (SCC) is used to 
estimate the value to society of marginal reductions in carbon 
emissions. This Technical Support Document explains the derivation of 
the SCC estimates using three peer reviewed integrated assessment 
models and provides updated values of the SCC that reflect minor 
technical corrections to the estimates released in May of this year.
    OMB requests that comments be submitted electronically to OMB by 
January 27, 2014 through www.regulations.gov.

DATES: To ensure consideration, comments must be in writing and 
received by January 27, 2014.

ADDRESSES: Submit comments by one of the following methods:
     www.regulations.gov: Direct comments to Docket ID OMB-OMB-
2013-0007.
     Email: [email protected].
     Fax: (202) 395-7285.
     Mail: Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office 
of Management and Budget, Attn: Mabel Echols, NEOB, Room 10202, 725 
17th Street NW., Washington, DC 20503. To ensure that your comments are 
received, we recommend that comments be electronically submitted.
    All comments and recommendations submitted in response to this 
notice will be made available to the public. For this reason, please do 
not include in your comments information of a confidential nature, such 
as sensitive personal information or proprietary information. The 
www.regulations.gov Web site is an ``anonymous access'' system, which 
means OMB will not know your identity or contact information unless you 
provide it in the body of your comment.
    For further information, contact: Mabel Echols, Office of 
Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, 
NEOB, Room 10202, 725 17th Street NW., Washington, DC 20503. Telephone: 
(202) 395-3741.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Rigorous evaluation of costs and benefits is 
a core tenet of the rulemaking process. It is particularly important in 
the area of climate change. The current estimate of the social cost of 
CO2 emissions (SCC) has been developed over many years, 
using the best science available, and with input from the public.
    In February 2010, after considering public comments on interim 
values that agencies used in a number of rules, an interagency group of 
technical experts, coordinated by OMB and the Council of Economic 
Advisers (CEA), released improved SCC estimates. The interagency group 
estimated the improved SCC values using the most widely cited climate 
economic impact models. Those climate impact models, known as 
integrated assessment models, were developed by outside experts and 
published in the peer-reviewed literature. Recognizing that the models 
underlying the SCC estimates would evolve and improve over time as 
scientific and economic understanding increased, the Administration 
committed in 2010 to regular updates of these estimates.
    In May of this year, after all three of the underlying models were 
updated and used in peer-reviewed literature, and agencies received 
public comments urging them to update their estimates, the interagency 
group released revised SCC values. The May 2013 estimates reflect 
values that are similar to those used by other governments, 
international institutions, and major corporations. Those estimates 
have been available for public comment in several proposed rulemakings 
since May, and agencies have already received comments that are under 
review.
    The revised Technical Support Document that was issued in November, 
2013 is based on the best available scientific information on the 
impacts of climate change. We will continue to refine the SCC estimates 
to ensure that agencies are appropriately measuring the social cost of 
carbon emissions as they evaluate the costs and benefits of rules.
    Request for Comment: OMB requests comments on all aspects of the 
TSD (http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/inforeg/for-agencies/Social-Cost-of-Carbon-for-RIA.pdf) and its use of integrated 
assessment models (IAMs) to estimate SCC values to support agency 
regulatory impact analyses. We are particularly interested in comments 
on the following topics:
     The selection of the three IAMs for use in the analysis 
and the synthesis of the resulting SCC estimates, as outlined in the 
2010 TSD the model inputs used to develop the SCC estimates, including 
economic growth, emissions trajectories, climate sensitivity and 
intergenerational discounting;
     how the distribution of SCC estimates should be 
represented in regulatory impact analyses; and
     the strengths and limitations of the overall approach (see 
also the February, 2010 TSD available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/inforeg/for-agencies/Social-Cost-of-Carbon-for-RIA.pdf).
    OMB is not requesting comments on the three peer reviewed IAMs 
themselves; rather we are requesting comments on their use in 
developing the SCC estimates.

Howard Shelanski,
Administrator, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.
[FR Doc. 2013-28242 Filed 11-25-13; 8:45 am]
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