[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1582 Referred in Senate (RFS)]
113th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1582
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
September 9, 2013
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and
Public Works
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
To protect consumers by prohibiting the Administrator of the
Environmental Protection Agency from promulgating as final certain
energy-related rules that are estimated to cost more than $1 billion
and will cause significant adverse effects to the economy.
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 ``Energy Consumers Relief Act of
2013''.
SEC. 2. PROHIBITION AGAINST FINALIZING CERTAIN ENERGY-RELATED RULES
THAT WILL CAUSE SIGNIFICANT ADVERSE EFFECTS TO THE
ECONOMY.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Administrator of
the Environmental Protection Agency may not promulgate as final an
energy-related rule that is estimated to cost more than $1 billion if
the Secretary of Energy determines under section 3(3) that the rule
will cause significant adverse effects to the economy.
SEC. 3. REPORTS AND DETERMINATIONS PRIOR TO PROMULGATING AS FINAL
CERTAIN ENERGY-RELATED RULES.
Before promulgating as final any energy-related rule that is
estimated to cost more than $1 billion:
(1) Report to congress.--The Administrator of the
Environmental Protection Agency shall submit to Congress a
report (and transmit a copy to the Secretary of Energy)
containing--
(A) a copy of the rule;
(B) a concise general statement relating to the
rule;
(C) an estimate of the total costs of the rule,
including the direct costs and indirect costs of the
rule;
(D)(i) an estimate of the total benefits of the
rule and when such benefits are expected to be
realized;
(ii) a description of the modeling, the
calculations, the assumptions, and the limitations due
to uncertainty, speculation, or lack of information
associated with the estimates under this subparagraph;
and
(iii) a certification that all data and documents
relied upon by the Agency in developing such
estimates--
(I) have been preserved; and
(II) are available for review by the public
on the Agency's Web site, except to the extent
to which publication of such data and documents
would constitute disclosure of confidential
information in violation of applicable Federal
law;
(E) an estimate of the increases in energy prices,
including potential increases in gasoline or
electricity prices for consumers, that may result from
implementation or enforcement of the rule; and
(F) a detailed description of the employment
effects, including potential job losses and shifts in
employment, that may result from implementation or
enforcement of the rule.
(2) Initial determination on increases and impacts.--The
Secretary of Energy, in consultation with the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission and the Administrator of the Energy
Information Administration, shall prepare an independent
analysis to determine whether the rule will cause--
(A) any increase in energy prices for consumers,
including low-income households, small businesses, and
manufacturers;
(B) any impact on fuel diversity of the Nation's
electricity generation portfolio or on national,
regional, or local electric reliability;
(C) any adverse effect on energy supply,
distribution, or use due to the economic or technical
infeasibility of implementing the rule; or
(D) any other adverse effect on energy supply,
distribution, or use (including a shortfall in supply
and increased use of foreign supplies).
(3) Subsequent determination on adverse effects to the
economy.--If the Secretary of Energy determines, under
paragraph (2), that the rule will cause an increase, impact, or
effect described in such paragraph, then the Secretary, in
consultation with the Administrator of the Environmental
Protection Agency, the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of
Labor, and the Administrator of the Small Business
Administration, shall--
(A) determine whether the rule will cause
significant adverse effects to the economy, taking into
consideration--
(i) the costs and benefits of the rule and
limitations in calculating such costs and
benefits due to uncertainty, speculation, or
lack of information; and
(ii) the positive and negative impacts of
the rule on economic indicators, including
those related to gross domestic product,
unemployment, wages, consumer prices, and
business and manufacturing activity; and
(B) publish the results of such determination in
the Federal Register.
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) The terms ``direct costs'' and ``indirect costs'' have
the meanings given such terms in chapter 8 of the Environmental
Protection Agency's ``Guidelines for Preparing Economic
Analyses'' dated December 17, 2010.
(2) The term ``energy-related rule that is estimated to
cost more than $1 billion'' means a rule of the Environmental
Protection Agency that--
(A) regulates any aspect of the production, supply,
distribution, or use of energy or provides for such
regulation by States or other governmental entities;
and
(B) is estimated by the Administrator of the
Environmental Protection Agency or the Director of the
Office of Management and Budget to impose direct costs
and indirect costs, in the aggregate, of more than
$1,000,000,000.
(3) The term ``rule'' has the meaning given to such term in
section 551 of title 5, United States Code.
SEC. 5. PROHIBITION ON USE OF SOCIAL COST OF CARBON IN ANALYSIS.
(a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law or any
executive order, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection
Agency may not use the social cost of carbon in order to incorporate
social benefits of reducing carbon dioxide emissions, or for any other
reason, in any cost-benefit analysis relating to an energy-related rule
that is estimated to cost more than $1 billion unless and until a
Federal law is enacted authorizing such use.
(b) Definition.--In this section, 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,
or any successor 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.
Passed the House of Representatives August 1, 2013.
Attest:
KAREN L. HAAS,
Clerk.