[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2325 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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116th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 2325
To establish a task force to review policies and measures to promote,
and to develop best practices for, reduction of short-lived climate
pollutants, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 30, 2019
Mr. Murphy (for himself and Ms. Collins) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and
Public Works
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish a task force to review policies and measures to promote,
and to develop best practices for, reduction of short-lived climate
pollutants, 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 ``Super Pollutants Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that--
(1) short-lived climate pollutants account for 40 percent
of near-term global warming impacting the atmosphere, even
though those pollutants account for a much smaller percentage
of warming agents by weight;
(2) reducing short-lived climate pollutant emissions
could--
(A) cut the rate of sea-level rise by 25 percent,
according to the National Center for Atmospheric
Research and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography;
and
(B) according to the United Nations Environment
Programme--
(i) prevent more than 2,000,000 premature
deaths each year;
(ii) prevent more than 30,000,000 tons of
crop losses each year;
(iii) cut the rate of warming by up to 0.6
degrees Celsius by 2050; and
(iv) significantly contribute toward the
overall global target of holding increased
warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius;
(3) the United States--
(A) is one of the largest consumers of
hydrofluorocarbons in the world;
(B) provides significant innovation in the
development and commercialization of low-global warming
potential alternatives that are already penetrating
markets worldwide; and
(C) could serve as a leader and exemplar of
responsibly phasing down hydrofluorocarbon production
and consumption, with strong support from industries
that formerly used hydrofluorocarbons but are
transitioning quickly to lower-global warming potential
alternatives;
(4) the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the
Ozone Layer has been an extraordinarily successful model for--
(A) protecting the stratospheric ozone layer; and
(B) achieving significant climate protection
cobenefits;
(5) since the Montreal Protocol was signed in 1987, there
has been an elimination of more than 95 percent of ozone-
depleting substances;
(6) on full implementation of the Montreal Protocol, the
ozone layer should return to pre-1980 levels by 2050; and
(7) the Interagency Strategy to Reduce Methane Emissions,
released in March 2014, outlines a proactive agenda for
reducing methane leakage and waste throughout the United States
economy.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
(2) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term
``appropriate congressional committees'' means the Committee on
Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives and the
Committee on Environment and Public Works of the Senate.
(3) High-GWP hfc.--The term ``high-GWP HFC'' means newly
manufactured hydrofluorocarbons with a global warming potential
calculated over a 100-year period of greater than 150, as
described in the Fifth Assessment Report of the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
(4) Relevant federal agency.--The term ``relevant Federal
agency'' ``relevant Federal agency'' means the Department of
Agriculture, the Department of Commerce, the Department of
Defense, the Department of Energy, the Department of Health and
Human Services, the Department of the Interior, the Department
of State, the Department of Transportation, the Environmental
Protection Agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, the Council on Environmental Quality, the
United States Agency for International Development, and any
other Federal agency the President determines appropriate.
(5) Short-lived climate pollutant.--The term ``short-lived
climate pollutant'' means--
(A) black carbon;
(B) methane; and
(C) high-GWP HFC.
(6) Task force.--The term ``Task Force'' means the
Interagency Task Force on Short-Lived Climate Pollutant
Mitigation established under section 4(a).
SEC. 4. INTERAGENCY TASK FORCE ON SHORT-LIVED CLIMATE POLLUTANT
MITIGATION.
(a) Establishment.--Not later than 90 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the President shall establish a task force, to
be known as the Interagency Task Force on Short-Lived Climate Pollutant
Mitigation.
(b) Membership.--The members of the Task Force shall include the
head (or a designee thereof) of each relevant Federal agency.
(c) Duties.--The Task Force shall--
(1) not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of
this Act, submit to the appropriate congressional committees a
report that includes specific plans of each relevant Federal
agency--
(A) to purchase cleaner alternatives to high-GWP
HFC whenever feasible; and
(B) to transition over time to equipment that uses
safer and more sustainable alternatives to high-GWP
HFC;
(2) review the policy recommendations made by--
(A) the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change;
(B) the United States Climate Alliance;
(C) the Interagency Strategy to Reduce Methane
Emissions;
(D) the Council on Climate Preparedness and
Resilience; and
(E) the Clean Cooking Alliance;
(3) develop an action plan to reduce short-lived climate
pollutants that incorporates any appropriate proposals or
recommendations made by the entities referred to in paragraph
(2) that are relevant to short-lived climate pollutants;
(4) identify any Federal program that is, or could be,
relevant to reducing short-lived climate pollutants--
(A) in the United States; or
(B) worldwide;
(5) identify overlapping and duplicative Federal programs
addressing short-lived climate pollutants that would benefit
from consolidation and streamlining;
(6) identify gaps and serious deficiencies in Federal
programs targeted at short-lived climate pollutants, including
gaps and deficiencies that can be addressed through a
combination of assessment, scientific research, monitoring, and
technological development activities, with an emphasis on--
(A) industry standards; and
(B) public-private partnerships;
(7) in developing recommendations, consult with affected
stakeholders in private industry; and
(8) not later than 18 months after the date of enactment of
this Act, submit to the appropriate congressional committees a
report describing the findings and recommendations resulting
from the activities described in paragraphs (2) through (7).
SEC. 5. REDUCTION OF BLACK CARBON EMISSIONS.
(a) Comprehensive Plan.--
(1) In general.--Consistent with strategies adopted by the
International Maritime Organization to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions from ships, the Secretary of State, in consultation
with the Secretary of Transportation, the Secretary of
Commerce, the Administrator, and the Commandant of the Coast
Guard, shall develop a comprehensive plan to reduce black
carbon emissions from ships based on appropriate emissions data
from oceangoing vessels. The plan shall provide for such
reduction through--
(A) a clean freight partnership;
(B) limits on black carbon emissions; and
(C) efforts that include protection of access to
critical fuel shipments and emergency needs of coastal
communities.
(2) Roadmap.--A principal objective of the plan developed
pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be the establishment, in
coordination with the Secretary of Transportation, of a roadmap
for helping countries to reduce fine-particle (PM2.5) and black
carbon emissions in the shipping sector through--
(A) the installation of advanced emissions
controls;
(B) the reduction of sulfur content in fuels; and
(C) the adoption of black carbon control policies.
(b) Black Carbon Emissions Reduction Goals.--The Secretary of
State, in coordination with relevant Federal agencies, shall--
(1) lead an effort to reduce black carbon through an
Arctic-wide aspirational black carbon goal; and
(2) encourage observers of the Arctic Council (including
India and China) to adopt mitigation plans consistent with the
findings and recommendations of the Arctic Council's Framework
for Action on Black Carbon and Methane.
(c) Climate and Clean Air Coalition.--The Secretary of State is
encouraged to work with the Climate and Clean Air Coalition To Reduce
Short-Lived Climate Pollutants to craft specific financing mechanisms
for the incremental cost of international black carbon mitigation
activities.
(d) Black Carbon Mitigation Activities.--
(1) Prioritization.--The Administrator of the United States
Agency for International Development, in cooperation with the
Administrator, shall--
(A) encourage black carbon mitigation activities as
part of official development assistance and
programmatic activities;
(B) give special emphasis to projects that produce
substantial environmental, gender, livelihood, and
public health benefits, including support for clean-
burning cookstoves and fuels; and
(C) work with the Global Alliance for Clean
Cookstoves to help developing nations establish
thriving markets for clean and efficient cooking
solutions.
(2) Emissions reductions.--The Secretary of State, in
collaboration with the Administrator and the Secretary of
Transportation, shall provide aid to international efforts to
reduce black carbon emissions from diesel trucks and ships, 2-
stroke engines, diesel generators, and industrial processes by
providing technical assistance--
(A) to help developing nations lower the sulfur
content of diesel fuels;
(B) to expand access to diesel particulate filters;
(C) to provide vehicle manufacturers with low-
emission engine designs;
(D) to develop other mitigation activities,
including energy efficiency alternatives for generators
and industrial processes; and
(E) to reduce ammonia emissions from agriculture.
SEC. 6. GLOBAL REDUCTIONS IN HIGH-GWP FLUORINATED GASES.
(a) Sense of Congress Regarding Energy Star.--It is the sense of
Congress that the Administrator, in cooperation with the Secretary of
Energy, should consider modifications to the Energy Star program
established under section 324A of the Energy Policy and Conservation
Act (42 U.S.C. 6294a) to include refrigerant systems that--
(1) achieve best-in-class energy efficiency savings; and
(2) use next generation technologies for refrigerants and
foam-blowing agents.
(b) Report.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 2 years after the date of
enactment of this Act, the National Academies of Sciences,
Engineering, and Medicine, in collaboration with the
Administrator, the Secretary of Energy, the Secretary of
Transportation, and the National Institute of Standards and
Technology, shall submit to the Congress and publish a report
that--
(A) identifies and evaluates substitute
technologies, products, practices, and processes for
fluorinated compounds on a sector-by-sector basis for
the sectors described in paragraph (2);
(B) identifies and describes the legal, regulatory,
technical, and other barriers to the development and
broader deployment of substitutes for fluorinated
compounds within the sectors described in paragraph (2)
and subsectors therein in which such fluorinated
compounds are produced, used, and emitted;
(C) includes recommendations regarding any changes
in Federal law, regulation, guidance, and practice that
can lower, avoid, or eliminate the barriers identified
in subparagraph (B); and
(D) includes the earliest possible dates, or date
ranges, by which each sector described in paragraph (2)
can cease producing, using, and emitting fluorinated
compounds and transition to substitute technologies,
products, practices, and processes, taking into account
technological feasibility, safety, availability,
environmental protection, and other relevant factors,
including, where applicable, the life-cycle climate
performance of fluorinated compounds and their
substitutes.
(2) Sectors described.--The sectors described in this
paragraph are the following sectors:
(A) Natural resource extraction and refining.
(B) Power generation and transmission.
(C) Transportation.
(D) Solid waste.
(E) Chemical production, and chemical industrial
and commercial uses.
(F) Agriculture.
(G) Wastewater.
(H) Buildings.
(I) Any other sector or subsector that the National
Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
determines relevant.
(c) Sense of Senate Regarding Leadership and Support.--It is the
sense of the Senate that United States should provide leadership and
full support of the amendment agreed to on October 15, 2016, by the
parties to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone
Layer, done at Montreal September 16, 1987, which ensures a smooth,
technically feasible global transition away from high-GWP HFC.
(d) Reclaimed Refrigerants.--
(1) Requirement.--
(A) In general.--Except as provided in subparagraph
(B), a refrigerant that is recovered shall be reclaimed
before the refrigerant is sold or transferred to a new
owner.
(B) Exception.--Subparagraph (A) shall not apply in
any case in which a recovered refrigerant is sold or
transferred to a new owner solely for the purpose of
being reclaimed or destroyed.
(2) Promoting use in public buildings.--
(A) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the
date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of
General Services shall issue guidance relating to the
procurement of reclaimed refrigerants to service
existing equipment in public buildings.
(B) Preference.--The guidance issued under
subparagraph (A) shall give preference to the use of
reclaimed refrigerants if--
(i) the refrigerant was reclaimed by an
individual or entity that is certified under
the laboratory certification program of the Air
Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration
Institute; and
(ii) the price of the reclaimed refrigerant
does not exceed the price of a newly
manufactured refrigerant.
SEC. 7. REDUCTION OF METHANE EMISSIONS.
(a) Technical Guidance.--The Administrator, the Secretary of
Commerce, the Secretary of Energy, and the Secretary of State shall--
(1) provide to foreign countries technical guidance
regarding containment of emissions from gas drilling,
landfills, coal mining, and agriculture, including through
trade delegations and international initiatives such as--
(A) the Global Shale Gas Initiative of the
Department of State; and
(B) the Global Methane Initiative; and
(2) collaborate with--
(A) the Global Gas Flaring Reduction Partnership of
the World Bank; and
(B) the Global Methane Initiative, the Natural Gas
STAR Program, the Climate and Clean Air Coalition Oil
and Gas Methane Partnership, and other voluntary
reduction programs of the Environmental Protection
Agency.
(b) Methane Targets.--
(1) Codifying final nsps rule.--The amendments to the Code
of Federal Regulations made pursuant to the final rule of the
Environmental Protection Agency, titled ``Oil and Natural Gas
Sector: Emission Standards for New, Reconstructed, and Modified
Sources'', and published in the Federal Register on June 3,
2016 (81 Fed. Reg. 35824 et seq.), shall have the same force
and effect of law as if such amendments had been enacted by an
Act of Congress, except that the Administrator may revise such
provisions, consistent with the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7401
et seq.), if such revision would result in a net reduction in
methane or other greenhouse gas emissions.
(2) Sense of congress regarding methane reductions from
existing facilities.--It is the sense of Congress that--
(A) oil and gas operations should reduce methane
emissions from oil and gas by 40 to 45 percent below
2012 levels by 2025;
(B) voluntary efforts by select members of the oil
and gas industry, such as the Oil and Gas Climate
Initiative, which has pledged to reduce the methane
intensity of upstream gas and oil operations to less
than 0.25 percent by calendar year 2025, should be
adopted by the industry as a whole; and
(C) if the results of voluntary efforts fail to
yield significant emissions reductions, as described in
subparagraph (A), pursuant to section 111(d) of the
Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7411(d)), the Administrator
should--
(i) not later than 1 year after the date of
enactment of this Act, propose standards of
performance for methane emissions from existing
oil and gas operations; and
(ii) not later than 1 year after the
deadline described in clause (i), finalize the
standards described in that clause.
(c) Senses of Congress.--
(1) United states leadership.--It is the sense of Congress
that United States leadership supports the guiding principles
on ``Reducing methane emissions across the national gas value
chain'' published in November 2017.
(2) Financing conditions.--It is the sense of Congress
that, in evaluating gas and oil-related projects for financial
support, the United States Export-Import Bank and the Overseas
Private Investment Corporation should condition financing for
those projects on--
(A) the deployment of the best technology, methods,
and management practices for detecting and repairing
leaks of methane throughout the oil and gas production,
processing, transportation, and distribution system;
(B) the minimization of venting and inefficient or
unnecessary flaring; and
(C) the deployment of best technology, methods, and
management practices for reducing emissions of other
air pollution, especially--
(i) volatile organic compounds; and
(ii) hazardous air pollutants.
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