H.R. 1582 — Referred from Senate

IIB 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. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Energy Consumers Relief Act of 2013. 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. 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. 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. 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. Karen L. Haas, Clerk