S. 2161 — Introduced in Senate

II 113th CONGRESS 2d Session S. 2161 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES March 26, 2014 Mr. Inhofe (for himself, Mr. McConnell, Mr. Cornyn, Mr. Thune, Mr. Barrasso, Mr. Blunt, Mr. Vitter, Mr. Sessions, Mr. Crapo, Mr. Chambliss, Mr. Coats, Mr. Coburn, Mr. Cruz, Mr. Flake, Mr. Isakson, Mr. Johnson of Wisconsin, Mr. Moran, Mr. Risch, Mr. Scott, Mr. Shelby, Mr. Enzi, Mr. Cochran, Mr. Lee, Mr. Johanns, Mr. Roberts, Mr. Grassley, Mr. Wicker, Mr. Boozman, Mr. Burr, and Mr. Graham) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works A BILL To prohibit the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency from issuing any final rule under the Clean Air Act until the date on which the Administrator improves certain employment effect analyses under that Act. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the EPA Employment Impact Analysis Act. 2. Analysis of employment effects under the Clean Air Act (a) Findings Congress finds that— (1) the Environmental Protection Agency has systematically distorted the true impact of regulations promulgated by the Environmental Protection Agency under the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.) on job creation by using incomplete analyses to assess effects on employment, primarily as a result of the Environmental Protection Agency failing to take into account the cascading effects of a regulatory change across interconnected industries and markets nationwide; (2) despite the Environmental Protection Agency finding that the impact of certain air pollution regulations will result in net job creation, implementation of the air pollution regulations will actually require billions of dollars in compliance costs, resulting in reduced business profits and millions of actual job losses; (3) (A) the analysis of the Environmental Protection Agency of the final rule of the Agency entitled National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants From Coal- and Oil-Fired Electric Utility Steam Generating Units and Standards of Performance for Fossil-Fuel-Fired Electric Utility, Industrial-Commercial-Institutional, and Small Industrial-Commercial-Institutional Steam Generating Units (77 Fed. Reg. 9304 (Feb. 16, 2012)) estimated that implementation of the final rule would result in the creation of 46,000 temporary construction jobs and 8,000 net new permanent jobs; but (B) a private study conducted by NERA Economic Consulting, using a whole economy model, estimated that implementation of the final rule described in subparagraph (A) would result in a negative impact on the income of workers in an amount equivalent to 180,000 to 215,000 lost jobs in 2015 and 50,000 to 85,000 lost jobs each year thereafter; (4) (A) the analysis of the Environmental Protection Agency of the final rule of the Agency entitled Federal Implementation Plans: Interstate Transport of Fine Particulate Matter and Ozone and Correction of SIP Approvals (76 Fed. Reg. 48208 (Aug. 8, 2011)) estimated that implementation of the final rule would result in the creation of 700 jobs per year; but (B) a private study conducted by NERA Economic Consulting estimated that implementation of the final rule described in subparagraph (A) would result in the elimination of a total of 34,000 jobs during the period beginning in calendar year 2013 and ending in calendar year 2037; (5) (A) the analysis of the Environmental Protection Agency of the final rules of the Agency entitled National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for Major Sources: Industrial, Commercial, and Institutional Boilers and Process Heaters (76 Fed. Reg. 15608 (March 21, 2011)) and National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for Area Sources: Industrial, Commercial, and Institutional Boilers (76 Fed. Reg. 15554 (March 21, 2011)) estimated that implementation of the final rules would result in the creation of 2,200 jobs per year; but (B) a private study conducted by NERA Economic Consulting estimated that implementation of the final rules described in subparagraph (A) would result in the elimination of 28,000 jobs per year during the period beginning in calendar year 2013 and ending in calendar year 2037; (6) implementation of certain air pollution rules of the Environmental Protection Agency that have not been reviewed, updated, or finalized as of the date of enactment of this Act, such as regulations on greenhouse gas emissions and the update or review of national ambient air quality standards, are predicted to result in significant and negative employment impacts, but the Agency has not yet fully studied or disclosed the full impacts of existing Agency regulations; (7) in reviewing, developing, or updating any regulations promulgated under the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.) after the date of enactment of this Act, the Environmental Protection Agency must be required to accurately disclose the adverse impact the existing regulations of the Agency will have on jobs and employment levels across the economy in the United States and disclose those impacts to the American people before issuing a final rule; and (8) although since 1977, section 321(a) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7621(a)) has required the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to conduct continuing evaluations of potential loss or shifts of employment which may result from the administration or enforcement of the provision of [the Clean Air Act] and applicable implementation plans, including where appropriate, investigating threatened plant closures or reductions in employment allegedly resulting from such administration or enforcement, the Environmental Protection Agency has failed to undertake that analysis or conduct a comprehensive study that considers the impact of programs carried out under the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.) on jobs and changes in employment. (b) Prohibition The Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency shall not propose or finalize any major rule (as defined in section 804 of title 5, United States Code) under the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.) until after the date on which the Administrator— (1) completes an economy-wide analysis capturing the costs and cascading effects across industry sectors and markets in the United States of the implementation of major rules promulgated under the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.); and (2) establishes a process to update that analysis not less frequently than semiannually, so as to provide for the continuing evaluation of potential loss or shifts in employment, pursuant to section 321(a) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7621(a)), that may result from the implementation of major rules under the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.).