,,ii  #aahth ,,congress  #b;d ,session  
,s4 #cgcb  ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of     
,,the ,,united ,,states  ,february #a1  
#bjbd,mr4 ,markey 7for himself1 ,mr4    
,heinrich1 ,mr4 ,wyden1 ,mr4 ,welch1    
,mr4 ,padilla1 and ,mr4 ,booker7        
introduced the following bill2 which was
 read twice and referred to the         
,committee on ,commerce1 ,science1 and  
,transportation  ,a ,,bill  ,to require 
the ,administrator of the ,environmental
 ,protection ,agency to carry out a     
study on the environmental impacts of   
artificial intelligence1 to require the 
,director of the ,national ,institute of
 ,standards and ,technology to convene a
 consortium on such environmental       
impacts1 and to require the ,director to
 develop a voluntary reporting system   
for the reporting of the environmental  
impacts of artificial intelligence1 and 
for other purposes4  #a4 ,short title   
,this ,act may be cited as the          
,artificial ,intelligence ,environmental
 ,impacts ,act of #bjbd4  #b4 ,findings 

,congress finds the following3 7#a7     
,multiple estimates indicate that the   
amount of computational power being used
 for artificial intelligence            
applications has increased rapidly over 
the last decade4 ,a #bjbb estimate      
suggested that the number of            
computational operations being used to  
create each of the largest artificial   
intelligence models is currently        
doubling every #aj months4  7#b7        
,accelerating use of artificial         
intelligence has the potential to       
greatly increase energy consumption due 
to the power utilization of computer    
hardware required for training and      
operating artificial intelligence       
models1 despite ongoing efficiency gains
 in both artificial intelligence models 
and hardware4  7#c7 ,rapid growth in    
data center infrastructure1 including   
cooling systems and backup power        
equipment1 supporting artificial        
intelligence and other                  
computing-intensive technologies        

contributes to pollution1 water         
consumption1 and land-use changes4  7#d7
 ,resource and energy-intensive         
manufacturing processes are required for
 the hardware that runs artificial      
intelligence and other                  
computing-intensive technologies1       
leading to significant environmental    
impacts4  7#e7 ,yearly increases in     
electronic waste 7known as e-waste7 pose
 increasing environmental and health    
risks1 and will likely be exacerbated by
 outdated and discarded hardware used   
for artificial intelligence and other   
computing-intensive technologies4  7#f7 
,many applications of artificial        
intelligence can have direct and        
indirect positive environmental impacts4
 ,positive environmental impacts may    
include optimizing systems for energy   
efficiency1 developing renewable energy1
 advancing planetary systems research1  
enabling discovery of new materials1 and
 automatically monitoring environmental 
changes4 ,however1 artificial           

intelligence applications may also have 
direct and indirect negative            
environmental impacts1 including rebound
 effects1 behavioral impacts1 and       
accelerating high-pollution activities4 
7#g7 ,estimates of the current and      
future environmental impacts of         
artificial intelligence are currently   
uncertain4  7#h7 ,negative environmental
 effects may have a disparate impact    
across different regions and            
communities4  7#i7 ,various options     
exist to reduce the negative            
environmental impacts of artificial     
intelligence1 including using more      
efficient models1 hardware1 and data    
centers1 using renewable energy1 and    
examining the impacts of artificial     
intelligence applications4  7#aj7       
,promoting transparency and             
environmental protection measures may   
help mitigate negative environmental    
impacts of the rapid growth in          
artificial intelligence use1 while      
promoting artificial intelligence uses  

with net positive environmental impacts4
  #c4 ,definitions ,in this ,act3 7#a7  
,artificial intelligence ,the term      
artificial intelligence has the meaning 
given such term in section #ejjb of the 
,national ,artificial ,intelligence     
,initiative ,act of #bjbj 7#ae ,u4,s4,c4
 #idja74  7#b7 ,artificial intelligence 
model ,the term artificial intelligence 
model means a component of an           
information system that implements      
artificial intelligence technology and  
uses computational1 statistical1 or     
machine-learning techniques to produce  
outputs from a given set of inputs4     
7#c7 ,artificial intelligence system    
,the term artificial intelligence system
 means any data system1 software1       
hardware1 application1 tool1 or utility 
that operates in whole or in part using 
artificial intelligence4  7#d7          
,voluntary reporting entity ,the term   
voluntary reporting entity means any    
company1 organization1 or other entity  
that-- 7,a7 develops or operates an     

artificial intelligence system2 and     
7,b7 chooses to participate in the      
reporting system developed under section
 #f4  #d4 ,study on environmental       
impacts of artificial intelligence  7a7 
,in general ,not later than #b years    
after the date of enactment of this     
,act1 the ,administrator of the         
,environmental ,protection ,agency1 in  
collaboration with the ,secretary of    
,energy1 the ,director of the ,national 
,institute of ,standards and            
,technology1 and the ,director of the   
,office of ,science and ,technology     
,policy1 shall carry out1 and submit to 
,congress and make publicly available a 
report describing the results of1 a     
comprehensive study on the environmental
 impacts of artificial intelligence4    
7b7 ,requirements ,the study required   
under subsection 7a7 shall include an   
examination of-- 7#a7 the energy        
consumption and pollution associated    
with the full lifecycle of artificial   
intelligence models1 including the      

design1 development1 deployment1 and use
 of those artificial intelligence       
models2  7#b7 the energy consumption and
 pollution associated with the full     
lifecycle of artificial intelligence    
hardware1 including the extraction of   
raw materials1 manufacturing1 and       
electronic waste associated with that   
hardware2  7#c7 the energy and water    
consumption for the cooling of the data 
centers used in the design1 development1
 deployment1 and use of artificial      
intelligence models2  7#d7 how choices  
made during the design1 development1    
deployment1 and use of artificial       
intelligence models1 including the      
efficiency of the artificial            
intelligence models used1 the location1 
power source1 and design of data centers
 used1 and the type of hardware used1   
impact the resulting environmental      
impacts2  7#e7 potential environmental  
impacts that could be acute at local    
scales1 which may include added power   
loads that create grid stress1 water    

withdrawals that create water stress1 or
 local noise impacts2  7#f7 the positive
 environmental impacts associated with  
applications of artificial intelligence1
 which may include optimizing systems   
for energy efficiency1 developing       
renewable energy1 advancing planetary   
systems research1 enabling discovery of 
new materials1 and automatically        
monitoring environmental changes2  7#g7 
the negative environmental impacts      
associated with applications of         
artificial intelligence1 which may      
include rebound effects1 behavioral     
impacts1 and accelerating high-pollution
 activities2  7#h7 disparate impacts in 
the negative environmental impacts of   
artificial intelligence2  7#i7 other    
environmental impacts1 as determined by 
the ,administrator of the ,environmental
 ,protection ,agency2 and  7#aj7 the    
results of the updated data center study
 carried out under section #dec7;e77#b7 
of the ,energy ,independence and        
,security ,act of #bjjg 7#db ,u4,s4,c4  

#agaab7;e77#b774  7c7 ,public comment   
required ,in conducting the study       
required under subsection 7a71 the      
,administrator of the ,environmental    
,protection ,agency shall solicit and   
consider public comments4  #e4          
,artificial intelligence environmental  
impacts consortium  7a7 ,in general ,the
 ,director of the ,national ,institute  
of ,standards and ,technology shall1 in 
consultation with the ,administrator of 
the ,environmental ,protection ,agency1 
the ,secretary of ,energy1 and such     
others as the ,director considers       
appropriate1 convene a consortium of    
stakeholders1 including members from    
academia1 civil society1 and industry1  
to identify the future measurements1    
methodologies1 standards1 and other     
appropriate needs1 in order to measure  
and report the full range of            
environmental impacts of artificial     
intelligence4  7b7 ,location ,the       
,director may determine the location of 
the consortium within the ,national     

,institute of ,standards and            
,technology4  7c7 ,goals ,the goals of  
the consortium shall include the        
following3 7#a7 ,facilitating           
consistent1 comparable reporting on the 
environmental impacts of the full       
lifecycle of artificial intelligence    
models1 systems1 and hardware4  7#b7    
,according to technical feasibility1 the
 development or cataloging of open      
source software and hardware tools and  
other resources designed to facilitate  
the measurement of environmental impacts
 of artificial intelligence models1     
systems1 and hardware4  7#c7 ,providing 
recommendations on how to mitigate the  
negative1 and promote the positive1     
environmental impacts of artificial     
intelligence4  #f4 ,reporting system for
 voluntary reporting of environmental   
impacts of artificial intelligence  7a7 
,voluntary reporting system ,the        
,director of the ,national ,institute of
 ,standards and ,technology shall1 in   
consultation with the ,administrator of 

the ,environmental ,protection ,agency1 
the ,secretary of ,energy1 the          
consortium convened under section #e1   
and such others as the ,director        
considers appropriate1 develop a system 
for voluntary reporting by voluntary    
reporting entities of the full range of 
environmental impacts of artificial     
intelligence4  7b7 ,guidelines  7#a7 ,in
 general ,the ,director shall develop   
guidelines for voluntary reporting      
entities on how to participate in the   
voluntary reporting system developed    
under subsection 7a74 ,such guidelines  
may include guidelines on how to        
calculate and report energy consumption1
 water consumption1 pollution1 and      
electronic-waste associated with the    
full lifecycle of artificial            
intelligence models and hardware1 as    
well as other positive and negative     
impacts of artificial intelligence use1 
as determined by the ,director4  7#b7   
,public comments ,before finalizing the 
guidelines under paragraph 7#a71 the    

,director shall solicit comments from   
the public on a draft version of the    
guidelines4  7c7 ,availability ,the     
,director shall1 to the maximum extent  
practicable and with consideration to   
privileged business information1 make   
submissions to the voluntary reporting  
system under subsection 7a7 available on
 a public website4  #g4 ,report to      
,congress ,not later than #d years after
 the date of the enactment of this ,act1
 the ,administrator of the              
,environmental ,protection ,agency1 the 
,secretary of ,energy1 and the ,director
 of the ,national ,institute of         
,standards and ,technology shall jointly
 submit to ,congress a report detailing 
the following3 7#a7 ,the main findings  
of the consortium convened under section
 #e4  7#b7 ,a description of the        
reporting system created under section  
#f4  7#c7 ,recommendations for          
legislative or administrative action to 
mitigate the negative and promote the   
positive environmental impacts of       

artificial intelligence4