S 609
112th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 609
To provide for the establishment of a committee to assess the
effects of certain Federal regulatory mandates.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
March 17, 2011
Mr. INHOFE (for himself and Mr. JOHANNS) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and
Public Works
A BILL
To provide for the establishment of a committee to assess the
effects of certain Federal regulatory mandates.
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 `Comprehensive Assessment of Regulations
on the Economy Act of 2011'.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
(1) ADMINISTRATOR- The term `Administrator' means the Administrator
of the Environmental Protection Agency.
(2) COMMITTEE- The term `Committee' means the Cumulative Regulatory
Assessment Committee established by section 3(a).
(3) FEDERAL REGULATORY MANDATE- The term `Federal regulatory mandate'
means any regulation, rule, requirement, or interpretative guidance
that--
(A) is promulgated or issued (or is expected to be initiated) by
the Administrator or a State or local government during the period
beginning on January 1, 2010, and ending on January 1, 2020;
(B) applies to 1 or more impacted units; and
(C) implements any provision or requirement relating to--
(i) interstate or international transport of air pollution under
section 110(a)(2)(D), 115, or 126(b) of the Clean Air Act (42
U.S.C. 7410(a)(2)(D), 7415, 7426(b)) with respect to any national
ambient air quality standard, including--
(I) any standard that has been promulgated or proposed before
July 1, 2011; and
(II) any new or revised standard for ozone or fine particulate
matter that, as of the date of enactment of this Act, is currently
under review or development by the Administrator; and
(ii) the attainment, or maintenance of attainment, of any national
ambient air quality standard, including--
(I) any new or revised standard for ozone or fine particulate
matter that, as of the date of enactment of this Act, is currently
under review or development by the Administrator; and
(II) any other standard that has been promulgated or proposed
before July 1, 2011;
(iii) new source performance standards under section 111 of the
Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7411), including any standards under
subsection (d) of that section;
(iv) hazardous air pollutants under section 112 of the Clean Air
Act (42 U.S.C. 7412);
(v) greenhouse gas emissions under titles I, II, and V of the
Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.), including the requirements
for--
(I) new source performance standards under section 111 of the
Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7411), including any standards under
subsection (d) of that section; and
(II) preconstruction review permits under section 165 of the
Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7475);
(vi) cooling water intake structures under section 316(b) of the
Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. 1326(b));
(vii) effluent guidelines for regulating the discharge of pollutants
under section 304 of the Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. 1314);
(viii) the handling and disposal of coal combustion residuals
under subtitle C or D of the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C.
6921 et seq.);
(ix) the regulation of fuels under title II of the Clean Air Act
(42 U.S.C. 7521 et seq.);
(x) regional haze or reasonably attributable visibility impairment
under section 169A or section 169B of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C.
7491, 7492); and
(xi) any other environmental regulations expected to have a significant
impact on the electric power sector, the petroleum refining sector,
the petrochemical production sector, pipeline facilities regulated
by the Department of Transportation or the Environmental Protection
Agency, exploration, production, or transportation of oil and
natural gas, or any other manufacturing sector.
(4) IMPACTED UNIT- The term `impacted unit' means--
(A) any electric generating unit that sells electricity into the
grid;
(B) any industrial, commercial, or institutional boiler or process
heater;
(C) any petroleum refining facility that produces gasoline, heating
oil, diesel fuel, jet fuel, kerosene, or petrochemical feedstocks;
(D) any petrochemical facility;
(E) any hydrocarbon exploration, extraction, manufacturing, production,
or transportation facility; or
(F) any biofuel facility.
SEC. 3. CUMULATIVE REGULATORY ASSESSMENT COMMITTEE.
(a) Establishment- There is established within the Department of Commerce
a Committee, to be known as the `Cumulative Regulatory Assessment Committee'.
(b) Composition of Committee- The Committee shall consist of the following
officials (or designees of the officials):
(1) The Secretary of Agriculture.
(2) The Secretary of Commerce.
(3) The Secretary of Defense.
(4) The Chairperson of the Council of Economic Advisers.
(5) The Secretary of Energy.
(7) The Chairperson of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
(8) The Secretary of Labor.
(9) The Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory
Affairs.
(10) The President and Chief Executive Officer of the North American
Electric Reliability Corporation.
(11) The Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business Administration.
(c) Leadership; Operations- The Secretary of Commerce shall--
(1) serve as the Chairperson of the Committee; and
(2) be responsible for the executive and administrative operation
of the Committee.
(d) Identification of Federal Regulatory Mandates- Not later than 30
days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall
provide to the Committee a list of Federal regulatory mandates.
(A) IN GENERAL- The Committee shall perform an assessment of the
cumulative energy and economic impacts of the Federal regulatory
mandates in accordance with this subsection, including direct, indirect,
quantifiable, and qualitative effects on--
(i) employment, including job levels in each segment of the economy
and each region of the United States, including coal-producing
regions;
(ii) economic development, including production levels and labor
demands in manufacturing, commercial, and other sectors of the
economy;
(iii) the electric power sector, including potential impacts on
electric reliability, energy security, and retail electricity
rates;
(iv) the domestic refining and petrochemical sector, including
potential impacts on supply, international competitiveness, wholesale
and retail transportation fuels, and heating oil and petrochemical
prices;
(v) State and local governments, including potential impacts on
governmental operations and local communities from any reductions
in State and local tax revenues;
(vi) small businesses (as defined in section 601 of title 5, United
States Code), including economic and regulatory impacts that could
force the shutdown or limit the growth of small businesses;
(vii) agriculture, including economic and regulatory impacts that
could force the shutdown, or limit growth or productive capacity,
of the agricultural industry in the United States, including the
domestic fertilizer manufacturing industry; and
(viii) energy-intensive, trade-exposed industry (as defined in
North American Industry Classification System codes 31, 32, and
33) (including the beneficiation or processing (including agglomeration)
of metal ores (including iron and copper ores), soda ash, or phosphate,
petroleum refining, and petrochemicals production), including
economic and regulatory impacts that could force the shutdown,
or limit growth of productive capacity, of the United States manufacturing
industry.
(B) COMPREHENSIVE ANALYSIS- The assessment shall include a comprehensive
analysis, for the period beginning on January 1, 2012, and ending
on December 31, 2025, of the following matters:
(i) The impacted units that would likely retire due to the cumulative
compliance costs of the Federal regulatory mandates.
(ii) The amount by which average retail electricity prices are
forecasted to increase above inflation as a result of--
(I) the cumulative compliance costs of the Federal regulatory
mandates;
(II) the retirement of electric generating units that are impacted
units described in clause (i); and
(III) other direct and indirect impacts that are expected to
result from the cumulative compliance obligations of the Federal
regulatory mandates.
(iii) The amount by which average retail transportation fuel and
heating oil prices are forecasted to increase above inflation
as a result of--
(I) the cumulative compliance costs of the Federal regulatory
mandates;
(II) the retirement or closure of domestic refineries that are
impacted units described in clause (i);
(III) the likely foreign-sourced replacement for the transportation
fuels and heating oil supplies loss caused by the retirements
or closures identified under subclause (II); and
(IV) other direct and indirect impacts that are expected to
result from the cumulative compliance obligations of the Federal
regulatory mandates.
(iv) The amount by which average petrochemical prices are forecasted
to increase above inflation as a result of--
(I) the cumulative compliance costs of the Federal regulatory
mandates;
(II) the retirement or closure of domestic petrochemical facilities
that are impacted units described in clause (i);
(III) the likely foreign-sourced replacement for the petrochemical
supplies loss caused by the retirements or closures identified
under subclause (II); and
(IV) other direct and indirect impacts that are expected to
result from the cumulative compliance obligations of the Federal
regulatory mandates.
(v) The direct and indirect adverse impacts on the economies of
local communities that are projected to result from the retirement
of impacted units described in clause (i) and increased retail
electricity, transportation fuels, heating oil, and petrochemical
prices that are forecasted under clause (ii), including--
(I) loss of jobs, including jobs that would be lost that relate
directly or indirectly to coal production or petroleum refining;
(II) reduction in State and local tax revenues;
(III) harm to small businesses;
(aa) the production and use of coal; and
(bb) the domestic production of transportation fuels, heating
oil, and petrochemicals in the United States; and
(VI) other resulting adverse economic or energy impacts.
(vi) The extent to which the direct and indirect adverse economic
impacts identified under clause (v) can be mitigated through the
creation of additional jobs and new economic growth as a result
of renewable energy projects, energy efficiency measures, and
other such energy construction projects that are projected to
be undertaken in order to meet future energy demands.
(vii) The cumulative effects of Federal regulatory mandates on
the ability of industries and businesses in the United States
to compete with industries and businesses in other countries,
with respect to competitiveness in both domestic and foreign markets.
(viii) The regions of the United States that are forecasted to
be--
(I) most affected from the direct and indirect adverse impacts
from the retirement of impacted units and increased retail electricity,
transportation fuels, heating oil, and petrochemicals price,
as identified under clause (v); and
(II) least affected from such adverse impacts due to the creation
of new jobs and economic growth that are expected to result
directly and indirectly from the energy construction projects,
as identified under clause (vi).
(ix) The cumulative effects of the Federal regulatory mandates
on the electric power sector, including--
(I) adverse impacts on electric reliability that are expected
to result from the retirement of electric generating units identified
under clause (i);
(II) the geographical distribution of the projected adverse
electric reliability impacts identified in subclause (I), according
to the regions established by North American Electric Reliability
Corporation; and
(III) an assessment of whether current plans to expand electricity
generation and transmission capabilities for each particular
region can be optimized to mitigate those projected adverse
reliability impacts.
(x) Federal, State, and local policies that have been or will
be implemented to foster a transition in energy infrastructure
in the United States, including those policies that promote fuel
diversity, affordable and reliable electricity, and energy security.
(2) CONSULTATION WITH STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS- The Committee shall
consult with representatives of State and local governments--
(A) to identify potential adverse cumulative impacts of the Federal
regulatory mandates that have unique or significant repercussions
for each particular region of the United States; and
(B) to investigate opportunities and strategies for mitigating the
adverse impacts and repercussions identified under subparagraph
(A).
(3) METHODOLOGY- The Committee shall--
(A) use the best available information and peer-reviewed economic
models in performing the cumulative regulatory impact assessment
under this subsection; and
(B) seek public comment on the cost, energy, and other modeling
assumptions used in performing the assessment.
(4) PUBLIC NOTICE AND COMMENT- The Committee shall provide public
notice and the opportunity for comment on a draft cumulative regulatory
impact assessment to be prepared under this subsection.
(5) REPORT TO CONGRESS AND STATES- Not later than January 1, 2012,
the Committee shall submit to Congress and the Governor of each State
a detailed report of the cumulative assessment performed under this
subsection.
SEC. 4. SAVINGS CLAUSE.
Nothing in this Act confirms, modifies, or otherwise affects the statutory
authority for adopting and implementing the Federal regulatory mandates.
END
