Regional Greenhouse Gas Reduction Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2856 To establish the Office of Regional Greenhouse Gas Reduction Programs within the Environmental Protection Agency, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES NOVEMBER 14, 2019 Ms. HASSAN (for herself, Ms. COLLINS, Mr. KING, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. CASEY, Mr. MURPHY, Mr. CARPER, Mrs. SHAHEEN, and Mr. COONS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works A BILL To establish the Office of Regional Greenhouse Gas Reduc- tion Programs within the Environmental Protection Agency, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Regional Greenhouse 4 Gas Reduction Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 In this Act: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:57 Nov 20, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2856.IS S2856 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 2856 IS (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis- 1 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ- 2 mental Protection Agency. 3 (2) GREENHOUSE GAS.—The term ‘‘greenhouse 4 gas’’ means carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, 5 hydrofluorocarbon, perfluorocarbon, and sulfur 6 hexafluoride. 7 (3) OFFICE.—The term ‘‘Office’’ means the Of- 8 fice of Regional Greenhouse Gas Reduction Pro- 9 grams established under section 3(a). 10 (4) REGIONAL GREENHOUSE GAS REDUCTION 11 PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘regional greenhouse gas re- 12 duction program’’ means a program that uses mar- 13 ket-based tools to reduce greenhouse gases across 14 States at the regional level, such as— 15 (A) the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative 16 organized among, as of November 14, 2019, the 17 States of Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Mary- 18 land, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New 19 York, Rhode Island, and Vermont to cap and 20 reduce carbon dioxide emissions from the power 21 sector; and 22 (B) the Western Climate Initiative, a re- 23 gional carbon trading system organized between 24 the State of California and Quebec, Canada. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:57 Nov 20, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2856.IS S2856 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 2856 IS (5) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means— 1 (A) a State; 2 (B) the District of Columbia; 3 (C) the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; 4 (D) the United States Virgin Islands; 5 (E) Guam; 6 (F) American Samoa; 7 (G) the Commonwealth of the Northern 8 Mariana Islands; and 9 (H) the Trust Territory of the Pacific Is- 10 lands. 11 (6) UNIT OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT.—The term 12 ‘‘unit of local government’’ means— 13 (A) a city, town, borough, county, parish, 14 district, association, or other public body cre- 15 ated by or pursuant to State law; 16 (B) an Indian tribe (as defined in section 17 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Edu- 18 cation Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304)); and 19 (C) a tribal organization (as defined in sec- 20 tion 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and 21 Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304)). 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:57 Nov 20, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2856.IS S2856 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 2856 IS SEC. 3. OFFICE OF REGIONAL GREENHOUSE GAS REDUC- 1 TION PROGRAMS. 2 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 1 year after 3 the date of enactment of this Act, there shall be estab- 4 lished within the Environmental Protection Agency an of- 5 fice, to be known as the ‘‘Office of Regional Greenhouse 6 Gas Reduction Programs’’. 7 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Office shall be— 8 (1) to support, and assist in the expansion of, 9 existing regional greenhouse gas reduction programs; 10 and 11 (2) to facilitate the establishment of new re- 12 gional greenhouse gas reduction programs. 13 (c) DIRECTOR.—The Office shall be headed by a Di- 14 rector, who shall be appointed by the Administrator— 15 (1) without regard to political affiliation; and 16 (2) solely on the basis of fitness to perform the 17 duties of the Director described in subsection (d). 18 (d) DUTIES OF DIRECTOR.—The Director of the Of- 19 fice shall— 20 (1) on request by a State or other relevant enti- 21 ty, provide access to Federal data relevant to re- 22 gional greenhouse gas reduction programs; 23 (2)(A) assist States and other relevant entities 24 with analysis and modeling of technical, economic, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:57 Nov 20, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2856.IS S2856 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 2856 IS and public policy issues relating to regional green- 1 house gas reduction programs; and 2 (B) provide any other relevant technical sup- 3 port, on request; 4 (3) develop and share best practices based on 5 existing regional greenhouse gas reduction programs; 6 (4) track and report on greenhouse gas emis- 7 sions in States participating in regional greenhouse 8 gas reduction programs using data collected by the 9 Environmental Protection Agency; 10 (5) designate a representative in the Office— 11 (A) to act as a liaison to regional green- 12 house gas reduction programs; and 13 (B) to communicate with States and other 14 entities seeking to establish regional greenhouse 15 gas reduction programs; 16 (6) facilitate communication among Federal 17 and State agencies, agencies of units of local govern- 18 ment, and stakeholders to share lessons learned 19 about greenhouse gas monitoring and control pro- 20 grams, through methods such as workshops, con- 21 ferences, websites, and newsletters; 22 (7) administer the grant program established 23 under section 4; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:57 Nov 20, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2856.IS S2856 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 2856 IS (8) coordinate with the interagency task force 1 established under section 5; and 2 (9) carry out any other activity relevant to the 3 function of the Office. 4 (e) REPORT.—The Administrator, acting through the 5 Director of the Office, shall submit a biannual report to 6 Congress that describes and summarizes the efforts made 7 and technical assistance provided by the Office to help 8 States improve the health and environment of commu- 9 nities in those States. 10 (f) ACCESS TO INFORMATION.—On request of the Di- 11 rector, the head of each Federal agency shall provide the 12 Director any information and data necessary for any anal- 13 yses or reports required as part of the function of the Of- 14 fice. 15 (g) NO ADDITIONAL REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— 16 Nothing in this section authorizes the Administrator or 17 the Director of the Office to impose an additional report- 18 ing requirement on a State participating in a regional 19 greenhouse gas reduction program. 20 SEC. 4. REGIONAL GREENHOUSE GAS REDUCTION PRO- 21 GRAM STARTUP GRANTS. 22 (a) DEFINITION OF ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—In this sec- 23 tion, the term ‘‘eligible entity’’ means— 24 (1) a State; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:57 Nov 20, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2856.IS S2856 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 2856 IS (2) a unit of local government; and 1 (3) a regional consortium that is a partnership 2 between or among one or more entities described in 3 paragraphs (1) and (2). 4 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 1 year after 5 the date of enactment of this Act, the Director of the Of- 6 fice shall establish a program within the Office to provide 7 grants to eligible entities, on a competitive basis, to take 8 active preliminary steps (including information-gathering) 9 towards developing or participating in a regional green- 10 house gas reduction program. 11 (c) APPLICATION.—An eligible entity shall submit to 12 the Director of the Office an application to receive a grant 13 under subsection (b) at such time, in such manner, and 14 containing such information as the Director of the Office 15 may require. 16 (d) MINIMUM GRANT AMOUNT.—A grant awarded 17 under subsection (b) shall be in an amount that is not 18 less than $250,000. 19 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 20 are authorized to be appropriated to the Director of the 21 Office such amounts as are necessary to carry out this 22 section, to remain available until expended. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:57 Nov 20, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2856.IS S2856 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 2856 IS SEC. 5. INTERAGENCY TASK FORCE. 1 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Administrator shall es- 2 tablish an interagency task force (referred to in this sec- 3 tion as the ‘‘task force’’)— 4 (1) to determine how best to support existing 5 regional greenhouse gas reduction programs; 6 (2) to consult with States to determine how 7 best to support States and other entities that seek 8 to develop regional greenhouse gas reduction pro- 9 grams or expand existing regional greenhouse gas 10 reduction programs; and 11 (3) to analyze existing gaps in Federal data 12 that are relevant to the formation or analysis of re- 13 gional greenhouse gas reduction programs. 14 (b) MEMBERS.—The task force shall— 15 (1) be headed by a representative from the Of- 16 fice; and 17 (2) include representatives from— 18 (A) the Department of Energy; 19 (B) the Department of Agriculture; 20 (C) the Department of Transportation; 21 and 22 (D) the Department of the Interior. 23 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 24 on which the task force is established under subsection 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:57 Nov 20, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2856.IS S2856 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 2856 IS (a), the task force shall submit to Congress a report that 1 describes a plan— 2 (1) to support existing regional greenhouse gas 3 reduction programs; 4 (2) to support States and other entities seeking 5 to develop regional greenhouse gas reduction pro- 6 grams; and 7 (3) that addresses Federal data gaps with re- 8 spect to regional greenhouse gas reduction pro- 9 grams. 10 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:57 Nov 20, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2856.IS S2856 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS