BIG OIL Cabinet Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2935 To prohibit the appointment of former fossil fuel executive officers and fossil fuel lobbyists as the heads of certain departments, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES NOVEMBER 21, 2019 Mr. MARKEY introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs A BILL To prohibit the appointment of former fossil fuel executive officers and fossil fuel lobbyists as the heads of certain departments, 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 ‘‘Banning In Govern- 4 ment Oil Industry Lobbyists from the Cabinet Act’’ or the 5 ‘‘BIG OIL Cabinet Act’’. 6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 7 In this Act: 8 (1) COVERED DEPARTMENT HEAD.—The term 9 ‘‘covered department head’’ means the— 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:43 Dec 03, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2935.IS S2935 jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 2935 IS (A) Chief of Staff to the President; 1 (B) Chief of Staff to the Vice President; 2 (C) Director of the Office of Management 3 and Budget; 4 (D) Chairman of the Council on Environ- 5 mental Quality; 6 (E) Director of the Office of Science and 7 Technology Policy; 8 (F) Executive Director of the United 9 States Global Change Research Program; 10 (G) Secretary of Energy; 11 (H) Administrator of the Energy Informa- 12 tion Administration; 13 (I) Administrator of the National Oceanic 14 and Atmospheric Administration; 15 (J) Administrator of the National Aero- 16 nautics and Space Administration; 17 (K) Secretary of Transportation; 18 (L) Deputy Administrator of the National 19 Highway Traffic Safety Administration; 20 (M) Administrator of the Pipeline and 21 Hazardous Materials Safety Administration; 22 (N) Chairman of the Federal Energy Reg- 23 ulatory Commission; 24 (O) Secretary of Agriculture; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:43 Dec 03, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2935.IS S2935 jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 2935 IS (P) Secretary of the Interior; 1 (Q) Secretary of Defense; 2 (R) Administrator of the Environmental 3 Protection Agency; and 4 (S) Secretary of State. 5 (2) COVERED POLITICAL APPOINTEE.—The 6 term ‘‘covered political appointee’’ means a political 7 appointee, as defined in section 714(h) of title 38, 8 United States Code, at— 9 (A) the Department of the Interior; 10 (B) the Environmental Protection Agency; 11 (C) the Department of Energy; 12 (D) the Federal Energy Regulatory Com- 13 mission; 14 (E) the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 15 Administration; 16 (F) the Council on Environmental Quality; 17 (G) the Office of Science and Technology 18 Policy; and 19 (H) the Office of Management and Budg- 20 et. 21 (3) EXECUTIVE OFFICER.—The term ‘‘executive 22 officer’’— 23 (A) means, with respect to an enterprise— 24 (i) the president; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:43 Dec 03, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2935.IS S2935 jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 2935 IS (ii) any vice president in charge of a 1 principal business unit, division, or func- 2 tion, including sales, administration, or fi- 3 nance; 4 (iii) any other officer who performs a 5 policy-making function; or 6 (iv) an executive officer of a sub- 7 sidiary of the enterprise if the executive of- 8 ficer of the subsidiary performs policy- 9 making functions for the enterprise; and 10 (B) does not include an employee of a fos- 11 sil fuel entity that works in, or is in charge of, 12 a division principally responsible for the re- 13 search, development, or deployment of— 14 (i) wind energy; 15 (ii) solar energy; or 16 (iii) any other renewable energy 17 source. 18 (4) FOSSIL FUEL.—The term ‘‘fossil fuel’’ 19 means natural gas, coal, oil, gasoline, diesel fuel, or 20 jet fuel. 21 (5) FOSSIL FUEL ENTITY.—The term ‘‘fossil 22 fuel entity’’ means an entity that is in the business 23 of extracting or producing fossil fuel. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:43 Dec 03, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2935.IS S2935 jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 2935 IS (6) FOSSIL FUEL LOBBYIST.—The term ‘‘fossil 1 fuel lobbyist’’ means a lobbyist, as defined in section 2 3 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 3 1602), that is registered or is required to register 4 under section 4(a) of that Act (2 U.S.C. 1603(a)), 5 who principally lobbies— 6 (A) for not less than 1 fossil fuel entity; 7 and 8 (B) on issues relating to the extraction or 9 production of fossil fuels. 10 (7) FOSSIL FUEL TRADE ASSOCIATION.—The 11 term ‘‘fossil fuel trade association’’ means a trade 12 association that principally represents one or more 13 fossil fuel entities on issues relating to the extraction 14 or production of fossil fuels. 15 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION OF APPOINTMENT OF FOSSIL FUEL 16 EXECUTIVES AND LOBBYISTS. 17 No individual that has served as an executive officer 18 of a fossil fuel entity, a fossil fuel lobbyist, or an employee 19 of a fossil fuel trade association for any period of time 20 during the 10-year period preceding the date of appoint- 21 ment or service shall— 22 (1) be appointed to serve as a covered depart- 23 ment head or a covered political appointee; or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:43 Dec 03, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2935.IS S2935 jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 2935 IS (2) perform the functions and duties of a cov- 1 ered department head or a covered political ap- 2 pointee in an acting capacity. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:43 Dec 03, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2935.IS S2935 jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with BILLS