I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 5435 To require the Secretary of the Interior and the Chief of the United States Forest Service to meet certain targets for the reduction of the emission of greenhouse gases, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES DECEMBER 16, 2019 Mr. GRIJALVA (for himself, Ms. HAALAND, Mr. LEVIN of California, Mr. SABLAN, Ms. DEGETTE, Mr. MCEACHIN, and Mr. LOWENTHAL) intro- duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committees on Agriculture, and Edu- cation and Labor, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To require the Secretary of the Interior and the Chief of the United States Forest Service to meet certain targets for the reduction of the emission of greenhouse gases, 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 AND TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4 ‘‘American Public Lands and Waters Climate Solution Act 5 of 2019’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:46 Dec 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5435.IH H5435 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 5435 IH (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 1 this Act is the following: 2 Sec. 1. Short title and table of contents. Sec. 2. Public lands energy and climate policy. Sec. 3. Public lands greenhouse gas reduction targets and requirements. Sec. 4. Online publication of greenhouse gas emissions. Sec. 5. Public lands greenhouse gas reduction strategic plan. Sec. 6. Revenues for transition assistance. Sec. 7. Economic revitalization for fossil fuel dependent communities. Sec. 8. Office of Climate Change Mitigation and Planning. Sec. 9. Definitions. SEC. 2. PUBLIC LANDS ENERGY AND CLIMATE POLICY. 3 It is the policy of the United States that— 4 (1) the United States should aggressively re- 5 duce greenhouse gas emissions from United States 6 public lands and oceans and strive to achieve net- 7 zero emissions as soon as possible; 8 (2) public lands should be managed to reduce 9 greenhouse gas emissions and co-pollutant emissions 10 and to respond to unavoidable impacts of climate 11 change through increased resilience of ecosystems 12 and wildlife habitats in accordance with the prin- 13 ciples of multiple use and sustained yield; 14 (3) the protection of ocean ecosystems is vital 15 to promoting ocean health and increasing resilience 16 to climate change, and conservation of United States 17 marine resources is one of the best ways to remove 18 carbon dioxide from the atmosphere; 19 (4) energy development decisions on public 20 lands and oceans should be guided by the goals of— 21 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:46 Dec 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5435.IH H5435 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 5435 IH (A) protecting human well-being, biodiver- 1 sity, and the environment; 2 (B) avoiding the most harmful impacts of 3 climate change; and 4 (C) promoting a rapid, sustainable, just, 5 and equitable transition to a clean energy econ- 6 omy; and 7 (5) environmental justice communities are more 8 vulnerable to the effects of emissions from public 9 lands and oceans and often have the least resources 10 to respond; thus, they should be meaningfully en- 11 gaged in government decision making as our Nation 12 reduces emissions from public lands and oceans and 13 builds its climate resilience against the effects of 14 those emissions. 15 SEC. 3. PUBLIC LANDS GREENHOUSE GAS REDUCTION TAR- 16 GETS AND REQUIREMENTS. 17 (a) FOSSIL FUEL LEASING PAUSE.—Notwith- 18 standing other mineral leasing laws, the Secretary shall 19 not hold new lease sales for coal, oil, or gas for one year 20 after enactment of this Act, and until the Secretary— 21 (1) certifies, in accordance with all applicable 22 laws, that additional fossil fuel leasing on public 23 lands is not inconsistent with achieving net-zero 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:46 Dec 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5435.IH H5435 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 5435 IH greenhouse gas emissions from public lands by 2040; 1 and 2 (2) releases the first Public Lands Greenhouse 3 Gas Reduction Strategic Plan as required under sec- 4 tion 5. 5 (b) EMISSION REDUCTION TARGETS.—The Secretary 6 and the Chief shall reduce net emissions associated with 7 the extraction and end-use combustion of fossil fuels pro- 8 duced from public lands in the United States to meet the 9 following targets: 10 (1) A reduction of net emissions of not less 11 than 35 percent of the baseline identified in sub- 12 section (c) by January 1, 2025. 13 (2) A reduction of net emissions of not less 14 than 60 percent of the baseline identified in sub- 15 section (c) by January 1, 2030. 16 (3) A reduction of net emissions of not less 17 than 80 percent of the baseline identified in sub- 18 section (c) by January 1, 2035. 19 (4) Net-zero emissions by January 1, 2040. 20 (c) BASELINE INVENTORY OF PUBLIC LANDS 21 GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS AND SINKS.—The Sec- 22 retary and the Chief shall use the 2014 estimate of green- 23 house gas emissions and sinks as identified by the United 24 States Geological Survey in Scientific Investigations Re- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:46 Dec 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5435.IH H5435 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 5435 IH port 2018–5131, ‘‘Federal Lands Greenhouse Gas Emis- 1 sions and Sequestration in the United States: Estimates 2 for 2005–14’’, published on November 23, 2018, as the 3 baseline when acting to meet the targets established in 4 subsection (b). 5 (d) STUDY EXAMINING AVOIDED GREENHOUSE GAS 6 EMISSIONS AND CARBON SEQUESTRATION.— 7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after 8 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 9 shall make appropriate arrangements with the Na- 10 tional Academies under which the National Acad- 11 emies shall conduct a study that examines how the 12 executive branch, including the Department of the 13 Interior, the Department of Agriculture, the United 14 States Forest Service, the National Oceanic and At- 15 mospheric Administration, and the Executive Office 16 of the President can meet the net emission reduction 17 targets under subsection (b) by— 18 (A) reducing total emissions; 19 (B) deploying renewable energy projects on 20 public lands; 21 (C) increasing carbon capture, storage, uti- 22 lization, and sequestration on public lands 23 through both nature-based and technological so- 24 lutions, except the National Academies shall not 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:46 Dec 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5435.IH H5435 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 5435 IH consider ocean fertilization or climate engineer- 1 ing actions that involve increasing carbon stor- 2 age of ocean ecosystems through technological 3 means; 4 (D) increasing carbon storage of federally 5 managed wetlands, mangroves, tidal marshes, 6 and seagrass meadows; and 7 (E) any other technically feasible actions. 8 (2) DEADLINE.—The National Academies shall 9 complete such study not later than 18 months after 10 the date of enactment of this Act. 11 (3) RECOMMENDATIONS.—Following completion 12 of such study, the National Academies shall provide 13 recommendations for administrative actions and leg- 14 islation that can help meet the net emission reduc- 15 tion targets established under subsection (b). 16 (e) VERIFICATION.— 17 (1) REQUIREMENTS.—The Director of the 18 United States Geological Survey shall, in consulta- 19 tion with the National Academies, establish the 20 methodology for verification of the reduction in net 21 emissions. 22 (2) DETERMINATION.—By June 1 of each year 23 following a target year specified in subsection (b)— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:46 Dec 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5435.IH H5435 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 5435 IH (A) the Director of the United States Geo- 1 logical Survey shall determine if the Secretary 2 and the Chief have met the emission reduction 3 targets identified in subsection (b); and 4 (B) shall make such determination and 5 any data supporting such determination avail- 6 able on the public online dashboard required by 7 section 5(g). 8 (f) ENFORCEMENT.— 9 (1) NO NEW FOSSIL FUEL PERMITS OR LEASE 10 SALES.—If the Director of the United States Geo- 11 logical Survey determines that net emissions from 12 public lands have exceeded the targets in the Strat- 13 egy, the Secretary shall not approve new fossil fuel 14 permits and shall not hold new fossil fuel lease sales 15 until a certification and public notice by such Direc- 16 tor that net emissions are below the target level for 17 the most recent calendar year. 18 (2) CERTIFICATION.—The Secretary shall sub- 19 mit to the Committee on Energy and Natural Re- 20 sources in the Senate and the Committee on Natural 21 Resources in the House of Representatives a certifi- 22 cation within 30 days of each statutory deadline for 23 the required emission reductions. Notice of the cer- 24 tification shall be published in the Federal Register 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:46 Dec 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5435.IH H5435 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 5435 IH on or before the date the certification is due to Con- 1 gress. 2 (3) JUDICIAL ENFORCEMENT.—Any interested 3 party can seek judicial review in Federal district 4 court for failure to complete the required certifi- 5 cation by the statutory deadline. 6 (g) ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE COMMUNITIES.— 7 (1) IN GENERAL.—When taking any action to 8 meet the emission reduction targets established in 9 subsection (b), the Secretary and the Chief shall— 10 (A) prioritize reductions of greenhouse gas 11 emissions and co-pollutants that will affect an 12 environmental justice community; and 13 (B) ensure that such action does not result 14 in a net increase of co-pollutant emissions or 15 otherwise have a disparate impact on an envi- 16 ronmental justice community. 17 (2) IDENTIFICATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL JUS- 18 TICE COMMUNITIES.—The Secretary, in consultation 19 with other relevant agencies, shall establish by regu- 20 lation criteria for identifying environmental justice 21 communities for the purposes of paragraph (1). 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:46 Dec 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5435.IH H5435 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 5435 IH SEC. 4. ONLINE PUBLICATION OF GREENHOUSE GAS EMIS- 1 SIONS. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall make freely 3 available on a public website, with respect to the previous 4 year— 5 (1) information that describes for each fossil 6 fuel operation that is subject to the mineral leasing 7 laws or title III or V of the Federal Land Policy and 8 Management Act of 1976 (30 U.S.C. 1761 et seq.), 9 regardless of size, including production, storage, 10 gathering, processing, transportation, and handling 11 operations— 12 (A) the aggregate amount of each fossil 13 fuel, by type and by State, produced on Federal 14 leases; and 15 (B) for gas reported, the portion and 16 source of such amount that was released or dis- 17 posed of by each of venting, flaring, and fugi- 18 tive release; and 19 (2) information that describes the amount and 20 sources of energy, in delivered megawatt hours, pro- 21 duced from operating solar, wind, and geothermal 22 projects on public lands under lease for the produc- 23 tion of renewable energy. 24 (b) FORMAT.—Information made available under this 25 section shall be presented in a format that— 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:46 Dec 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5435.IH H5435 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 5435 IH (1) translates such amounts and portions into 1 emissions of metric tons of greenhouse gases ex- 2 pressed in carbon dioxide equivalent using both the 3 20-year and 100-year Global Warming Potential- 4 weighted emission values; 5 (2) for energy produced from solar, wind, and 6 geothermal projects, includes an estimate of the net 7 emissions that would result from production of the 8 same amount of energy from new fossil fuel-fired fa- 9 cilities; and 10 (3) can be downloaded in a machine readable 11 format. 12 (c) DATA PUBLICATION FREQUENCY.—The data 13 made available under this section shall be updated at least 14 annually. 15 SEC. 5. PUBLIC LANDS GREENHOUSE GAS REDUCTION 16 STRATEGIC PLAN. 17 (a) REQUIREMENT TO PUBLISH GREENHOUSE GAS 18 REDUCTION STRATEGY.—The Secretary and the Chief, 19 working with the heads of other Federal agencies as the 20 Secretary and Chief determine appropriate, shall jointly 21 develop and publish once every 4 years a Public Lands 22 Greenhouse Gas Reduction Strategy. Each Strategy shall 23 include— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:46 Dec 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5435.IH H5435 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 5435 IH (1) actions designed to reduce net emissions to 1 meet the targets described in section 3(b); and 2 (2) annual net emission reduction targets for 3 intervening years. 4 (b) PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD.—At least 6 months 5 before the date of publication of the Strategy, the Sec- 6 retary and the Chief shall jointly publish a draft Strategy 7 which shall be open for public comment for 60 days. 8 (c) UPDATES TO GREENHOUSE GAS REDUCTION 9 STRATEGY.—The Secretary and the Chief may jointly up- 10 date the Strategy at any time between 4-year periods if 11 the changes include modifications to the targets described 12 in section 3(b) that the Secretary and the Chief jointly 13 determine will result in lower net emissions compared to 14 the original such targets. 15 (d) CONSULTATIONS REQUIRED.—In developing the 16 Strategy, the Secretary and the Chief shall consult with— 17 (1) the Secretary of Energy with regard to en- 18 ergy transmission, storage, and distribution infra- 19 structure in the United States, technology deploy- 20 ment, and the renewable energy resource potential 21 on public lands; 22 (2) the Director of the United States Geological 23 Survey with regard to the estimated net emissions 24 associated with the extraction and end-use combus- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:46 Dec 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5435.IH H5435 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 5435 IH tion of fossil fuels produced from public lands [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]