A bill to amend the Clean Air Act to reduce pollution and lower costs for building owners.

Summary: Pollution and Costs Reduction Act - Amends the Clean Air Act to require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish a Building Pollution Reduction Program to provide assistance to building owners to reduce the emission of air pollutants and building operating costs by constructing highly efficient buildings and increasing the efficiency of, and reducing the emissions associated with, existing buildings.

Requires the Administrator to: (1) provide such assistance to building owners based on the extent to which projects relating to the buildings of the owners result in verifiable, additional, and enforceable reductions in emissions of air pollutants through operational improvements such as improved energy efficiency, increased water-use efficiency, and use of renewable energy sources; and (2) give priority to projects that achieve minimum scores in energy performance evaluations and result in measurable pollution reduction benefits not encompassed within the metrics of the Energy Star program.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Pollution and Costs Reduction Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) actions taken to reduce emissions of air pollutants, as 
        defined in section 302 of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7602), 
        will spur investments that create new jobs and foster 
        innovation and entrepreneurship in clean technology industries; 
        and
            (2) according to the Environmental Protection Agency--
                    (A) the average building wastes 30 percent of the 
                energy consumed by the building because of 
                inefficiency; and
                    (B) the operating costs of the nearly 5,000,000 
                buildings in the United States exceed $100,000,000,000 
                per year.

SEC. 3. BUILDING POLLUTION REDUCTION PROGRAM.

    Section 105 of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7405) is amended by 
adding at the end the following:
    ``(f) Building Pollution Reduction Program.--
            ``(1) Definitions.--In this subsection:
                    ``(A) Air pollutant.--The term `air pollutant' has 
                the meaning given the term in section 302.
                    ``(B) Emissions.--The term `emissions' means--
                            ``(i) direct emissions of an air pollutant 
                        from sources that are owned or controlled by an 
                        owner of a building; and
                            ``(ii) indirect emissions of an air 
                        pollutant resulting from the generation of 
                        electricity, heat, or steam purchased by the 
                        owner of a building.
            ``(2) Program.--The Administrator shall establish and carry 
        out a program, to be known as the `Building Pollution Reduction 
        Program', to provide assistance to owners of buildings in the 
        United States to reduce the emission of air pollutants and 
        building operating costs by--
                    ``(A) constructing highly efficient buildings in 
                the United States; or
                    ``(B) increasing the efficiency of and reducing the 
                emissions associated with existing buildings in the 
                United States.
            ``(3) Requirements.--The Administrator shall provide 
        assistance under this section to owners of buildings in the 
        United States based on the extent to which projects relating to 
        the buildings of the owners result in verifiable, additional, 
        and enforceable reductions in emissions of air pollutants 
        through operational improvements such as--
                    ``(A) improved energy efficiency;
                    ``(B) increased water-use efficiency;
                    ``(C) use of renewable energy sources; and
                    ``(D) such additional measures, as determined by 
                the Administrator, as will result in a measurable 
                decrease in emissions of air pollutants.
            ``(4) Priority.--In providing assistance under this 
        subsection, the Administrator shall give priority to projects 
        that--
                    ``(A) achieve the following minimum scores as 
                evaluated by energy performance benchmarking tools--
                            ``(i) in new or renovated buildings that 
                        demonstrate exemplary performance by 
                        achieving--
                                    ``(I) a minimum score of 75 on the 
                                benchmarking tool of the Energy Star 
                                program established by section 324A of 
                                the Energy Policy and Conservation Act 
                                (42 U.S.C. 6294a); or
                                    ``(II) an equivalent score on an 
                                established energy performance 
                                benchmarking metric selected by the 
                                Administrator, such as the metric used 
                                for the National Building Rating 
                                Program of the Department of Energy; 
                                and
                            ``(ii) in retrofitted existing buildings 
                        that demonstrate--
                                    ``(I) substantial improvement in 
                                the score or rating on the benchmarking 
                                tool described in clause (i) by a 
                                minimum of 30 points; or
                                    ``(II) an equivalent improvement 
                                using an established performance 
                                benchmarking metric selected by the 
                                Administrator;
                    ``(B) are completed by building owners with a 
                proven track record of reducing pollution through the 
                measures described in paragraph (3); and
                    ``(C) result in measurable pollution reduction 
                benefits not encompassed within the metrics of the 
                Energy Star program described in subparagraph 
                (A)(i)(I).
            ``(5) Authorization of appropriations.--There are 
        authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator to carry out 
        this section such sums as are necessary for each of fiscal 
        years 2012 through 2016.''.