Transparency and Honesty in Energy Regulations Act of 2016

Summary: Transparency and Honesty in Energy Regulations Act of 2016 This bill prohibits the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from considering the social cost of carbon, methane, nitrous oxide, or greenhouse gas as part of any cost benefit analysis, unless a federal law is enacted authorizing such consideration. The EPA must report on the number of proposed and final rulemakings, guidance documents, and agency actions since January 2009 that use those social costs, including as part of any cost benefit analysis required under Executive Order 12866 or other relevant authority.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Transparency and Honesty in Energy 
Regulations Act of 2016''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) as a tool to justify Federal actions by the Secretary 
        of Energy and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection 
        Agency to address greenhouse gas emissions, including the 
        regulation or prohibition of the exploration, mining, 
        production, and use of coal and other fossil fuels as energy 
        sources, the social cost of greenhouse gases, specifically the 
        social cost of carbon and the social cost of methane, 
        represents the hypothetical cost of 1 incremental ton of carbon 
        dioxide or methane emissions in a given year;
            (2) the document of the Office of Management and Budget 
        entitled ``Circular A-4'' and dated September 17, 2003--
                    (A) guides Federal agencies on the development of 
                regulatory impact analysis required under Executive 
                Order 12866 (5 U.S.C. 601 note; relating to regulatory 
                planning and review) and other authorities; and
                    (B) instructs Federal agencies to include discount 
                rates of 3 and 7 percent and evaluate the costs and 
                benefits of the regulatory action that accrue to 
                citizens and residents of the United States;
            (3) the social cost of carbon estimates were first 
        developed in 2009 by an interagency working group that included 
        the Secretary of Energy and the Administrator of the 
        Environmental Protection Agency and fail to comply with the 3- 
        and 7-percent discount rates prescribed by the document of the 
        Office of Management and Budget entitled ``Circular A-4'' and 
        dated September 17, 2003;
            (4) while the document of the Office of Management and 
        Budget entitled ``Circular A-4'' and dated September 17, 2003, 
        specifies that, in carrying out an evaluation of the global 
        effects of a rule, regulation, or action, the evaluation shall 
        be reported separately from domestic costs and benefits of that 
        rule, regulation, or action, the social cost of carbon instead 
        calculates the global benefits in lieu of, not in addition to, 
        the domestic effects of a rule, regulation, or action;
            (5) the use of the social cost of carbon estimates in 
        rulemakings by the Secretary of Energy and the Administrator of 
        the Environmental Protection Agency without an opportunity for 
        public notice and comment violates scientific peer review 
        requirements and the commitment of the President to transparent 
        and open government, as outlined in the memorandum of the 
        President entitled ``Transparency and Open Government: 
        Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and 
        Agencies'' and dated January 21, 2009;
            (6) in July 2015, as part of a revision of the social cost 
        of carbon in response to over 150 substantive comments and in 
        acknowledgment of the faulty process by which the social cost 
        of carbon estimates were developed, the Director of the Office 
        of Management and Budget requested that the National Academies 
        of Science, Engineering, and Medicine review and make 
        recommendations for the improvement of the social cost of 
        carbon estimates;
            (7) shortly after the commencement of the review referred 
        to in paragraph (6), the Administrator of the Environmental 
        Protection Agency used the social cost of methane estimate 
        developed by the Administrator of the Environmental Protection 
        Agency, without appropriate peer review or opportunity for 
        public notice and comment, to justify the costs and benefits 
        of--
                    (A) the proposed rule entitled ``Oil and Natural 
                Gas Sector: Emission Standards for New and Modified 
                Sources'' (80 Fed. Reg. 56593 (September 18, 2015)); 
                and
                    (B) the final rule entitled ``Oil and Natural Gas 
                Sector: Emission Standards for New, Reconstructed, and 
                Modified Sources'' (81 Fed. Reg. 35824 (June 3, 2016)) 
                and the accompanying regulatory impact analysis 
                entitled ``Regulatory Impact Analysis of the Final Oil 
                and Natural Gas Sector: Emission Standards for New, 
                Reconstructed, and Modified Sources'', prepared by the 
                Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Air and 
                Radiation, in May 2016 and identified by docket ID 
                number EPA-HQ-OAR-2010-0505-7630;
            (8) continued use of the social cost of carbon and the 
        social cost of methane by the Secretary of Energy and the 
        Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency ignores 
        sound science for the purpose of eliminating the exploration, 
        mining, production, and use of the abundant domestic sources of 
        fossil fuel energy of the United States; and
            (9) the regulations of the Secretary of Energy and the 
        Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency are 
        costing families of the United States billions of dollars each 
        year and are justified, in large part, by the social cost of 
        greenhouse gases, including the social cost of carbon and the 
        social cost of methane.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the 
        Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
            (2) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Energy.
            (3) Social cost of carbon.--The term ``social cost of 
        carbon'' means--
                    (A) the social cost of carbon described in--
                            (i) the document entitled ``Technical 
                        Support Document: Social Cost of Carbon for 
                        Regulatory Impact Analysis Under Executive 
                        Order 12866'', published by the Interagency 
                        Working Group on Social Cost of Carbon, United 
                        States Government, in February 2010; or
                            (ii)(I) the document entitled ``Technical 
                        Support Document: Technical Update of the 
                        Social Cost of Carbon for Regulatory Impact 
                        Analysis Under Executive Order 12866'', 
                        published by the Interagency Working Group on 
                        Social Cost of Carbon, United States 
                        Government, in May 2013 and revised in November 
                        2013 and July 2015, and published and revised 
                        by the Interagency Working Group on the Social 
                        Cost of Greenhouse Gases, United States 
                        Government, in August 2016; or
                            (II) any successor or substantially related 
                        document; and
                    (B) any other estimate of the monetized damages 
                associated with an incremental increase in carbon 
                dioxide emissions in a given year.
            (4) Social cost of greenhouse gas.--The term ``social cost 
        of greenhouse gas'' means--
                    (A) the social cost of any greenhouse gas that is 
                described in any successor document to--
                            (i) the document entitled ``Technical 
                        Support Document: Social Cost of Carbon for 
                        Regulatory Impact Analysis Under Executive 
                        Order 12866'', published by the Interagency 
                        Working Group on Social Cost of Carbon, United 
                        States Government, in February 2010; or
                            (ii) the document entitled ``Technical 
                        Support Document: Technical Update of the 
                        Social Cost of Carbon for Regulatory Impact 
                        Analysis Under Executive Order 12866'', 
                        published by the Interagency Working Group on 
                        Social Cost of Carbon, United States 
                        Government, in May 2013 and revised in November 
                        2013 and July 2015, and published and revised 
                        by the Interagency Working Group on the Social 
                        Cost of Greenhouse Gases, United States 
                        Government, in August 2016; or
                            (iii) the document entitled ``Addendum to 
                        Technical Support Document on Social Cost of 
                        Carbon for Regulatory Impact Analysis under 
                        Executive Order 12866: Application of the 
                        Methodology to Estimate the Social Cost of 
                        Methane and the Social Cost of Nitrous Oxide'', 
                        published by the Interagency Working Group on 
                        Social Cost of Greenhouse Gases, United States 
                        Government, in August 2016; and
                    (B) any other estimate of the monetized damages 
                associated with an incremental increase in greenhouse 
                gas emissions in a given year.
            (5) Social cost of methane.--The term ``social cost of 
        methane'' means--
                    (A) the estimate of the social cost of methane 
                described in--
                            (i) the proposed rule entitled ``Oil and 
                        Natural Gas Sector: Emission Standards for New 
                        and Modified Sources'' (80 Fed. Reg. 56593 
                        (September 18, 2015));
                            (ii) the final rule entitled ``Oil and 
                        Natural Gas Sector: Emission Standards for New, 
                        Reconstructed, and Modified Sources'' (81 Fed. 
                        Reg. 35824 (June 3, 2016));
                            (iii) the regulatory impact analysis 
                        entitled ``Regulatory Impact Analysis of the 
                        Final Oil and Natural Gas Sector: Emission 
                        Standards for New, Reconstructed, and Modified 
                        Sources'', prepared by the Environmental 
                        Protection Agency, Office of Air and Radiation, 
                        in May 2016 and identified by docket ID number 
                        EPA-HQ-OAR-2010-0505-7630; or
                            (iv)(I) the document entitled ``Addendum to 
                        Technical Support Document on Social Cost of 
                        Carbon for Regulatory Impact Analysis under 
                        Executive Order 12866: Application of the 
                        Methodology to Estimate the Social Cost of 
                        Methane and the Social Cost of Nitrous Oxide'', 
                        published by the Interagency Working Group on 
                        Social Cost of Greenhouse Gases, United States 
                        Government, in August 2016; or
                            (II) any successor or substantially related 
                        document; and
                    (B) any other successor or substantially related 
                estimate.
            (6) Social cost of nitrous oxide.--The term ``social cost 
        of nitrous oxide'' means--
                    (A)(i) the social cost of nitrous oxide described 
                in the document entitled ``Addendum to Technical 
                Support Document on Social Cost of Carbon for 
                Regulatory Impact Analysis under Executive Order 12866: 
                Application of the Methodology to Estimate the Social 
                Cost of Methane and the Social Cost of Nitrous Oxide'', 
                published by the Interagency Working Group on Social 
                Cost of Greenhouse Gases, United States Government, in 
                August 2016; or
                    (ii) any other successor or substantially related 
                document; and
                    (B) any other estimate of the monetized damages 
                associated with an incremental increase in nitrous 
                oxide emissions in a given year.

SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON CONSIDERING THE SOCIAL COST OF GREENHOUSE GAS, 
              INCLUDING THE SOCIAL COST OF CARBON, THE SOCIAL COST OF 
              METHANE, AND THE SOCIAL COST OF NITROUS OXIDE.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary, under any authority, and the 
Administrator, under the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.), may 
not consider the social cost of carbon, social cost of methane, social 
cost of nitrous oxide, or social cost of greenhouse gas--
            (1) as part of any cost-benefit analysis required under--
                    (A) any law;
                    (B) Executive Order 12866 (5 U.S.C. 601 note; 
                relating to regulatory planning and review); or
                    (C) Executive Order 13563 (5 U.S.C. 601 note; 
                relating to improving regulation and regulatory 
                review);
            (2) in any rulemaking;
            (3) in the issuance of any guidance;
            (4) in taking any other agency action; or
            (5) as a justification for any rulemaking, guidance 
        document, or agency action.
    (b) Exception.--The Secretary and the Administrator may consider 
the social cost of carbon, social cost of methane, social cost of 
nitrous oxide, or social cost of greenhouse gas in carrying out an 
activity described in subsection (a) only if, after the date of 
enactment of this Act, a Federal law is enacted that explicitly 
authorizes the consideration.

SEC. 5. REPORT OF THE ADMINISTRATOR.

    Not later than 120 days after the date of enactment of this Act, 
the Administrator, in coordination and consultation with the Secretary, 
the Secretary of the Interior, and the Council on Environmental 
Quality, shall submit to the Committees on Environment and Public Works 
and Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate and the Committees on 
Energy and Commerce and Natural Resources of the House of 
Representatives a report describing the number of proposed and final 
rulemakings, guidance documents, and agency actions that, since January 
2009, have used the social cost of carbon, the social cost of methane, 
or the social cost of nitrous oxide, including the use of the social 
cost of carbon, the social cost of methane, or the social cost of 
nitrous oxide as part of any cost-benefit analysis required under 
Executive Order 12866 (5 U.S.C. 601 note; relating to regulatory 
planning and review) or other relevant authority.