IIB 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4273 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 2, 2012 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and 

Public Works 

AN ACT 

To clarify that compliance with an emergency order under 

section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act may not be 

considered a violation of any Federal, State, or local 

environmental law or regulation, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Resolving Environ3 mental and Grid Reliability Conflicts Act of 2012’’. 

4 SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO THE FEDERAL POWER ACT. 

5 (a) COMPLIANCE WITH OR VIOLATION OF ENVIRON6 MENTAL LAWS WHILE UNDER EMERGENCY ORDER.— 

7 Section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 

8 824a(c)) is amended— 

9 (1) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after ‘‘(c)’’; and 

10 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(2) With respect to an order issued under this sub12 section that may result in a conflict with a requirement 

13 of any Federal, State, or local environmental law or regu14 lation, the Commission shall ensure that such order re15 quires generation, delivery, interchange, or transmission 

16 of electric energy only during hours necessary to meet the 

17 emergency and serve the public interest, and, to the max18 imum extent practicable, is consistent with any applicable 

19 Federal, State, or local environmental law or regulation 

20 and minimizes any adverse environmental impacts. 

21 ‘‘(3) To the extent any omission or action taken by 

22 a party, that is necessary to comply with an order issued 

23 under this subsection, including any omission or action 

24 taken to voluntarily comply with such order, results in 

25 noncompliance with, or causes such party to not comply 

26 with, any Federal, State, or local environmental law or 


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1 regulation, such omission or action shall not be considered 

2 a violation of such environmental law or regulation, or 

3 subject such party to any requirement, civil or criminal 

4 liability, or a citizen suit under such environmental law 

5 or regulation. 

6 ‘‘(4)(A) An order issued under this subsection that 

7 may result in a conflict with a requirement of any Federal, 

8 State, or local environmental law or regulation shall expire 

9 not later than 90 days after it is issued. The Commission 

10 may renew or reissue such order pursuant to paragraphs 

11 (1) and (2) for subsequent periods, not to exceed 90 days 

12 for each period, as the Commission determines necessary 

13 to meet the emergency and serve the public interest. 

14 ‘‘(B) In renewing or reissuing an order under sub15 paragraph (A), the Commission shall consult with the pri16 mary Federal agency with expertise in the environmental 

17 interest protected by such law or regulation, and shall in18 clude in any such renewed or reissued order such condi19 tions as such Federal agency determines necessary to min20 imize any adverse environmental impacts to the maximum 

21 extent practicable. The conditions, if any, submitted by 

22 such Federal agency shall be made available to the public. 

23 The Commission may exclude such a condition from the 

24 renewed or reissued order if it determines that such condi25 tion would prevent the order from adequately addressing 


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1 the emergency necessitating such order and provides in 

2 the order, or otherwise makes publicly available, an expla3 nation of such determination.’’. 

4 (b) TEMPORARY CONNECTION OR CONSTRUCTION BY

5 MUNICIPALITIES.—Section 202(d) of the Federal Power 

6 Act (16 U.S.C. 824a(d)) is amended by inserting ‘‘or mu7 nicipality’’ before ‘‘engaged in the transmission or sale of 

8 electric energy’’. 

Passed the House of Representatives August 1, 

2012. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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