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Union Calendar No. 9 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1140 

[Report No. 118–16] 

To authorize the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to 

waive application of certain requirements with respect to processing and 

refining a critical energy resource at a critical energy resource facility, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 21, 2023 

Mr. PENCE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Energy and Commerce 

MARCH 23, 2023 

Additional sponsors: Mr. DUNCAN, Mr. LATTA, Mr. WEBER of Texas, Mr. 

CURTIS, Mr. BUCSHON, Mr. CRENSHAW, and Mr. CARTER of Georgia 

MARCH 23, 2023 

Reported from the Committee on Energy and Commerce; committed to the 

Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered 

to be printed 


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A BILL 

To authorize the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to waive application of certain requirements 

with respect to processing and refining a critical energy 

resource at a critical energy resource facility, and for 

other purposes. 


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•HR 1140 RH

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

3 SECTION 1. WAIVER FOR NATIONAL SECURITY OR ENERGY 

4 SECURITY. 

5 (a) CLEAN AIR ACT REQUIREMENTS.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—If the Administrator of the 

7 Environmental Protection Agency, in consultation 

8 with the Secretary of Energy, determines that, by 

9 reason of a sudden increase in demand for, or a 

10 shortage of, a critical energy resource, or another 

11 cause, the processing or refining of a critical energy 

12 resource at a critical energy resource facility is nec13 essary to meet the national security or energy secu14 rity needs of the United States, then the Adminis15 trator may, with or without notice, hearing, or other 

16 report, issue a temporary waiver of any requirement 

17 under the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.) 

18 with respect to such critical energy resource facility 

19 that, in the judgment of the Administrator, will 

20 allow for such processing or refining at such critical 

21 energy resource facility as necessary to best meet 

22 such needs and serve the public interest. 

23 (2) CONFLICT WITH OTHER ENVIRONMENTAL

24 LAWS.—The Administrator shall ensure that any 

25 waiver of a requirement under the Clean Air Act 


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1 under this subsection, to the maximum extent prac2 ticable, does not result in a conflict with a require3 ment of any other applicable Federal, State, or local 

4 environmental law or regulation and minimizes any 

5 adverse environmental impacts. 

6 (3) VIOLATIONS OF OTHER ENVIRONMENTAL

7 LAWS.—To the extent any omission or action taken 

8 by a party under a waiver issued under this sub9 section is in conflict with any requirement of a Fed10 eral, State, or local environmental law or regulation, 

11 such omission or action shall not be considered a 

12 violation of such environmental law or regulation, or 

13 subject such party to any requirement, civil or crimi14 nal liability, or a citizen suit under such environ15 mental law or regulation. 

16 (4) EXPIRATION AND RENEWAL OF WAIVERS.— 

17 A waiver issued under this subsection shall expire 

18 not later than 90 days after it is issued. The Admin19 istrator may renew or reissue such waiver pursuant 

20 to paragraphs (1) and (2) for subsequent periods, 

21 not to exceed 90 days for each period, as the Admin22 istrator determines necessary to meet the national 

23 security or energy security needs described in para24 graph (1) and serve the public interest. In renewing 

25 or reissuing a waiver under this paragraph, the AdVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:13 Mar 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1140.RH H1140

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1 ministrator shall include in any such renewed or re2 issued waiver such conditions as are necessary to 

3 minimize any adverse environmental impacts to the 

4 extent practicable. 

5 (5) SUBSEQUENT ACTION BY COURT.—If a 

6 waiver issued under this subsection is subsequently 

7 stayed, modified, or set aside by a court pursuant a 

8 provision of law, any omission or action previously 

9 taken by a party under the waiver while the waiver 

10 was in effect shall remain subject to paragraph (3). 

11 (6) CRITICAL ENERGY RESOURCE; CRITICAL EN12 ERGY RESOURCE FACILITY DEFINED.—The terms 

13 ‘‘critical energy resource’’ and ‘‘critical energy re14 source facility’’ have the meanings given such terms 

15 in section 3025(f) of the Solid Waste Disposal Act 

16 (as added by this section). 

17 (b) SOLID WASTE DISPOSAL ACT REQUIREMENTS.— 

18 (1) HAZARDOUS WASTE MANAGEMENT.—The 

19 Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6901 et seq.) 

20 is amended by inserting after section 3024 the fol21 lowing: 

22 ‘‘SEC. 3025. WAIVERS FOR CRITICAL ENERGY RESOURCE 

23 FACILITIES. 

24 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—If the Administrator, in con25 sultation with the Secretary of Energy, determines that, 


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1 by reason of a sudden increase in demand for, or a short2 age of, a critical energy resource, or another cause, the 

3 processing or refining of a critical energy resource at a 

4 critical energy resource facility is necessary to meet the 

5 national security or energy security needs of the United 

6 States, then the Administrator may, with or without no7 tice, hearing, or other report, issue a temporary waiver 

8 of any covered requirement with respect to such critical 

9 energy resource facility that, in the judgment of the Ad10 ministrator, will allow for such processing or refining at 

11 such critical energy resource facility as necessary to best 

12 meet such needs and serve the public interest. 

13 ‘‘(b) CONFLICT WITH OTHER ENVIRONMENTAL

14 LAWS.—The Administrator shall ensure that any waiver 

15 of a covered requirement under this section, to the max16 imum extent practicable, does not result in a conflict with 

17 a requirement of any other applicable Federal, State, or 

18 local environmental law or regulation and minimizes any 

19 adverse environmental impacts. 

20 ‘‘(c) VIOLATIONS OF OTHER ENVIRONMENTAL

21 LAWS.—To the extent any omission or action taken by 

22 a party under a waiver issued under this section is in con23 flict with any requirement of a Federal, State, or local 

24 environmental law or regulation, such omission or action 

25 shall not be considered a violation of such environmental 


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1 law or regulation, or subject such party to any require2 ment, civil or criminal liability, or a citizen suit under such 

3 environmental law or regulation. 

4 ‘‘(d) EXPIRATION AND RENEWAL OF WAIVERS.—A 

5 waiver issued under this section shall expire not later than 

6 90 days after it is issued. The Administrator may renew 

7 or reissue such waiver pursuant to subsections (a) and (b) 

8 for subsequent periods, not to exceed 90 days for each pe9 riod, as the Administrator determines necessary to meet 

10 the national security or energy security needs described 

11 in subsection (a) and serve the public interest. In renewing 

12 or reissuing a waiver under this subsection, the Adminis13 trator shall include in any such renewed or reissued waiver 

14 such conditions as are necessary to minimize any adverse 

15 environmental impacts to the extent practicable. 

16 ‘‘(e) SUBSEQUENT ACTION BY COURT.—If a waiver 

17 issued under this section is subsequently stayed, modified, 

18 or set aside by a court pursuant a provision of law, any 

19 omission or action previously taken by a party under the 

20 waiver while the waiver was in effect shall remain subject 

21 to subsection (c). 

22 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

23 ‘‘(1) COVERED REQUIREMENT.—The term ‘cov24 ered requirement’ means— 


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1 ‘‘(A) any standard established under sec2 tion 3002, 3003, or 3004; 

3 ‘‘(B) the permit requirement under section 

4 3005; or 

5 ‘‘(C) any other requirement of this Act, as 

6 the Administrator determines appropriate. 

7 ‘‘(2) CRITICAL ENERGY RESOURCE.—The term 

8 ‘critical energy resource’ means, as determined by 

9 the Secretary of Energy, any energy resource— 

10 ‘‘(A) that is essential to the energy sector 

11 and energy systems of the United States; and 

12 ‘‘(B) the supply chain of which is vulner13 able to disruption. 

14 ‘‘(3) CRITICAL ENERGY RESOURCE FACILITY.— 

15 The term ‘critical energy resource facility’ means a 

16 facility that processes or refines a critical energy re17 source.’’. 

18 (2) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of con19 tents of the Solid Waste Disposal Act is amended by 

20 inserting after the item relating to section 3024 the 

21 following: 

‘‘Sec. 3025. Waivers for critical energy resource facilities.’’. 


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Union Calendar No. 9 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1140 

[Report No. 118–16] 

A BILL 

To authorize the Administrator of the Environposes. ical energy resource facility, and for other pur- and refining a critical energy resource at a crit- certain requirements with respect to processing mental Protection Agency to waive application of 

MARCH 23, 2023 

Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 

State of the Union and ordered to be printed 


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