I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1582 

To protect consumers by prohibiting the Administrator of the Environmental 

Protection Agency from promulgating as final certain energy-related rules 

that are estimated to cost more than $1 billion and will cause significant 

adverse effects to the economy. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 16, 2013 

Mr. CASSIDY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To protect consumers by prohibiting the Administrator of 

the Environmental Protection Agency from promulgating 

as final certain energy-related rules that are estimated 

to cost more than $1 billion and will cause significant 

adverse effects to the economy. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Energy Consumers Re5 lief Act of 2013’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION AGAINST FINALIZING CERTAIN EN2 ERGY-RELATED RULES THAT WILL CAUSE 

3 SIGNIFICANT ADVERSE EFFECTS TO THE 

4 ECONOMY. 

5 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Ad6 ministrator of the Environmental Protection Agency may 

7 not promulgate as final an energy-related rule that is esti8 mated to cost more than $1 billion if the Secretary of En9 ergy determines under section 3(3) that, with respect to 

10 the rule, significant adverse effects to the economy will 

11 be caused. 

12 SEC. 3. REPORTS AND DETERMINATIONS PRIOR TO PRO13 MULGATING AS FINAL CERTAIN ENERGY-RE14 LATED RULES. 

15 Before promulgating as final any energy-related rule 

16 that is estimated to cost more than $1 billion: 

17 (1) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Administrator 

18 of the Environmental Protection Agency shall sub19 mit to Congress a report containing— 

20 (A) a copy of the rule; 

21 (B) a concise general statement relating to 

22 the rule; 

23 (C) an estimate of the total costs of the 

24 rule, including the direct costs and indirect 

25 costs of the rule; 


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1 (D) an estimate of the increases in energy 

2 prices, including potential increases in gasoline 

3 or electricity prices for consumers, that may re4 sult from implementation or enforcement of the 

5 rule; and 

6 (E) a detailed description of the employ7 ment effects, including potential job losses and 

8 shifts in employment, that may result from im9 plementation or enforcement of the rule. 

10 (2) INITIAL DETERMINATION ON INCREASES

11 AND IMPACTS.—The Secretary of Energy, in con12 sultation with the Federal Energy Regulatory Com13 mission and the Administrator of the Energy Infor14 mation Administration, shall prepare an independent 

15 analysis to determine whether the rule will cause— 

16 (A) any increase in energy prices for con17 sumers, including low-income households, small 

18 businesses, and manufacturers; 

19 (B) any impact on fuel diversity of the Na20 tion’s electricity generation portfolio or on na21 tional, regional, or local electric reliability; or 

22 (C) any other adverse effect on energy sup23 ply, distribution, or use (including a shortfall in 

24 supply and increased use of foreign supplies). 


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1 (3) SUBSEQUENT DETERMINATION ON ADVERSE

2 EFFECTS TO THE ECONOMY.—If the Secretary of 

3 Energy determines, under paragraph (2), that the 

4 rule will cause an increase, impact, or effect de5 scribed in such paragraph, then the Secretary, in 

6 consultation with the Secretary of Commerce, the 

7 Secretary of Labor, and the Administrator of the 

8 Small Business Administration, shall— 

9 (A) determine whether such increase, im10 pact, or effect will cause significant adverse ef11 fects to the economy, taking into consideration 

12 impacts on economic indicators, including those 

13 related to gross domestic product, unemploy14 ment, wages, consumer prices, and business and 

15 manufacturing activity; and 

16 (B) publish the results of such determina17 tion in the Federal Register. 

18 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

19 In this Act: 

20 (1) The terms ‘‘direct costs’’ and ‘‘indirect 

21 costs’’ have the meanings given such terms in chap22 ter 8 of the Environmental Protection Agency’s 

23 ‘‘Guidelines for Preparing Economic Analyses’’ 

24 dated December 17, 2010. 


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1 (2) The term ‘‘energy-related rule that is esti2 mated to cost more than $1 billion’’ means a rule of 

3 the Environmental Protection Agency that— 

4 (A) regulates any aspect of the production, 

5 supply, distribution, or use of energy or pro6 vides for such regulation by States or other gov7 ernmental entities; and 

8 (B) is estimated by the Administrator of 

9 the Environmental Protection Agency or the 

10 Director of the Office of Management and 

11 Budget to impose direct costs and indirect 

12 costs, in the aggregate, of more than 

13 $1,000,000,000. 

14 (3) The term ‘‘rule’’ has the meaning given to 

15 such term in section 551 of title 5, United States 

16 Code. 

Æ 


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