I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7399 

To require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to 

conduct a feasibility study regarding the use of the shadow price of 

carbon in Federal spending decisions to take into account the resulting 

carbon dioxide emissions, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 29, 2020 

Mr. BEYER (for himself and Mr. CONNOLLY) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Reform 

A BILL 

To require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to conduct a feasibility study regarding the 

use of the shadow price of carbon in Federal spending 

decisions to take into account the resulting carbon dioxide emissions, 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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Smarter Purchasing 

5 Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FEASIBILITY STUDY REGARDING THE USE OF THE 

2 SHADOW PRICE OF CARBON IN FEDERAL 

3 SPENDING DECISIONS TO TAKE INTO AC4 COUNT THE RESULTING CARBON DIOXIDE 

5 EMISSIONS. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the Envi7 ronmental Protection Agency, in consultation with the 

8 Secretary of Energy, the Secretary of the Interior, the 

9 Secretary of Transportation, and the Administrator of the 

10 General Services Administration, shall conduct a study to 

11 determine whether it is feasible for Federal agencies to 

12 factor in the shadow price of carbon in their internal deci13 sion-making processes for Federal procurement, acquisi14 tions, contracting, and other investments. 

15 (b) CONTENT.—The feasibility study required by sub16 section (a) shall include the following: 

17 (1) An assessment of— 

18 (A) the use of the shadow price of carbon 

19 in the private sector, in States, and in other 

20 countries, as relevant; and 

21 (B) the ability of Federal agencies to im22 plement similar use of the shadow price of car23 bon. 

24 (2) An assessment of which kinds of Federal 

25 expenditures and operations are best suited for 

26 shadow pricing. 


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1 (3) An assessment of whether the shadow price 

2 of carbon should be— 

3 (A) tied to the social cost of carbon that 

4 Federal agencies use to conduct regulatory 

5 analyses of economically significant regulatory 

6 actions; 

7 (B) tied to a path that minimizes the cost 

8 of achieving a long-term cumulative emissions 

9 goal; or 

10 (C) based on some other rationale. 

11 (4) An identification and evaluation of any stat12 utory, regulatory, or other obstacle to the use of the 

13 shadow price of carbon. 

14 (c) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the 

15 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the 

16 Environmental Protection Agency shall— 

17 (1) prepare a final report on the results of the 

18 feasibility study conducted under subsection (a); and 

19 (2) submit to Congress the final report pre20 pared under paragraph (1) and any recommenda21 tions of the Administrator relating to such results. 

22 (d) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF DATA.—The Adminis23 trator of the Environmental Protection Agency shall make 

24 available to the public the final report prepared under sub25 section (c). 


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1 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 

2 (1) SHADOW PRICE OF CARBON.—The term 

3 ‘‘shadow price of carbon’’ means a hypothetical sur4 charge to market prices for goods or services that 

5 involve significant carbon dioxide emissions in their 

6 supply chain. 

7 (2) SOCIAL COST OF CARBON.—The term ‘‘so8 cial cost of carbon’’ means the social cost of carbon 

9 as described in the technical support document enti10 tled ‘‘Technical Support Document: Technical Up11 date of the Social Cost of Carbon for Regulatory Im12 pact Analysis Under Executive Order 12866’’, pub13 lished by the Interagency Working Group on Social 

14 Cost of Carbon, United States Government, in May 

15 2013, revised in November 2013, or any successor 

16 or substantially related document, or any other esti17 mate of the monetized damages associated with an 

18 incremental increase in carbon dioxide emissions in 

19 a given year. 

Æ 


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