II 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1363 

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 $1,000,000,000 and will cause 

significant adverse effects to the economy. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 25, 2013 

Mr. HELLER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Environment and Public Works 

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 $1,000,000,000 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’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 


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1 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis2 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ3 mental Protection Agency. 

4 (2) COVERED ENERGY-RELATED RULE.—The 

5 term ‘‘covered energy-related rule’’ means a rule of 

6 the Environmental Protection Agency that— 

7 (A) regulates any aspect of the production, 

8 supply, distribution, or use of energy or pro9 vides for that regulation by States or other gov10 ernmental entities; and 

11 (B) is estimated by the Administrator or 

12 the Director of the Office of Management and 

13 Budget to impose direct costs and indirect 

14 costs, in the aggregate, of more than 

15 $1,000,000,000. 

16 (3) DIRECT COSTS.—The term ‘‘direct costs’’ 

17 has the meaning given the term in chapter 8 of the 

18 document of the Environmental Protection Agency 

19 entitled ‘‘Guidelines for Preparing Economic Anal20 yses’’ and dated December 17, 2010. 

21 (4) INDIRECT COSTS.—The term ‘‘indirect 

22 costs’’ has the meaning given the term in chapter 8 

23 of the document of the Environmental Protection 

24 Agency entitled ‘‘Guidelines for Preparing Economic 

25 Analyses’’ and dated December 17, 2010. 


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1 (5) RULE.—The term ‘‘rule’’ has the meaning 

2 given the term in section 551 of title 5, United 

3 States Code. 

4 (6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

5 the Secretary of Energy. 

6 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION AGAINST FINALIZING CERTAIN EN7 ERGY-RELATED RULES THAT WILL CAUSE 

8 SIGNIFICANT ADVERSE EFFECTS TO THE 

9 ECONOMY. 

10 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Ad11 ministrator shall not promulgate as final any covered en12 ergy-related rule if the Secretary determines under section 

13 4(d) that the rule will result in significant adverse effects 

14 to the economy. 

15 SEC. 4. REPORTS AND DETERMINATIONS PRIOR TO PRO16 MULGATING AS FINAL CERTAIN ENERGY-RE17 LATED RULES. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Before promulgating as final any 

19 covered energy-related rule, the Administrator shall carry 

20 out the activities described in subsections (c) through (d). 

21 (b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—For each covered en22 ergy-related rule, the Administrator shall submit to Con23 gress a report (and transmit a copy to the Secretary) con24 taining— 

25 (1) a copy of the rule; 


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1 (2) a concise general statement relating to the 

2 rule; 

3 (3) an estimate of the total costs of the rule, in4 cluding the direct costs and indirect costs of the 

5 rule; 

6 (4) an estimate of— 

7 (A) the total benefits of the rule; and 

8 (B) when those benefits are expected to be 

9 realized; 

10 (5) a description of the modeling, the assump11 tions, and the limitations due to uncertainty, specu12 lation, or lack of information associated with the es13 timates under paragraph (4); 

14 (6) an estimate of the increases in energy 

15 prices, including potential increases in gasoline or 

16 electricity prices for consumers, that may result 

17 from implementation or enforcement of the rule; and 

18 (7) a detailed description of the employment ef19 fects, including potential job losses and shifts in em20 ployment, that may result from implementation or 

21 enforcement of the rule. 

22 (c) INITIAL DETERMINATION ON INCREASES AND IM23 PACTS.—The Secretary, in consultation with the Federal 

24 Energy Regulatory Commission and the Administrator of 

25 the Energy Information Administration, shall prepare an 


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1 independent analysis to determine whether the covered en2 ergy-related rule will cause— 

3 (1) any increase in energy prices for consumers, 

4 including low-income households, small businesses, 

5 and manufacturers; 

6 (2) any impact on fuel diversity of the elec7 tricity generation portfolio of the United States or 

8 on national, regional, or local electric reliability; 

9 (3) any adverse effect on energy supply, dis10 tribution, or use due to the economic or technical in11 feasibility of implementing the rule; or 

12 (4) any other adverse effect on energy supply, 

13 distribution, or use (including a shortfall in supply 

14 and increased use of foreign supplies). 

15 (d) SUBSEQUENT DETERMINATION ON ADVERSE EF16 FECTS TO THE ECONOMY.—If the Secretary determines, 

17 under subsection (c), that the rule will result in an in18 crease, impact, or effect described in that subsection, then 

19 the Secretary, in consultation with the Administrator, the 

20 Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Labor, and the 

21 Administrator of the Small Business Administration, 

22 shall— 

23 (1) determine whether the rule will result in 

24 significant adverse effects to the economy, taking 

25 into consideration— 


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1 (A) the costs and benefits of the rule and 

2 limitations in calculating those costs and bene3 fits due to uncertainty, speculation, or lack of 

4 information; and 

5 (B) the positive and negative impacts of 

6 the rule on economic indicators, including those 

7 related to gross domestic product, unemploy8 ment, wages, consumer prices, and business and 

9 manufacturing activity; and 

10 (2) publish the results of that determination in 

11 the Federal Register. 

Æ 


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