II 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 1905 

To provide direction to the Administrator of the Environmental Protection 

Agency regarding the establishment of standards for emissions of any 

greenhouse gas from fossil fuel-fired electric utility generating units, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 9, 2014 

Mr. MANCHIN (for himself and Mr. HOEVEN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and 

Public Works 

A BILL 

To provide direction to the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency regarding the establishment 

of standards for emissions of any greenhouse gas from 

fossil fuel-fired electric utility generating units, 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 ‘‘Electricity Security 

5 and Affordability Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. STANDARDS OF PERFORMANCE FOR NEW FOSSIL 

2 FUEL-FIRED ELECTRIC UTILITY GENERATING 

3 UNITS. 

4 (a) LIMITATION.—The Administrator of the Environ5 mental Protection Agency may not issue, implement, or 

6 enforce any proposed or final rule under section 111 of 

7 the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7411) that establishes a 

8 standard of performance for emissions of any greenhouse 

9 gas from any new source that is a fossil fuel-fired electric 

10 utility generating unit unless such rule meets the require11 ments under subsections (b) and (c). 

12 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—In issuing any rule under sec13 tion 111 of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7411) estab14 lishing standards of performance for emissions of any 

15 greenhouse gas from new sources that are fossil fuel-fired 

16 electric utility generating units, the Administrator of the 

17 Environmental Protection Agency (for purposes of estab18 lishing such standards)— 

19 (1) shall separate sources fueled with coal and 

20 natural gas into separate categories; and 

21 (2) shall not set a standard based on the best 

22 system of emission reduction for new sources within 

23 the coal category unless— 

24 (A) such standard has been achieved on 

25 average for at least one continuous 12-month 


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1 period (excluding planned outages) by each of 

2 at least 6 units within such category— 

3 (i) each of which is located at a dif4 ferent electric generating station in the 

5 United States; 

6 (ii) which, collectively, are representa7 tive of the operating characteristics of elec8 tric generation at different locations in the 

9 United States; and 

10 (iii) each of which is operated for the 

11 entire 12-month period on a full commer12 cial basis; and 

13 (B) no results obtained from any dem14 onstration project are used in setting such 

15 standard. 

16 (c) COAL HAVING A HEAT CONTENT OF 8300 OR

17 LESS BRITISH THERMAL UNITS PER POUND.— 

18 (1) SEPARATE SUBCATEGORY.—In carrying out 

19 subsection (b)(1), the Administrator of the Environ20 mental Protection Agency shall establish a separate 

21 subcategory for new sources that are fossil fuel-fired 

22 electric utility generating units using coal with an 

23 average heat content of 8300 or less British Ther24 mal Units per pound. 


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1 (2) STANDARD.—Notwithstanding subsection 

2 (b)(2), in issuing any rule under section 111 of the 

3 Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7411) establishing stand4 ards of performance for emissions of any greenhouse 

5 gas from new sources in such subcategory, the Ad6 ministrator of the Environmental Protection Agency 

7 shall not set a standard based on the best system of 

8 emission reduction unless— 

9 (A) such standard has been achieved on 

10 average for at least one continuous 12-month 

11 period (excluding planned outages) by each of 

12 at least 3 units within such subcategory— 

13 (i) each of which is located at a dif14 ferent electric generating station in the 

15 United States; 

16 (ii) which, collectively, are representa17 tive of the operating characteristics of elec18 tric generation at different locations in the 

19 United States; and 

20 (iii) each of which is operated for the 

21 entire 12-month period on a full commer22 cial basis; and 

23 (B) no results obtained from any dem24 onstration project are used in setting such 

25 standard. 


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1 SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL APPROVAL REQUIRED FOR 

2 STANDARDS OF PERFORMANCE FOR EXIST3 ING, MODIFIED, AND RECONSTRUCTED FOS4 SIL FUEL-FIRED ELECTRIC UTILITY GENER5 ATING UNITS. 

6 (a) APPLICABILITY.—This section applies with re7 spect to any rule or guidelines issued by the Administrator 

8 of the Environmental Protection Agency under section 

9 111 of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7411) that— 

10 (1) establish any standard of performance for 

11 emissions of any greenhouse gas from any modified 

12 or reconstructed source that is a fossil fuel-fired 

13 electric utility generating unit; or 

14 (2) apply to the emissions of any greenhouse 

15 gas from an existing source that is a fossil fuel-fired 

16 electric utility generating unit. 

17 (b) CONGRESSIONAL APPROVAL.—A rule or guide18 lines described in subsection (a) shall not take effect un19 less a Federal law is enacted specifying such rule’s or 

20 guidelines’ effective date. 

21 (c) REPORTING.—A rule or guidelines described in 

22 subsection (a) shall not take effect unless the Adminis23 trator of the Environmental Protection Agency has sub24 mitted to Congress a report containing each of the fol25 lowing: 

26 (1) The text of such rule or guidelines. 


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1 (2) The economic impacts of such rule or guide2 lines, including the potential effects on— 

3 (A) economic growth, competitiveness, and 

4 jobs in the United States; and 

5 (B) electricity ratepayers, including low-in6 come ratepayers in affected States. 

7 (3) The amount of greenhouse gas emissions 

8 that such rule or guidelines are projected to reduce 

9 as compared to overall global greenhouse gas emis10 sions. 

11 SEC. 4. REPEAL OF EARLIER RULES AND GUIDELINES. 

12 The following rules and guidelines shall be of no force 

13 or effect, and shall be treated as though such rules and 

14 guidelines had never been issued: 

15 (1) The proposed rule— 

16 (A) entitled ‘‘Standards of Performance 

17 for Greenhouse Gas Emissions for New Sta18 tionary Sources: Electric Utility Generating 

19 Units’’, published at 77 Fed. Reg. 22392 (April 

20 13, 2012); and 

21 (B) withdrawn pursuant to the notice enti22 tled ‘‘Withdrawal of Proposed Standards of 

23 Performance for Greenhouse Gas Emissions for 

24 New Stationary Sources: Electric Utility Gener25 ating Units’’, signed by the Administrator of 


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1 the Environmental Protection Agency on Sep2 tember 20, 2013, and identified by docket ID 

3 number EPA–HQ–OAR–2011–0660. 

4 (2) The proposed rule entitled ‘‘Standards of 

5 Performance for Greenhouse Gas Emissions from 

6 New Stationary Sources: Electric Utility Generating 

7 Units’’, signed by the Administrator of the Environ8 mental Protection Agency on September 20, 2013, 

9 and identified by docket ID number EPA–HQ– 

10 OAR–2013–0495. 

11 (3) With respect to the proposed rule described 

12 in paragraph (1), any successor or substantially 

13 similar proposed or final rule that— 

14 (A) is issued prior to the date of the enact15 ment of this Act; 

16 (B) is applicable to any new source that is 

17 a fossil fuel-fired electric utility generating unit; 

18 and 

19 (C) does not meet the requirements under 

20 subsections (b) and (c) of section 2. 

21 (4) Any proposed or final rule or guidelines 

22 under section 111 of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 

23 7411) that— 

24 (A) are issued prior to the date of the en25 actment of this Act; and 


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1 (B) establish any standard of performance 

2 for emissions of any greenhouse gas from any 

3 modified or reconstructed source that is a fossil 

4 fuel-fired electric utility generating unit or 

5 apply to the emissions of any greenhouse gas 

6 from an existing source that is a fossil fuel-fired 

7 electric utility generating unit. 

8 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 

9 In this Act: 

10 (1) DEMONSTRATION PROJECT.—The term 

11 ‘‘demonstration project’’ means a project to test or 

12 demonstrate the feasibility of carbon capture and 

13 storage technologies that has received government 

14 funding or financial assistance. 

15 (2) EXISTING SOURCE.—The term ‘‘existing 

16 source’’ has the meaning given such term in section 

17 111(a) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7411(a)), 

18 except such term shall not include any modified 

19 source. 

20 (3) GREENHOUSE GAS.—The term ‘‘greenhouse 

21 gas’’ means any of the following: 

22 (A) Carbon dioxide. 

23 (B) Methane. 

24 (C) Nitrous oxide. 

25 (D) Sulfur hexafluoride. 


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1 (E) Hydrofluorocarbons. 

2 (F) Perfluorocarbons. 

3 (4) MODIFICATION.—The term ‘‘modification’’ 

4 has the meaning given such term in section 111(a) 

5 of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7411(a)). 

6 (5) MODIFIED SOURCE.—The term ‘‘modified 

7 source’’ means any stationary source, the modifica8 tion of which is commenced after the date of the en9 actment of this Act. 

10 (6) NEW SOURCE.—The term ‘‘new source’’ has 

11 the meaning given such term in section 111(a) of 

12 the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7411(a)), except that 

13 such term shall not include any modified source. 

Æ 


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