II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 609 

To provide for the establishment of a committee to assess the effects of 

certain Federal regulatory mandates. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 17, 2011 

Mr. INHOFE (for himself and Mr. JOHANNS) introduced the following bill; 

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

Public Works 

A BILL 

To provide for the establishment of a committee to assess 

the effects of certain Federal regulatory mandates. 

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 ‘‘Comprehensive Assess5 ment of Regulations on the Economy Act of 2011’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis9 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ10 mental Protection Agency. 


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1 (2) COMMITTEE.—The term ‘‘Committee’’ 

2 means the Cumulative Regulatory Assessment Com3 mittee established by section 3(a). 

4 (3) FEDERAL REGULATORY MANDATE.—The 

5 term ‘‘Federal regulatory mandate’’ means any reg6 ulation, rule, requirement, or interpretative guidance 

7 that— 

8 (A) is promulgated or issued (or is ex9 pected to be initiated) by the Administrator or 

10 a State or local government during the period 

11 beginning on January 1, 2010, and ending on 

12 January 1, 2020; 

13 (B) applies to 1 or more impacted units; 

14 and 

15 (C) implements any provision or require16 ment relating to— 

17 (i) interstate or international trans18 port of air pollution under section 

19 110(a)(2)(D), 115, or 126(b) of the Clean 

20 Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7410(a)(2)(D), 7415, 

21 7426(b)) with respect to any national am22 bient air quality standard, including— 

23 (I) any standard that has been 

24 promulgated or proposed before July 

25 1, 2011; and 


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1 (II) any new or revised standard 

2 for ozone or fine particulate matter 

3 that, as of the date of enactment of 

4 this Act, is currently under review or 

5 development by the Administrator; 

6 and 

7 (ii) the attainment, or maintenance of 

8 attainment, of any national ambient air 

9 quality standard, including— 

10 (I) any new or revised standard 

11 for ozone or fine particulate matter 

12 that, as of the date of enactment of 

13 this Act, is currently under review or 

14 development by the Administrator; 

15 and 

16 (II) any other standard that has 

17 been promulgated or proposed before 

18 July 1, 2011; 

19 (iii) new source performance stand20 ards under section 111 of the Clean Air 

21 Act (42 U.S.C. 7411), including any stand22 ards under subsection (d) of that section; 

23 (iv) hazardous air pollutants under 

24 section 112 of the Clean Air Act (42 

25 U.S.C. 7412); 


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1 (v) greenhouse gas emissions under ti2 tles I, II, and V of the Clean Air Act (42 

3 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.), including the require4 ments for— 

5 (I) new source performance 

6 standards under section 111 of the 

7 Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7411), in8 cluding any standards under sub9 section (d) of that section; and 

10 (II) preconstruction review per11 mits under section 165 of the Clean 

12 Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7475); 

13 (vi) cooling water intake structures 

14 under section 316(b) of the Clean Water 

15 Act (33 U.S.C. 1326(b)); 

16 (vii) effluent guidelines for regulating 

17 the discharge of pollutants under section 

18 304 of the Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. 

19 1314); 

20 (viii) the handling and disposal of coal 

21 combustion residuals under subtitle C or D 

22 of the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 

23 U.S.C. 6921 et seq.); 


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1 (ix) the regulation of fuels under title 

2 II of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7521 

3 et seq.); 

4 (x) regional haze or reasonably attrib5 utable visibility impairment under section 

6 169A or section 169B of the Clean Air Act 

7 (42 U.S.C. 7491, 7492); and 

8 (xi) any other environmental regula9 tions expected to have a significant impact 

10 on the electric power sector, the petroleum 

11 refining sector, the petrochemical produc12 tion sector, pipeline facilities regulated by 

13 the Department of Transportation or the 

14 Environmental Protection Agency, explo15 ration, production, or transportation of oil 

16 and natural gas, or any other manufac17 turing sector. 

18 (4) IMPACTED UNIT.—The term ‘‘impacted 

19 unit’’ means— 

20 (A) any electric generating unit that sells 

21 electricity into the grid; 

22 (B) any industrial, commercial, or institu23 tional boiler or process heater; 


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1 (C) any petroleum refining facility that 

2 produces gasoline, heating oil, diesel fuel, jet 

3 fuel, kerosene, or petrochemical feedstocks; 

4 (D) any petrochemical facility; 

5 (E) any hydrocarbon exploration, extrac6 tion, manufacturing, production, or transpor7 tation facility; or 

8 (F) any biofuel facility. 

9 SEC. 3. CUMULATIVE REGULATORY ASSESSMENT COM10 MITTEE. 

11 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established within 

12 the Department of Commerce a Committee, to be known 

13 as the ‘‘Cumulative Regulatory Assessment Committee’’. 

14 (b) COMPOSITION OF COMMITTEE.—The Committee 

15 shall consist of the following officials (or designees of the 

16 officials): 

17 (1) The Secretary of Agriculture. 

18 (2) The Secretary of Commerce. 

19 (3) The Secretary of Defense. 

20 (4) The Chairperson of the Council of Eco21 nomic Advisers. 

22 (5) The Secretary of Energy. 

23 (6) The Administrator. 

24 (7) The Chairperson of the Federal Energy 

25 Regulatory Commission. 


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1 (8) The Secretary of Labor. 

2 (9) The Administrator of the Office of Informa3 tion and Regulatory Affairs. 

4 (10) The President and Chief Executive Officer 

5 of the North American Electric Reliability Corpora6 tion. 

7 (11) The Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the 

8 Small Business Administration. 

9 (c) LEADERSHIP; OPERATIONS.—The Secretary of 

10 Commerce shall— 

11 (1) serve as the Chairperson of the Committee; 

12 and 

13 (2) be responsible for the executive and admin14 istrative operation of the Committee. 

15 (d) IDENTIFICATION OF FEDERAL REGULATORY

16 MANDATES.—Not later than 30 days after the date of en17 actment of this Act, the Administrator shall provide to the 

18 Committee a list of Federal regulatory mandates. 

19 (e) DUTIES.— 

20 (1) ASSESSMENT.— 

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Committee shall 

22 perform an assessment of the cumulative energy 

23 and economic impacts of the Federal regulatory 

24 mandates in accordance with this subsection, 


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1 including direct, indirect, quantifiable, and 

2 qualitative effects on— 

3 (i) employment, including job levels in 

4 each segment of the economy and each re5 gion of the United States, including coal6 producing regions; 

7 (ii) economic development, including 

8 production levels and labor demands in 

9 manufacturing, commercial, and other sec10 tors of the economy; 

11 (iii) the electric power sector, includ12 ing potential impacts on electric reliability, 

13 energy security, and retail electricity rates; 

14 (iv) the domestic refining and petro15 chemical sector, including potential im16 pacts on supply, international competitive17 ness, wholesale and retail transportation 

18 fuels, and heating oil and petrochemical 

19 prices; 

20 (v) State and local governments, in21 cluding potential impacts on governmental 

22 operations and local communities from any 

23 reductions in State and local tax revenues; 

24 (vi) small businesses (as defined in 

25 section 601 of title 5, United States Code), 


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1 including economic and regulatory impacts 

2 that could force the shutdown or limit the 

3 growth of small businesses; 

4 (vii) agriculture, including economic 

5 and regulatory impacts that could force the 

6 shutdown, or limit growth or productive 

7 capacity, of the agricultural industry in the 

8 United States, including the domestic fer9 tilizer manufacturing industry; and 

10 (viii) energy-intensive, trade-exposed 

11 industry (as defined in North American In12 dustry Classification System codes 31, 32, 

13 and 33) (including the beneficiation or 

14 processing (including agglomeration) of 

15 metal ores (including iron and copper 

16 ores), soda ash, or phosphate, petroleum 

17 refining, and petrochemicals production), 

18 including economic and regulatory impacts 

19 that could force the shutdown, or limit 

20 growth of productive capacity, of the 

21 United States manufacturing industry. 

22 (B) COMPREHENSIVE ANALYSIS.—The as23 sessment shall include a comprehensive anal24 ysis, for the period beginning on January 1, 


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1 2012, and ending on December 31, 2025, of the 

2 following matters: 

3 (i) The impacted units that would 

4 likely retire due to the cumulative compli5 ance costs of the Federal regulatory man6 dates. 

7 (ii) The amount by which average re8 tail electricity prices are forecasted to in9 crease above inflation as a result of— 

10 (I) the cumulative compliance 

11 costs of the Federal regulatory man12 dates; 

13 (II) the retirement of electric 

14 generating units that are impacted 

15 units described in clause (i); and 

16 (III) other direct and indirect im17 pacts that are expected to result from 

18 the cumulative compliance obligations 

19 of the Federal regulatory mandates. 

20 (iii) The amount by which average re21 tail transportation fuel and heating oil 

22 prices are forecasted to increase above in23 flation as a result of— 


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1 (I) the cumulative compliance 

2 costs of the Federal regulatory man3 dates; 

4 (II) the retirement or closure of 

5 domestic refineries that are impacted 

6 units described in clause (i); 

7 (III) the likely foreign-sourced 

8 replacement for the transportation 

9 fuels and heating oil supplies loss 

10 caused by the retirements or closures 

11 identified under subclause (II); and 

12 (IV) other direct and indirect im13 pacts that are expected to result from 

14 the cumulative compliance obligations 

15 of the Federal regulatory mandates. 

16 (iv) The amount by which average pe17 trochemical prices are forecasted to in18 crease above inflation as a result of— 

19 (I) the cumulative compliance 

20 costs of the Federal regulatory man21 dates; 

22 (II) the retirement or closure of 

23 domestic petrochemical facilities that 

24 are impacted units described in clause 

25 (i); 


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1 (III) the likely foreign-sourced 

2 replacement for the petrochemical 

3 supplies loss caused by the retire4 ments or closures identified under 

5 subclause (II); and 

6 (IV) other direct and indirect im7 pacts that are expected to result from 

8 the cumulative compliance obligations 

9 of the Federal regulatory mandates. 

10 (v) The direct and indirect adverse 

11 impacts on the economies of local commu12 nities that are projected to result from the 

13 retirement of impacted units described in 

14 clause (i) and increased retail electricity, 

15 transportation fuels, heating oil, and petro16 chemical prices that are forecasted under 

17 clause (ii), including— 

18 (I) loss of jobs, including jobs 

19 that would be lost that relate directly 

20 or indirectly to coal production or pe21 troleum refining; 

22 (II) reduction in State and local 

23 tax revenues; 

24 (III) harm to small businesses; 

25 (IV) harm to consumers; 


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1 (V) reduction in— 

2 (aa) the production and use 

3 of coal; and 

4 (bb) the domestic production 

5 of transportation fuels, heating 

6 oil, and petrochemicals in the 

7 United States; and 

8 (VI) other resulting adverse eco9 nomic or energy impacts. 

10 (vi) The extent to which the direct 

11 and indirect adverse economic impacts 

12 identified under clause (v) can be miti13 gated through the creation of additional 

14 jobs and new economic growth as a result 

15 of renewable energy projects, energy effi16 ciency measures, and other such energy 

17 construction projects that are projected to 

18 be undertaken in order to meet future en19 ergy demands. 

20 (vii) The cumulative effects of Federal 

21 regulatory mandates on the ability of in22 dustries and businesses in the United 

23 States to compete with industries and busi24 nesses in other countries, with respect to 


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1 competitiveness in both domestic and for2 eign markets. 

3 (viii) The regions of the United States 

4 that are forecasted to be— 

5 (I) most affected from the direct 

6 and indirect adverse impacts from the 

7 retirement of impacted units and in8 creased retail electricity, transpor9 tation fuels, heating oil, and petro10 chemicals price, as identified under 

11 clause (v); and 

12 (II) least affected from such ad13 verse impacts due to the creation of 

14 new jobs and economic growth that 

15 are expected to result directly and in16 directly from the energy construction 

17 projects, as identified under clause 

18 (vi). 

19 (ix) The cumulative effects of the 

20 Federal regulatory mandates on the elec21 tric power sector, including— 

22 (I) adverse impacts on electric re23 liability that are expected to result 

24 from the retirement of electric gener25 ating units identified under clause (i); 


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1 (II) the geographical distribution 

2 of the projected adverse electric reli3 ability impacts identified in subclause 

4 (I), according to the regions estab5 lished by North American Electric Re6 liability Corporation; and 

7 (III) an assessment of whether 

8 current plans to expand electricity 

9 generation and transmission capabili10 ties for each particular region can be 

11 optimized to mitigate those projected 

12 adverse reliability impacts. 

13 (x) Federal, State, and local policies 

14 that have been or will be implemented to 

15 foster a transition in energy infrastructure 

16 in the United States, including those poli17 cies that promote fuel diversity, affordable 

18 and reliable electricity, and energy secu19 rity. 

20 (2) CONSULTATION WITH STATE AND LOCAL

21 GOVERNMENTS.—The Committee shall consult with 

22 representatives of State and local governments— 

23 (A) to identify potential adverse cumulative 

24 impacts of the Federal regulatory mandates 

25 that have unique or significant repercussions 


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1 for each particular region of the United States; 

2 and 

3 (B) to investigate opportunities and strate4 gies for mitigating the adverse impacts and re5 percussions identified under subparagraph (A). 

6 (3) METHODOLOGY.—The Committee shall— 

7 (A) use the best available information and 

8 peer-reviewed economic models in performing 

9 the cumulative regulatory impact assessment 

10 under this subsection; and 

11 (B) seek public comment on the cost, en12 ergy, and other modeling assumptions used in 

13 performing the assessment. 

14 (4) PUBLIC NOTICE AND COMMENT.—The Com15 mittee shall provide public notice and the oppor16 tunity for comment on a draft cumulative regulatory 

17 impact assessment to be prepared under this sub18 section. 

19 (5) REPORT TO CONGRESS AND STATES.—Not 

20 later than January 1, 2012, the Committee shall 

21 submit to Congress and the Governor of each State 

22 a detailed report of the cumulative assessment per23 formed under this subsection. 


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1 SEC. 4. SAVINGS CLAUSE. 

2 Nothing in this Act confirms, modifies, or otherwise 

3 affects the statutory authority for adopting and imple4 menting the Federal regulatory mandates. 

Æ 


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