II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 689 

To promote the oil independence of the United States, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 30, 2011 

Mr. MERKLEY (for himself and Ms. SNOWE) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To promote the oil independence of the United States, 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 ‘‘Energy Security Act 

5 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) COUNCIL.—The term ‘‘Council’’ means the 

2 National Energy Security Council established by sec3 tion 4. 

4 (3) NATIONAL ENERGY SECURITY PROGRAM.— 

5 The term ‘‘national energy security program’’ means 

6 the national energy security program established by 

7 section 3. 

8 (4) NATIONAL OIL INDEPENDENCE GOAL.—The 

9 term ‘‘national oil independence goal’’ means the na10 tional oil independence goal established under sec11 tion 3(c). 

12 (5) NATIONAL OIL INDEPENDENCE PLAN.—The 

13 term ‘‘national oil independence plan’’ means the na14 tional oil independence plan established under sec15 tion 3(d). 

16 SEC. 3. NATIONAL ENERGY SECURITY PROGRAM. 

17 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 

18 Executive Office of the President the national energy secu19 rity program. 

20 (b) MISSION.—The mission of the national energy se21 curity program shall be to coordinate the activities and 

22 policies of the Federal Government to ensure, to the max23 imum extent practicable, that the United States meets— 

24 (1) goals for reducing oil dependence, oil im25 ports, and oil consumption; and 


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1 (2) other energy policy goals, including goals 

2 for— 

3 (A) enhancing the competitiveness of the 

4 United States in clean energy technology; 

5 (B) strengthening clean energy technology 

6 manufacturing in the United States; 

7 (C) reducing greenhouse gas emissions; 

8 and 

9 (D) reducing hazardous pollutants. 

10 (c) NATIONAL OIL INDEPENDENCE GOAL.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), it 

12 is the goal of the United States to reduce oil con13 sumption by the quantity that is equal to or greater 

14 than the quantity of oil imported by the United 

15 States from outside of North America by calendar 

16 year 2030 (as compared to the rate of oil consump17 tion projected for calendar year 2030 as of the date 

18 of enactment of this Act). 

19 (2) ADJUSTMENTS.—The President, in con20 sultation with the Council— 

21 (A) may adjust the numeric goal for cal22 endar year 2030 established under paragraph 

23 (1); 

24 (B) shall ensure that any new goal estab25 lished under subparagraph (A) represents the 


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1 maximum practicable oil savings achievable, 

2 taking into account other benefits of reducing 

3 oil consumption (including economic, security, 

4 and environmental benefits) and costs or other 

5 economic effects; and 

6 (C) if any new goal established under sub7 paragraph (A) is lower than the goal estab8 lished under paragraph (1), shall establish an 

9 additional goal for reducing oil consumption in 

10 the United Sates by a quantity that is equal to 

11 or greater than the quantity of oil imported by 

12 the United States from outside of North Amer13 ica on the fastest timeline practicable, taking 

14 into account other benefits of reducing oil con15 sumption (including economic, security, and en16 vironmental benefits) and costs or other eco17 nomic effects. 

18 (d) NATIONAL OIL INDEPENDENCE PLAN.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—The President, in coordina20 tion with the Council and the Director of the Office 

21 of Management and Budget, shall— 

22 (A) develop a national oil independence 

23 plan that describes programs and activities that 

24 will be implemented to meet or exceed the naVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:25 Mar 31, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S689.IS S689

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1 tional oil independence goal and other goals es2 tablished pursuant to subsection (c); 

3 (B) submit the national oil independence 

4 plan to Congress not later than 180 days after 

5 the date of enactment of this Act; and 

6 (C) submit an updated national oil inde7 pendence plan to Congress every 2 years there8 after. 

9 (2) REVIEW OF FEDERAL POLICIES, PROGRAMS, 

10 AND AUTHORITIES.—Not later than 120 days after 

11 the date of enactment of this Act, the President, in 

12 coordination with the Council and the Director of 

13 the Office of Management and Budget, shall review 

14 existing programs and authorities of the Federal 

15 Government and other applicable policies (including 

16 tax policies) to determine— 

17 (A)(i) which programs, authorities, or poli18 cies could be used to accelerate reductions in oil 

19 dependence; and 

20 (ii) any means by which the programs, au21 thorities, or policies— 

22 (I) could be used to maximize reduc23 tions in oil dependence; or 


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1 (II) would require modification in 

2 order to be used to maximize reductions in 

3 oil dependence; and 

4 (B)(i) which programs, authorities, or poli5 cies have the effect of increasing oil consump6 tion and oil dependence or otherwise create bar7 riers to reducing oil consumption and oil de8 pendence; and 

9 (ii) the manner by which the programs, au10 thorities, or policies— 

11 (I) have the effect of encouraging oil 

12 consumption or oil dependence or otherwise 

13 create barriers to reducing oil consumption 

14 and oil dependence; and 

15 (II) could be modified or eliminated to 

16 help meet the goal of reducing oil con17 sumption and oil dependence. 

18 (3) CONTENTS.—At a minimum, the national 

19 oil independence plan shall— 

20 (A) describe the results and conclusions of 

21 the review conducted under paragraph (2); 

22 (B) as appropriate, include— 

23 (i) the use of programs, authorities, 

24 or policies described in paragraph (2)(A); 

25 and 


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1 (ii) if existing authority allows, pro2 posals to modify or eliminate programs, 

3 authorities, or policies described in para4 graph (2)(B); 

5 (C) include recommendations to Congress 

6 for legislation that would further— 

7 (i) promote reductions in oil consump8 tion and oil dependence; 

9 (ii) reduce barriers to reducing oil 

10 consumption and oil dependence; and 

11 (iii) help meet the energy policy goals 

12 of the United States; 

13 (D) include a timetable for achieving the 

14 national oil independence goal, including in15 terim targets on not less than a biennial basis; 

16 (E) a plan for coordinating actions across 

17 the Federal Government to ensure, to the max18 imum extent practicable, that the national oil 

19 independence goal is met; and 

20 (F) a timeline for issuing rules, Executive 

21 orders, or other policy instruments that will im22 plement the recommendations contained the na23 tional oil independence plan. 


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1 (e) ANNUAL REQUESTS TO CONGRESS.—When sub2 mitting annual budget requests to Congress, the President 

3 shall include— 

4 (1)(A) requests for sufficient funding for such 

5 programs the President considers appropriate to im6 plement the national oil independence plan; and 

7 (B) if the amount of funding is not sufficient 

8 to meet the national oil independence goal, a de9 scription of the amount of funding that would be 

10 necessary to meet the goal; 

11 (2)(A) requests for such additional authorities 

12 or changes to existing laws or authorities as the 

13 President considers appropriate in order to imple14 ment the national oil independence plan; and 

15 (B) if the amount of funding is not sufficient 

16 to meet the national oil independence goal, a de17 scription of such additional authority or changes to 

18 existing laws or authorities as would be necessary to 

19 meet the goal; and 

20 (3) a report on the oil consumption and imports 

21 of the United States relative to the national oil inde22 pendence goal and the interim targets and timelines 

23 established in the national oil independence plan. 


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1 SEC. 4. NATIONAL ENERGY SECURITY COUNCIL. 

2 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 

3 Executive Office of the President a National Energy Secu4 rity Council. 

5 (b) MISSION.—The mission of the Council shall be 

6 to assist and advise the President in— 

7 (1) establishing the national oil independence 

8 goal in numeric terms of barrels per day of oil con9 sumption, based on the most recent consumption es10 timates by the Energy Information Administration; 

11 (2) meeting the national oil independence goal; 

12 (3) developing the national oil independence 

13 plan and the requests described in section 3(e); 

14 (4) coordinating the policies, programs, and ac15 tivities of the national energy security program in 

16 order to implement the national oil independence 

17 plan and meet the national oil independence goal; 

18 and 

19 (5) ensuring that policy decisions and programs 

20 are consistent with the energy policy goals of the 

21 United States. 

22 (c) MEMBERSHIP.—The membership of the Council 

23 shall consist of— 

24 (1) the Secretary of Energy; 

25 (2) the Assistant to the President for National 

26 Security Affairs; 


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1 (3) the Secretary of Transportation; 

2 (4) the Administrator; 

3 (5) the Secretary of the Treasury; 

4 (6) the Director of the National Economic 

5 Council; 

6 (7) the Secretary of Agriculture; 

7 (8) the Chair of the Council on Environmental 

8 Quality; 

9 (9) the Secretary of State; and 

10 (10) the Director of the Office of Science and 

11 Technology Policy. 

12 (d) CHAIR.—The President shall act as Chair of the 

13 Council. 

14 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

15 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

16 such sums as are necessary. 

Æ 


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