Super Pollutants Act of 2014

To establish a task force to review policies and measures to promote, and to develop best practices for, reduction of short-lived climate pollutants, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Super Pollutants Act of 2014 2. Findings Congress makes the following findings: (1) Short-lived climate pollutants account for 40 percent of global warming currently impacting the atmosphere, even though such pollutants account for a much smaller percentage of warming agents by weight. (2) Reducing short-lived climate pollutant emissions could— (A) prevent more than 2,000,000 premature deaths each year, according to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP); (B) prevent more than 30,000,000 tons of crop losses each year, according to UNEP; (C) cut the rate of sea level rise by 25 percent, according to the National Center for Atmospheric Research and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography; (D) cut the rate of warming by up to 0.6 degrees Celsius by 2050, according to UNEP; and (E) significantly contribute toward the overall global target of holding increased warming below 2 degrees Celsius. (3) The United States is one of the world’s largest consumer of hydrofluorocarbons and is providing significant innovation in the development of low global warming potential (low-GWP) al­ter­na­tives. (4) The United States could serve as a leader and exemplar of responsibly phasing down hy­dro­fluo­ro­car­bon production and consumption. (5) The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer has been an extraordinarily successful model for protecting the stratospheric ozone layer and achieving significant climate protection co-benefits. Since the treaty was signed in 1987, there has been a 98 percent reduction in ozone-depleting substances. (6) The interagency Strategy to Reduce Methane Emissions, released in March 2014, outlines a proactive agenda for reducing methane leakage and waste throughout the United States economy. 3. Definitions In this Act: (1) High–GWP HFC The term high-GWP HFC (2) Short-lived climate pollutant The term short-lived climate pollutant (A) black carbon; (B) methane; and (C) high-GWP HFC. 4. Interagency Task Force on Short-Lived Climate Pollutant Mitigation (a) Establishment Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the President shall establish the Interagency Task Force on Short-Lived Climate Pollutant Mitigation (referred to in this section as the Task Force (b) Members The Task Force shall include the head of all relevant Federal agencies (or their designated representatives), including the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Commerce, the Department of Defense, the Department of Energy, the Department of the Interior, the Department of State, the United States Agency for International Development, the Department of Transportation, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. (c) Duties The Task Force shall— (1) review the policy recommendations made by the Interagency Climate Change Adaptation Task Force, the Interagency Strategy to Reduce Methane Emissions, the March 2012 report to Congress on Black Carbon, and the Council on Climate Preparedness and Resilience; (2) incorporate any appropriate proposals or recommendations made by the entities or reports referred to in paragraph (1) that are relevant to short-lived climate pollutants into the Task Force’s action plan; (3) identify relevant Federal programs that are or could be addressing the reduction of short-lived climate pollutants in the United States and worldwide; (4) identify overlapping and duplicative programs addressing short-lived climate pollutants that would benefit from consolidation and streamlining; (5) identify gaps and serious deficiencies in United States programs targeted at short-lived climate pollutants, including those that can be achieved through a combination of assessment, scientific research, monitoring, and technological development activities; (6) not later than 18 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, submit a report to Congress on the findings and recommendations resulting from the activities described in paragraphs (1) through (5); and (7) in developing recommendations, consult with affected stakeholders in private industry. (d) Emission reduction plans Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, each Federal agency shall submit a report to the appropriate congressional committees that includes— (1) the agency’s plans for meeting the goals set forth in section 2 of Executive Order 13514 (October 5, 2009) to reduce hydrofluorocarbons, methane, and related indirect emissions, including tropospheric ozone, by the Federal Government; and (2) specific plans to purchase cleaner alternatives to high-GWP HFC whenever feasible and to transition over time to equipment that uses safer and more sustainable alternatives to high-GWP HFC. 5. Reduction of black carbon emissions (a) Comprehensive plan (1) In general Through the United States membership in the International Maritime Organization, the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of Transportation, the Secretary of Commerce, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Commandant of the Coast Guard, shall develop a comprehensive plan to reduce black carbon emissions from international shipping through— (A) a clean freight partnership; (B) the inclusion of limits on black carbon; and (C) efforts that include protection of access to critical fuel shipments and emergency needs of coastal communities. (2) Roadmap A principal objective of the plan developed pursuant to paragraph (1) should be the creation, in coordination with the Department of Transportation, of a roadmap toward helping countries reduce fine-particle emissions (PM2.5) in the shipping sector through— (A) the installation of advanced emissions controls; and (B) the reduction of sulfur content in fuels. (b) Black carbon emissions reduction goals In advance of and upon assuming the Chair of the Arctic Council, the Secretary of State should— (1) lead an effort to reduce black carbon through an Arctic-wide aspirational black carbon goal; and (2) encourage observers of the Arctic Council (including India and China) to adopt national black carbon emissions reduction goals. (c) Climate and Clean Air Coalition Through the United States membership in the Climate and Clean Air Coalition to Reduce Short Lived Climate Pollutants (referred to in this section as the Coalition (1) to work with the Coalition to craft specific financing mechanisms for the incremental cost of international black carbon mitigation activities; and (2) to request that the Coalition produce a report of black carbon mitigation financing options. (d) Black carbon mitigation activities (1) Prioritization The Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development shall prioritize black carbon mitigation activities as part of aid distribution activities and give special emphasis to projects that produce substantial environmental and public health benefits, including support for clean-burning cookstoves and fuels. (2) Emissions reductions The Secretary of State, in collaboration with the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Transportation, should further aid international efforts to reduce black carbon emissions from diesel trucks, 2-stroke engines, diesel generators, and industrial pro­cess­es by providing technical assistance— (A) to help developing nations lower the sulfur content of their diesel fuels; (B) to expand access to diesel particulate filters; (C) to provide vehicle manufacturers with low-emission engine designs; (D) to work with the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves to help developing nations establish thriving markets for clean and efficient cooking solutions; and (E) to develop other mitigation activities, including energy efficiency alternatives for generators and industrial processes. 6. Global reductions in high-GWP fluorinated gases (a) Sense of Congress (1) Actions by environmental protection agency It is the sense of Congress that the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency should— (A) amend any regulations issued under section 608 of the Clean Air Act ( 42 U.S.C. 7671g (i) to include hydrofluorocarbons; and (ii) to expand initiatives relating to the recovery and reclamation of hy­dro­fluo­ro­car­bons. (B) cooperate with the Secretary of Energy in considering modifications to the Energy Star program established under section 324A of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act ( 42 U.S.C. 6294a (i) achieve best-in-class energy efficiency savings; and (ii) utilize low global warming potential refrigerants and foam-blowing agents; and (C) remove high global warming potential hydrofluorocarbons from the Significant New Alternatives Policy Program authorized under section 612(c) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7671k(c)) for applications in which the Administrator has identified other alternatives that— (i) are currently or potentially available; and (ii) reduce the overall risk to human health and the environment. (2) Sense of the senate It is the sense of the Senate that an amendment to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer should ensure a smooth, technically feasible transition away from high-GWP HFC. (b) Study on high-GWP HFC alternatives Not later than 2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Energy and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, in collaboration with the National Institute of Standards and Technology, shall evaluate the availability of high-GWP HFC alternatives and submit a report to Congress that— (1) identifies— (A) the standards or regulatory barriers that are preventing the use of alternatives to high-GWP HFC in the United States that are in widespread use in other countries; (B) which standards or regulations need to be revised; and (C) what actions will be necessary to revise such standards or regulations; and (2) sets forth a plan for revising the standards referred to in paragraph (1) in the shortest possible time frame. (c) Prohibition of HCFC–22 air conditioning condensing equipment (1) Amendment Section 605 of the Clean Air Act ( 42 U.S.C. 7671d (e) HCFC–22 air conditioning condensing equipment Effective 1 year after the date of the enactment of the Super Pollutants Act of 2014 . (2) Rulemaking Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency shall promulgate regulations— (A) to carry out the amendment made by paragraph (1); and (B) to reduce the allocation of HCFC–22 consumption allowances commensurate with anticipated decreased demand resulting from the prohibition of uncharged condensing equipment under sections 605(e) of the Clean Air Act, as added by paragraph (1). (d) R–134 a (1) Study The Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency shall conduct a study to determine whether the sale of R–134a automotive air conditioning recharge kits to consumers represents an environmentally significant source of high-GWP HFC emissions. (2) Report Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall submit a report to Congress that contains the results of the study conducted pursuant to paragraph (1). 7. Reduction of methane leakage (a) Technical guidance The Secretary of State, the Secretary of Energy, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Secretary of Commerce shall— (1) provide other countries with technical guidance on containment of emissions from gas drilling, landfills, coal mining, and agriculture when engaging with other governments, including trade delegations, under the auspices of Department of State’s Global Shale Gas Initiative; and (2) collaborate with— (A) the World Bank’s Global Gas Flaring Reduction Partnership; and (B) the Environmental Protection Agency’s Global Methane Initiative, Natural Gas STAR Program, and other voluntary reduction programs. (b) Gas pipeline infrastructure (1) Study (A) In general The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, consistent with existing authority, shall conduct a study of methods utilized at facilities subject to the Commission’s jurisdiction to reduce leaks and venting across natural gas facilities. (B) Issues to be examined In conducting the study required under this paragraph, the Commission shall examine— (i) how the Commission’s treatment of just and reasonable rates for interstate transmission could be reformed to incent pipeline operators to recover fugitive methane emissions; (ii) how the Commission could coordinate with other agencies, including the Department of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, to ensure the development of rigorous and technically sound standards; and (iii) whether new pipeline systems are being engineered to meet the highest achievable standards for leak avoidance prior to being granted a construction certificate. (2) Report Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Commission shall submit a report to Congress that contains the results of the examination conducted pursuant to paragraph (1). (3) Inspection and maintenance program The Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency shall establish a directed inspection and maintenance program that focuses on— (A) identifying the types of equipment throughout the production value chain that are most likely to have high leak rates; and (B) efforts on replacing or monitoring those types of equipment. (c) Financing conditions The U.S. Export-Import Bank and the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, when evaluating gas and oil-related projects for financial support, should condition financing for such projects upon— (1) the deployment of the best technology, methods, and management practices for detecting and repairing leaks of methane throughout the oil and gas production, processing, transportation, and distribution system; (2) the minimization of venting and inefficient or unnecessary flaring; and (3) the deployment of best technology, methods, and management practices for reducing emissions of other air pollution, especially volatile organic compounds and hazardous air pollutants.

Summary: Super Pollutants Act of 2014 - Establishes requirements for agencies to evaluate, mitigate, reduce, and report on the following short-lived climate pollutant emissions (non-carbon dioxide pollutants that contribute to global warming even though they stay in the atmosphere for only a short time): black carbon (soot emissions that absorb sunlight, reduce the reflectivity of snow and ice when deposited on them, and generate heat), methane, and high global warming potential hydrofluorocarbons (high-GWP HFC). Requires the President to establish the Interagency Task Force on Short-Lived Climate Pollutant Mitigation to address these pollutants through an action plan. Directs the Department of State to develop a comprehensive plan to reduce black carbon emissions from international shipping. Requires the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to prioritize black carbon mitigation activities as part of aid distribution activities. Requires the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to evaluate the availability of high-GWP HFC alternatives. Amends the Clean Air Act to prohibit the manufacture of any uncharged hydrochlorofluorocarbon-22 air-conditioning condensing equipment for residential use. Requires the EPA to determine whether the sale of R-134a automotive air-conditioning recharge kits to consumers represents an environmentally significant source of high-GWP HFC emissions. Requires the State Department, the DOE, the EPA, and the Department of Commerce to provide other countries with technical guidance on containing emissions from gas drilling, landfills, coal mining, and agriculture. Directs the EPA to establish an inspection and maintenance program for equipment that has high leak rates of methane gas.