I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4143 
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. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
AUGUST 2, 2019 
Mr. PETERS (for himself and Mr. GAETZ) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition 
to the Committees on Foreign Affairs, and Financial Services, for a pe-
riod to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for con-
sideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the com-
mittee concerned 
A BILL 
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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Super Pollutants Act 
of 2019’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds that— 
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(1) short-lived climate pollutants account for 40 
percent of near-term global warming impacting the 
atmosphere, even though those pollutants account 
for a much smaller percentage of warming agents by 
weight; 
(2) reducing short-lived climate pollutant emis-
sions could— 
(A) cut the rate of sea-level rise by 25 per-
cent, according to the National Center for At-
mospheric Research and the Scripps Institution 
of Oceanography; and 
(B) according to the United Nations Envi-
ronment Programme— 
(i) prevent more than 2,000,000 pre-
mature deaths each year; 
(ii) prevent more than 30,000,000 
tons of crop losses each year; 
(iii) cut the rate of warming by up to 
0.6 degrees Celsius by 2050; and 
(iv) significantly contribute toward the 
overall global target of holding increased 
warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius; 
(3) the United States— 
(A) is one of the largest consumers of hy-
drofluorocarbons in the world; 
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(B) provides significant innovation in the 
development and commercialization of low-glob-
al warming potential alternatives that are al-
ready penetrating markets worldwide; and 
(C) could serve as a leader and exemplar 
of responsibly phasing down hydrofluorocarbon 
production and consumption, with strong sup-
port from industries that formerly used hydro-
fluorocarbons but are transitioning quickly to 
lower-global warming potential alternatives; 
(4) the Montreal Protocol on Substances that 
Deplete the Ozone Layer has been an extraordinarily 
successful model for— 
(A) protecting the stratospheric ozone 
layer; and 
(B) achieving significant climate protection 
cobenefits; 
(5) since the Montreal Protocol was signed in 
1987, there has been an elimination of more than 95 
percent of ozone-depleting substances; 
(6) on full implementation of the Montreal Pro-
tocol, the ozone layer should return to pre-1980 lev-
els by 2050; and 
(7) the Interagency Strategy to Reduce Meth-
ane Emissions, released in March 2014, outlines a 
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proactive agenda for reducing methane leakage and 
waste throughout the United States economy. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis-
trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ-
mental Protection Agency. 
(2) APPROPRIATE
CONGRESSIONAL
COMMIT-
TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com-
mittees’’ means the Committee on Energy and Com-
merce of the House of Representatives and the Com-
mittee on Environment and Public Works of the 
Senate. 
(3) HIGH-GWP HFC.—The term ‘‘high-GWP 
HFC’’ means hydrofluorocarbons with a global 
warming potential calculated over a 100-year period 
of greater than 150, as described in the Fifth As-
sessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on 
Climate Change. 
(4) RELEVANT FEDERAL AGENCY.—The term 
‘‘relevant Federal agency’’ ‘‘relevant Federal agen-
cy’’ means the Department of Agriculture, the De-
partment of Commerce, the Department of Defense, 
the Department of Energy, the Department of 
Health and Human Services, the Department of the 
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Interior, the Department of State, the Department 
of Transportation, the Environmental Protection 
Agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad-
ministration, the Council on Environmental Quality, 
the United States Agency for International Develop-
ment, and any other Federal agency the President 
determines appropriate. 
(5) SHORT-LIVED CLIMATE POLLUTANT.—The 
term ‘‘short-lived climate pollutant’’ means— 
(A) black carbon; 
(B) methane; and 
(C) high-GWP HFC. 
(6) TASK
FORCE.—The term ‘‘Task Force’’ 
means the Interagency Task Force on Short-Lived 
Climate Pollutant Mitigation established under sec-
tion 4(a). 
SEC. 4. INTERAGENCY TASK FORCE ON SHORT-LIVED CLI-
MATE POLLUTANT MITIGATION. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 90 days after 
the date of enactment of this Act, the President shall es-
tablish a task force, to be known as the Interagency Task 
Force on Short-Lived Climate Pollutant Mitigation. 
(b) MEMBERSHIP.—The members of the Task Force 
shall include the head (or a designee thereof) of each rel-
evant Federal agency. 
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(c) DUTIES.—The Task Force shall— 
(1) not later than 180 days after the date of 
enactment of this Act, submit to the appropriate 
congressional committees a report that includes spe-
cific plans of each relevant Federal agency— 
(A) to purchase cleaner alternatives to 
high-GWP HFC whenever feasible; and 
(B) to transition over time to equipment 
that uses safer and more sustainable alter-
natives to high-GWP HFC; 
(2) review the policy recommendations made 
by— 
(A) the Intergovernmental Panel on Cli-
mate Change; 
(B) the United States Climate Alliance; 
(C) the Interagency Strategy to Reduce 
Methane Emissions; 
(D) the Council on Climate Preparedness 
and Resilience; and 
(E) the Clean Cooking Alliance; 
(3) develop an action plan to reduce short-lived 
climate pollutants that incorporates any appropriate 
proposals or recommendations made by the entities 
referred to in paragraph (2) that are relevant to 
short-lived climate pollutants; 
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(4) identify any Federal program that is, or 
could be, relevant to reducing short-lived climate pol-
lutants— 
(A) in the United States; or 
(B) worldwide; 
(5) identify overlapping and duplicative Federal 
programs addressing short-lived climate pollutants 
that would benefit from consolidation and stream-
lining; 
(6) identify gaps and serious deficiencies in 
Federal programs targeted at short-lived climate pol-
lutants, including gaps and deficiencies that can be 
addressed through a combination of assessment, sci-
entific research, monitoring, and technological devel-
opment activities, with an emphasis on— 
(A) industry standards; and 
(B) public-private partnerships; 
(7) in developing recommendations, consult 
with affected stakeholders in private industry; and 
(8) not later than 18 months after the date of 
enactment of this Act, submit to the appropriate 
congressional committees a report describing the 
findings and recommendations resulting from the ac-
tivities described in paragraphs (2) through (7). 
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SEC. 5. REDUCTION OF BLACK CARBON EMISSIONS. 
(a) COMPREHENSIVE PLAN.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Consistent with strategies 
adopted by the International Maritime Organization 
to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from ships, the 
Secretary of State, in consultation with the Sec-
retary of Transportation, the Secretary of Com-
merce, the Administrator, and the Commandant of 
the Coast Guard, shall develop a comprehensive plan 
to reduce black carbon emissions from ships based 
on appropriate emissions data from oceangoing ves-
sels. The plan shall provide for such reduction 
through— 
(A) a clean freight partnership; 
(B) limits on black carbon emissions; 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) shall be 
the establishment, in coordination with the Secretary 
of Transportation, of a roadmap for helping coun-
tries to reduce fine-particle (PM2.5) and black car-
bon emissions in the shipping sector through— 
(A) the installation of advanced emissions 
controls; 
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