I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2980
To reduce emissions of mercury, carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and sulfur
dioxide from fossil fuel-fired electric utility generating units operating
in the United States, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
SEPTEMBER 30, 1999
Mr. ALLEN (for himself, Mr. SAXTON, Mr. BALDACCI, Mrs. MALONEY of New
York, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr.
CAPUANO, Mr. DELAHUNT, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. HOLT, Mr. KENNEDY of
Rhode Island, Mr. KUCINICH, Mr. MARTINEZ, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr.
NADLER, Mr. NEAL of Massachusetts, Mr. OLVER, Mr. VENTO, and Mr.
WEYGAND) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Education
and the Workforce, Transportation and Infrastructure, Banking and Fi-
nancial Services, and Science, for a period to be subsequently determined
by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall
within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
A BILL
To reduce emissions of mercury, carbon dioxide, nitrogen
oxides, and sulfur dioxide from fossil fuel-fired electric
utility generating units operating in the United States,
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; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the
‘‘Clean Power Plant Act of 1999’’.
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of
this Act is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Findings and purposes.
Sec. 3. Definitions.
Sec. 4. Air emission standards for fossil fuel-fired generating units.
Sec. 5. Tonnage cap for carbon dioxide.
Sec. 6. Disposal of mercury captured or recovered through emission controls.
Sec. 7. Recognition of permanent emission reductions in future climate change
implementation programs.
Sec. 8. Evaluation of implementation of this Act and other statutes.
Sec. 9. Assistance for workers adversely affected by reduced consumption of
coal.
Sec. 10. Community economic development incentives for communities adversely
affected by reduced consumption of coal.
Sec. 11. Carbon sequestration.
Sec. 12. Property tax relief.
Sec. 13. Hazardous air pollutants from electric utility steam generating units.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—
(1) the United States is relying increasingly on
old, inefficient, and highly polluting powerplants to
provide electricity;
(2) the pollution from those powerplants causes
a wide range of health and environmental damage,
including—
(A) fine particulate matter that is associ-
ated with the deaths of approximately 50,000
Americans annually;
(B) ozone, commonly known as ‘‘smog’’,
that impairs normal respiratory functions and
is of special concern to individuals afflicted with
asthma, emphysema, and other respiratory ail-
ments, and causes property damage;
(C) rural ozone ‘‘smog’’ that impairs nor-
mal respiratory functions and is of special con-
cern to individuals afflicted with asthma, em-
physema, and other respiratory ailments, and
obscures visibility, and damages forests, crops,
and wildlife;
(D) acid deposition that damages estu-
aries, lakes, rivers, and streams (and the plants
and animals that depend on them for survival)
and leaches heavy metals from the soil;
(E) mercury and heavy metal contamina-
tion that renders fish unsafe to eat, with espe-
cially serious consequences for pregnant women
and their fetuses;
(F) eutrophication of estuaries, lakes, riv-
ers, and streams;
(G) global climate change that may fun-
damentally and irreversibly alter human, ani-
mal, and plant life; and
(H) mercury and other hazardous and
toxic substances found in fossil fuel combustion
wastes which may contaminate ground water.
(3) tax laws and environmental laws—
(A) provide a very strong incentive for
electric utilities to keep old, dirty, and ineffi-
cient generating units in operation; and
(B) provide a strong disincentive to invest-
ing in new, clean, and efficient generating tech-
nologies;
(4) fossil fuel-fired powerplants, consisting of
plants fueled by coal, fuel oil, and natural gas,
produce nearly two-thirds of the electricity generated
in the United States;
(5) coal-fired powerplants are the leading
source of mercury emissions in the United States,
releasing from their smokestacks an estimated 52
tons of this potent neurotoxin each year;
(6) in 1996, fossil fuel-fired powerplants in the
United States produced over 2,000,000,000 tons of
carbon dioxide, the primary greenhouse gas;
(7) on average—
(A) fossil fuel-fired powerplants emit 1,999
pounds of carbon dioxide for every megawatt
hour of electricity produced; and
(B) coal-fired powerplants emit 2,110
pounds of carbon dioxide for every megawatt
hour of electricity produced;
(8) new fossil-fuel-fired power plants produce
over 100,000,000 tons per year of fossil-fuel com-
bustion wastes containing hazardous and toxic
chemicals, including, but not limited to, mercury, ar-
senic, barium, cadmium, chromium, nickel, lead, se-
lenium, and vanadium.
(9) the average fossil fuel-fired generating unit
in the United States commenced operation in 1964,
6 years before the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7401
et seq.) was amended to establish requirements for
stationary sources;
(10)(A) according to the Department of En-
ergy, only 23 percent of the 1,000 largest emitting
units are subject to stringent new source perform-
ance standards under section 111 of the Clean Air
Act (42 U.S.C. 7411); and
(B) the remaining 77 percent, commonly re-
ferred to as ‘‘grandfathered’’ powerplants, are sub-
ject to much less stringent requirements;
(11) pollution from powerplants can be reduced
through adoption of modern technologies and prac-
tices, including—
(A) methods of combusting coal that are
intrinsically more efficient and less polluting,
such as pressurized fluidized bed combustion
and an integrated gasification combined cycle
system;
(B) methods of combusting cleaner fuels,
such as gases from fossil and biological re-
sources and combined cycle turbines;
(C) treating flue gases through application
of pollution controls;
(D) methods for managing and disposing
of fossil-fuel combustion wastes reflecting the
hazardous nature of their components;
(E) methods of extracting energy from
natural, renewable resources of energy, such as
solar and wind sources;
(F) methods of producing electricity and
thermal energy from fuels without conventional
combustion, such as fuel cells; and
(G) combined heat and power methods of
extracting and using heat that would otherwise
be wasted, for the purpose of heating or cooling
office buildings, providing steam to processing
facilities, or otherwise increasing total effi-
ciency;
(12) adopting the technologies and practices de-
scribed in paragraph (17) would increase competi-
tiveness and productivity, secure employment, save
lives, and preserve the future.
(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are—
(1) to protect and preserve the environment
while safeguarding health by ensuring that each fos-
sil fuel-fired generating unit minimizes pollution to
levels that are technologically feasible through mod-
ernization and application of pollution controls;
(2) to greatly reduce the quantities of mercury
(and other hazardous and toxic chemicals), carbon
dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen oxides entering
the environment from combustion of fossil fuels;
(3) to eliminate the ‘‘grandfather’’ loophole in
the Clean Air Act relating to sources in operation
before the promulgation of standards under section
111 of that Act (42 U.S.C. 7411);
(4) to decrease significantly the threat to
human health and the environment posed by mer-
cury and other hazardous chemicals resulting from
the combustion of fossil fuels;
(5) to provide worker retraining for workers ad-
versely affected by reduced consumption of coal;
(6) to provide economic development incentives
for communities adversely affected by reduced con-
sumption of coal; and
(7) to provide property tax relief for commu-
nities whose tax base is significantly affected by any
resulting plant retirements.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis-
trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ-
mental Protection Agency.
(2) GENERATING UNIT.—The term ‘‘generating
unit’’ means an electric utility generating facility
with a nameplate capacity of 15 megawatts or great-
er that uses a combustion device primarily to gen-
erate electricity for sale.
SEC. 4. AIR EMISSION STANDARDS FOR FOSSIL FUEL-FIRED
GENERATING UNITS.
Section 111 of the Clean Air Act is amended by add-
ing the following new subsection at the end thereof:
‘‘(k) EMISSION RATES FOR CERTAIN FOSSIL FUEL-
FIRED ELECTRIC GENERATING UNITS.—
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—In addition to other re-
quirements applicable under this section to such
units, emissions of air pollutants from each fossil
fuel-fired electric generating unit that is a new
source or an existing source for purposes of this sec-
tion shall not exceed the following:
‘‘(A) MERCURY.—Mercury emissions shall
not exceed 30 percent of the mercury otherwise
present in the flue gas. Not later than 2 years
after the date of enactment of this subsection,
the Administrator, in consultation with the Sec-
retary of Energy, shall promulgate methods for
determining initial and continuing compliance
with this subparagraph and fuel sampling tech-
niques and emission monitoring techniques for
use by generating units in calculating mercury
emission reductions for the purposes of this
subparagraph.
‘‘(B) SULFUR
DIOXIDE.—Sulfur dioxide
emissions shall not exceed 3.0 pounds per
megawatt hour and total annual sulfur dioxide
emissions shall not exceed 3.0 pounds multi-
plied by the average megawatt hours generated
by the unit in the calendar years 1996 through
1998.
‘‘(C) NITROGEN OXIDES.—Nitrogen oxide
emissions shall not exceed 1.5 pounds per
megawatt hour and total annual emissions of
nitrogen oxides shall not exceed 1.5 pounds
multiplied by the average annual megawatt
hours generated by the unit in the calendar
years 1996 through 1998.
‘‘(2) REPORTING.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not less than often
than quarterly, the owner or operator of each
electric utility generating unit shall submit a
pollutant-specific emission report for each pol-
lutant covered by this subsection and for carbon
dioxide.
‘‘(B) SIGNATURE.—Each report required
under subparagraph (A) shall be signed by a re-
sponsible official of the generating unit, who
shall certify the accuracy of the report.
‘‘(C) PUBLIC REPORTING.—The Adminis-
trator shall annually make available to the pub-
lic, through 1 or more published reports and 1
or more forms of electronic media, facility-spe-
cific emission data for each generating unit and
pollutant covered by this subsection and for
carbon dioxide.
‘‘(D) CONSUMER DISCLOSURE.—Not later
than 2 years after the date of enactment of this
subsection, the Administrator shall promulgate
regulations requiring each owner or operator of
each electric utility generating unit to disclose
to residential consumers of electricity generated
by the unit, on a regular basis (but not less
often than annually) and in a manner conven-
ient to the consumers, data concerning the level
of emissions by the generating unit of carbon
dioxide and each pollutant covered by this sec-
tion.
‘‘(3) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This subsection shall
take effect on January 1, 2005, and on that date
each unit covered by this subsection shall be re-
quired to have a permit issued under title V that re-
quires compliance with this subsection.’’.
SEC. 5. TONNAGE CAP FOR CARBON DIOXIDE.
(a) GENERATION PERFORMANCE STANDARD.—For
each calendar year beginning after December 31, 2004,
the Administrator shall calculate a generation perform-
ance standard for carbon dioxide from covered fossil fuel
fired electric generating units. The standard shall be equal
to 1.914 billion tons divided by the Commission’s estimate
(under this section) of total electric generation from all
such units during that year. The Administrator shall pub-
lish such standard (expressed in pounds per megawatt
hour) at least 30 days prior to the beginning of the cal-
endar year concerned. For purposes of this section, the
term ‘‘covered fossil fuel fired electric generating unit’’
means a fossil fuel fired electric generating unit with an
electric generation capacity greater than 50 megawatts.
(b) ALLOCATION AND TRADING OF ALLOWANCES.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—For each calendar year be-
ginning after December 31, 2004, the Administrator
shall allocate allowances for carbon dioxide among
covered fossil fuel-fired electric generating units by
multiplying the generation performance standard for
that calendar year by each unit’s electric generation
during the calendar year.
(2) CARRYOVER
AND
TRADING
OF
ALLOW-
ANCES.—Allowances allocated to any unit for any
calendar year that are not used to demonstrate com-
pliance with subsection (c) for that calendar year
may be retained and used to demonstrate compliance
with such requirements by any person in a subse-
quent calendar year. Such allowances may be trans-
ferred from the unit to which allocated to any other
unit. Any person to whom such allowances have been
transferred may use the allowances in the calendar
year or in a subsequent calendar year to dem-
onstrate compliance with this section or may trans-
fer such allowances to any other person for such
purposes.
(c) COMPLIANCE WITH ALLOWANCE LIMITS.—For
each calendar year beginning after December 31, 2004,
the owner or operator of each covered fossil fuel-fired elec-
tric generating unit shall surrender to the Administrator
a number of allowances for carbon dioxide equal to the
total tonnage of carbon dioxide emitted by that unit dur-
ing the calendar year. Emissions shall be determined
based on continuous monitoring approved by the Adminis-
trator. The Administrator may permit the average rate of
emissions from a covered fossil fuel-fired electric gener-
ating unit over any calendar year to exceed the generation
performance standard if the generating plant has a suffi-
cient quantity of emissions credits.
(d) EXCESS EMISSIONS.—The owner or operator of
any covered fossil fuel-fired electric generating unit that
emits carbon dioxide in any calendar year in excess of the
allowances for such air pollutant that the owner or oper-
ator holds for use for the unit for the calendar year shall
be liable for the payment of an excess emissions penalty,
and shall be liable to offset the excess emissions by an
equal tonnage amount of such air pollutant in the fol-
lowing calendar year or such other period as the Adminis-
trator shall prescribe. The excess emissions penalty shall
be calculated on the basis of the number of tons emitted
in excess of the total number of allowances held, multiplied
by $100, indexed by inflation under rules promulgated by
the Administrator. Excess emissions penalties and offsets
shall be determined and administered in accordance with
regulations to be promulgated by the Administrator within
6 months after the enactment of this section. The failure
or refusal of any person to pay the full amount of any
excess emission penalty imposed under this section shall
be punishable by a fine of $10,000 for each day during
which such failure or refusal continues.
(e) ESTIMATE
OF ELECTRIC GENERATION.—For
each calendar year beginning after December 31, 2004,
the Administrator shall publish the Administrator’s esti-
mate of the total electric generation by covered fossil fuel-
fired electric generating units. Such estimate shall be com-
puted based on total electric energy generation from all
covered fossil fuel-fired electric generating units during
the current year or calendar year plus the projected
growth (as determined by the Secretary of Energy) in elec-
tric energy generation and expected verifiable electric en-
ergy conservation for the calendar year. The Adminis-
trator shall publish such estimate at least 30 days prior
to the beginning of the applicable period for which the es-
timate is made.
SEC. 6. DISPOSAL OF MERCURY AND OTHER HAZARDOUS
WASTES.
(a) CAPTURED
OR RECOVERED MERCURY.—Not
later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act,
the Administrator shall promulgate regulations under sub-
title C of the Solid Waste Disposal Act and other applica-
ble provisions of law to ensure that mercury or other haz-
ardous wastes captured or recovered through the use of
an emission control method, or coal cleaning, or another
process associated with the combustion of fossil fuels for
the generation of electricity is disposed of in a manner
that ensures that—
(1) the hazards from mercury or other haz-
ardous waste are not transferred from one environ-
mental medium to another; and
(2) there is no release of mercury or other haz-
ardous waste into the environment.
(b) SLUDGES AND WASTES CONTAINING MERCURY
OR OTHER HAZARDOUS WASTES.—The regulations pro-
mulgated by the Administrator under subsection (a) shall
ensure that sludges and wastes containing mercury or
other hazardous wastes are handled and disposed of in ac-
cordance with all applicable Federal and State laws (in-
cluding regulations).
(c) Section 3001 of the Solid Waste Disposal Act is
amended by repealing paragraph (3)(A) of subsection (b)
to the extent it affects wastes generated from the combus-
tion of coal or other fossil fuels in a generating unit.
SEC. 7. RECOGNITION OF PERMANENT EMISSION REDUC-
TIONS IN FUTURE CLIMATE CHANGE IMPLE-
MENTATION PROGRAMS.
It is the sense of Congress that—
(1) permanent reductions in emissions of car-
bon dioxide and nitrogen oxides that are accom-
plished through the retirement of old generating
units and replacement by new generating units that
meet the emission standards specified in this Act, or
through replacement of old generating units with
nonpolluting renewable power generation tech-
nologies, should be credited to the utility sector, and
to the owner or operator that retires or replaces the
old generating unit, in any climate change imple-
mentation program enacted by Congress;
(2) the base year for calculating reductions
under a program described in paragraph (1) should
be the calendar year preceding the calendar year in
which this Act is enacted; and
(3) a reasonable portion of any monetary value
that may accrue from the crediting described in
paragraph (1) should be passed on to utility cus-
tomers.
SEC. 8. EVALUATION OF IMPLEMENTATION OF THIS ACT
AND OTHER STATUTES.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after the
date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Energy,
in consultation with the Chairman of the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission and the Administrator, shall sub-
mit to Congress a report on the implementation of this
Act.
(b) IDENTIFICATION OF CONFLICTING LAW.—The
report shall identify any provision of the Energy Policy
Act of 1992 (Public Law 102–486), the Energy Supply
and Environmental Coordination Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C.
791 et seq.), the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act
of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.), the Powerplant and In-
dustrial Fuel Use Act of 1978 (42 U.S.C. 8301 et seq.),
or the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C 6901 et seq.),
or the amendments made by those Acts, that conflicts with
the intent or efficient implementation of this Act.
(c) RECOMMENDATIONS.—The report shall include
recommendations from the Secretary of Energy, the
Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Adminis-
trator, and the Administrator for legislative or administra-
tive measures to harmonize and streamline the statutes
specified in subsection (b) and the regulations imple-
menting those statutes.
SEC. 9. ASSISTANCE FOR WORKERS ADVERSELY AFFECTED
BY REDUCED CONSUMPTION OF COAL.
In addition to amounts made available under any
other law, there is authorized to be appropriated
$75,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2001 through 2015
to provide assistance, under the economic dislocation and
worker adjustment assistance program of the Department
of Labor authorized by title III of the Job Training Part-
nership Act (29 U.S.C. 1651 et seq.), to coal and oil in-
dustry workers who are terminated from employment as
a result of reduced consumption of oil and coal by the elec-
tric power generation industry.
SEC. 10. COMMUNITY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT INCEN-
TIVES FOR COMMUNITIES ADVERSELY AF-
FECTED BY REDUCED CONSUMPTION OF
COAL.
In addition to amounts made available under any
other law, there is authorized to be appropriated
$75,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2001 through 2015
to provide assistance, under the economic adjustment pro-
gram of the Department of Commerce authorized by the
Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965 (42
U.S.C. 3121 et seq.), to assist communities adversely af-
fected by reduced consumption of coal by the electric
power generation industry.
SEC. 11. CARBON SEQUESTRATION.
(a) CARBON SEQUESTRATION STRATEGY.—In addi-
tion to amounts made available under any other law, there
is authorized to be appropriated to the Environmental
Protection Agency and the Department of Energy for each
of fiscal years 2001 through 2003 a total of $15,000,000
to conduct research and development activities in basic
and applied science in support of development by Sep-
tember 30, 2003, of a carbon sequestration strategy that
is designed to offset all growth in carbon dioxide emissions
in the United States after 2010.
(b) METHODS FOR BIOLOGICALLY SEQUESTERING
CARBON DIOXIDE.—In addition to amounts made avail-
able under any other law, there is authorized to be appro-
priated to the Environmental Protection Agency and the
Department of Agriculture for each of fiscal years 2001
through 2010 a total of $30,000,000 to carry out soil res-
toration, tree planting, wetland protection, and other
methods of biologically sequestering carbon dioxide.
SEC. 12. PROPERTY TAX RELIEF.
The Administrator shall make grants to each munici-
pality in which there is located one or more fossil fuel fired
electric generating units that—
(1) provide 20 percent or more of the munici-
pality’s annual property tax revenue in the munici-
pality’s last fiscal year ending before the enactment
of this Act, and
(2) cease operation after the enactment of this
Act.
Such grants shall be made only for the 3 taxable years
following the year in which the unit ceases operation and
shall not exceed 50 percent of the total real property taxes
paid to such municipalities by the owners or operators of
such units in the taxable year prior to the taxable year
in which the unit ceased operation.
SEC. 13. HAZARDOUS AIR POLLUTANTS FROM ELECTRIC
UTILITY STEAM GENERATING UNITS.
Section 112 of the Clean Air Act is amended as fol-
lows:
(1) By repealing the last sentence of section
112(n)(1)(A).
(2) By amending paragraph (1) of subsection
(c) by inserting after the first sentence the following:
‘‘Within 12 months after the enactment of the Clean
Power Plant Act of 1999, such list shall be revised
to include electric utility steam generating units.’’.
Æ