I
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1335
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
APRIL 3, 2001
Mr. ALLEN (for himself, Mr. SAXTON, Mr. BALDACCI, Mrs. MALONEY of New
York, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. DEGETTE, Mr. DELAHUNT,
Mr. HINCHEY, Mrs. JONES of Ohio, Mr. KUCINICH, Mrs. NAPOLITANO,
Mr. NEAL of Massachusetts, Mr. OLVER, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. THOMPSON
of Mississippi, Mr. TIERNEY, and Ms. WOOLSEY) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and
in addition to the Committees on Education and the Workforce, Financial
Services, Transportation and Infrastructure, and Science, for a period to
be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider-
ation 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 2001’’.
(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 and other hazardous wastes.
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 power plants to
provide electricity;
(2) the pollution from those power plants
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 power plants, 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 power plants 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 1998, fossil fuel-fired power plants in the
United States produced over 2,200,000,000 tons of
carbon dioxide, the primary greenhouse gas;
(7) on average—
(A) fossil fuel-fired power plants emit
1,999 pounds of carbon dioxide for every mega-
watt hour of electricity produced; and
(B) coal-fired power plants emit 2,110
pounds of carbon dioxide for every megawatt
hour of electricity produced;