IIB 
113TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1582 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
SEPTEMBER 9, 2013 
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and 
Public Works 
AN ACT 
To protect consumers by prohibiting the Administrator of 
the Environmental Protection Agency from promulgating 
as final certain energy-related rules that are estimated 
to cost more than $1 billion and will cause significant 
adverse effects to the economy. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Energy Consumers Re-
lief Act of 2013’’. 
SEC. 2. PROHIBITION AGAINST FINALIZING CERTAIN EN-
ERGY-RELATED RULES THAT WILL CAUSE 
SIGNIFICANT ADVERSE EFFECTS TO THE 
ECONOMY. 
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Ad-
ministrator of the Environmental Protection Agency may 
not promulgate as final an energy-related rule that is esti-
mated to cost more than $1 billion if the Secretary of En-
ergy determines under section 3(3) that the rule will cause 
significant adverse effects to the economy. 
SEC. 3. REPORTS AND DETERMINATIONS PRIOR TO PRO-
MULGATING AS FINAL CERTAIN ENERGY-RE-
LATED RULES. 
Before promulgating as final any energy-related rule 
that is estimated to cost more than $1 billion: 
(1) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Administrator 
of the Environmental Protection Agency shall sub-
mit to Congress a report (and transmit a copy to the 
Secretary of Energy) containing— 
(A) a copy of the rule; 
(B) a concise general statement relating to 
the rule; 
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(C) an estimate of the total costs of the 
rule, including the direct costs and indirect 
costs of the rule; 
(D)(i) an estimate of the total benefits of 
the rule and when such benefits are expected to 
be realized; 
(ii) a description of the modeling, the cal-
culations, the assumptions, and the limitations 
due to uncertainty, speculation, or lack of infor-
mation associated with the estimates under this 
subparagraph; and 
(iii) a certification that all data and docu-
ments relied upon by the Agency in developing 
such estimates— 
(I) have been preserved; and 
(II) are available for review by the 
public on the Agency’s Web site, except to 
the extent to which publication of such 
data and documents would constitute dis-
closure of confidential information in viola-
tion of applicable Federal law; 
(E) an estimate of the increases in energy 
prices, including potential increases in gasoline 
or electricity prices for consumers, that may re-
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sult from implementation or enforcement of the 
rule; and 
(F) a detailed description of the employ-
ment effects, including potential job losses and 
shifts in employment, that may result from im-
plementation or enforcement of the rule. 
(2) INITIAL
DETERMINATION
ON
INCREASES 
AND IMPACTS.—The Secretary of Energy, in con-
sultation with the Federal Energy Regulatory Com-
mission and the Administrator of the Energy Infor-
mation Administration, shall prepare an independent 
analysis to determine whether the rule will cause— 
(A) any increase in energy prices for con-
sumers, including low-income households, small 
businesses, and manufacturers; 
(B) any impact on fuel diversity of the Na-
tion’s electricity generation portfolio or on na-
tional, regional, or local electric reliability; 
(C) any adverse effect on energy supply, 
distribution, or use due to the economic or tech-
nical infeasibility of implementing the rule; or 
(D) any other adverse effect on energy 
supply, distribution, or use (including a short-
fall in supply and increased use of foreign sup-
plies). 
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(3) SUBSEQUENT DETERMINATION ON ADVERSE 
EFFECTS TO THE ECONOMY.—If the Secretary of 
Energy determines, under paragraph (2), that the 
rule will cause an increase, impact, or effect de-
scribed in such paragraph, then the Secretary, in 
consultation with the Administrator of the Environ-
mental Protection Agency, the Secretary of Com-
merce, the Secretary of Labor, and the Adminis-
trator of the Small Business Administration, shall— 
(A) determine whether the rule will cause 
significant adverse effects to the economy, tak-
ing into consideration— 
(i) the costs and benefits of the rule 
and limitations in calculating such costs 
and benefits due to uncertainty, specula-
tion, or lack of information; and 
(ii) the positive and negative impacts 
of the rule on economic indicators, includ-
ing those related to gross domestic prod-
uct, 
unemployment, 
wages, 
consumer 
prices, and business and manufacturing ac-
tivity; and 
(B) publish the results of such determina-
tion in the Federal Register. 
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SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) The terms ‘‘direct costs’’ and ‘‘indirect 
costs’’ have the meanings given such terms in chap-
ter 8 of the Environmental Protection Agency’s 
‘‘Guidelines for Preparing Economic Analyses’’ 
dated December 17, 2010. 
(2) The term ‘‘energy-related rule that is esti-
mated to cost more than $1 billion’’ means a rule of 
the Environmental Protection Agency that— 
(A) regulates any aspect of the production, 
supply, distribution, or use of energy or pro-
vides for such regulation by States or other gov-
ernmental entities; and 
(B) is estimated by the Administrator of 
the Environmental Protection Agency or the 
Director of the Office of Management and 
Budget to impose direct costs and indirect 
costs, 
in 
the 
aggregate, 
of 
more 
than 
$1,000,000,000. 
(3) The term ‘‘rule’’ has the meaning given to 
such term in section 551 of title 5, United States 
Code. 
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SEC. 5. PROHIBITION ON USE OF SOCIAL COST OF CARBON 
IN ANALYSIS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi-
sion of law or any executive order, the Administrator of 
the Environmental Protection Agency may not use the so-
cial cost of carbon in order to incorporate social benefits 
of reducing carbon dioxide emissions, or for any other rea-
son, in any cost-benefit analysis relating to an energy-re-
lated rule that is estimated to cost more than $1 billion 
unless and until a Federal law is enacted authorizing such 
use. 
(b) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘social 
cost of carbon’’ means the social cost of carbon as de-
scribed in the technical support document entitled ‘‘Tech-
nical Support Document: Technical Update of the Social 
Cost of Carbon for Regulatory Impact Analysis Under Ex-
ecutive Order 12866’’, published by the Interagency 
Working Group on Social Cost of Carbon, United States 
Government, in May 2013, or any successor or substan-
tially related document, or any other estimate of the 
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monetized damages associated with an incremental in-
crease in carbon dioxide emissions in a given year. 
Passed the House of Representatives August 1, 
2013. 
Attest: 
KAREN L. HAAS, 
Clerk. 
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