I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3117 
To prohibit the Secretary of Energy, the Administrator of the Environmental 
Protection Agency, the Secretary of the Interior, and the Chair of the 
Council on Environmental Quality from considering the social cost of 
carbon, the social cost of methane, or the social cost of nitrous oxide, 
in taking any action, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 29, 2017 
Mr. JENKINS of West Virginia (for himself, Mr. CULBERSON, Mr. MCKINLEY, 
Mr. MULLIN, Mr. WOMACK, Mr. LAHOOD, Mr. FLORES, Mr. GRIFFITH, 
Mr. BISHOP of Utah, Mr. COLE, Mr. GOSAR, Mr. OLSON, and Mr. MOON-
EY of West Virginia) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Com-
mittee on Natural Resources, 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 prohibit the Secretary of Energy, the Administrator of 
the Environmental Protection Agency, the Secretary of 
the Interior, and the Chair of the Council on Environ-
mental Quality from considering the social cost of car-
bon, the social cost of methane, or the social cost of 
nitrous oxide, in taking any action, and for other pur-
poses. 
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 ‘‘Transparency and 
Honesty in Energy Regulations Act of 2017’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds that— 
(1) as a tool to justify Federal actions by the 
Secretary of Energy, the Administrator of the Envi-
ronmental Protection Agency, the Secretary of the 
Interior, and the Chair of the Council on Environ-
mental Quality to address greenhouse gas emissions, 
including the regulation or prohibition of the explo-
ration, mining, production, and use of coal and other 
fossil fuels as energy sources, the social cost of car-
bon, the social cost of methane, and the social cost 
of nitrous oxide represent the hypothetical cost of 1 
incremental ton of carbon dioxide, methane, or ni-
trous oxide emissions in a given year; 
(2) the document of the Office of Management 
and Budget entitled ‘‘Circular A–4’’ and dated Sep-
tember 17, 2003— 
(A) guides Federal agencies on the devel-
opment of regulatory impact analysis required 
under Executive Order 12866 (5 U.S.C. 601 
note; relating to regulatory planning and re-
view) and other authorities; and 
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(B) instructs Federal agencies to include 
discount rates of 3 and 7 percent and evaluate 
the costs and benefits of the regulatory action 
that accrue to citizens and residents of the 
United States; 
(3) first developed in 2009 by an interagency 
working group that included the Department of En-
ergy, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the 
Council on Environmental Quality, the estimates for 
the social cost of carbon, as well as the subsequently 
developed estimates of the social cost of methane, 
and the social cost of nitrous oxide fail to comply 
with the 3- and 7-percent discount rates prescribed 
by the document of the Office of Management and 
Budget entitled ‘‘Circular A–4’’ and dated Sep-
tember 17, 2003; 
(4) while the document of the Office of Man-
agement and Budget entitled ‘‘Circular A–4’’ and 
dated September 17, 2003, specifies that, in car-
rying out an evaluation of the global effects of a 
rule, regulation, or action, the evaluation shall be re-
ported separately from domestic costs and benefits 
of that rule, regulation, or action, the social cost of 
carbon instead calculates the global benefits in lieu 
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of, not in addition to, the domestic costs of a rule, 
regulation, or action; 
(5) the use of the estimates for the social cost 
of carbon, the social cost of methane, and the social 
cost of nitrous oxide, in the rulemakings of the De-
partment of Energy, the Environmental Protection 
Agency, the Department of the Interior, and the 
Council on Environmental Quality without public no-
tice and an adequate opportunity for comment vio-
lates scientific peer review requirements; 
(6) the Environmental Protection Agency relied 
upon the social cost of methane, without appropriate 
peer review or opportunity for public notice and 
comment, in justifying the costs and benefits of the 
September 2015 proposed and the June 2016 final-
ized rules under the Clean Air Act for methane 
emissions from new, modified, and reconstructed 
sources in the oil and gas sector; 
(7) the Department of the Interior used the so-
cial cost of methane estimate to justify the costs and 
benefits of the final rule entitled ‘‘Waste Prevention, 
Production Subject to Royalties, and Resource Con-
servation’’ (81 Fed. Reg. 83008 (November 18, 
2016)); 
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(8) the Council on Environmental Quality 
issued final guidance on August 1, 2016, that, with 
respect to a monetary cost-benefit analysis for an 
evaluation of a proposed Federal action under the 
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 
U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), directed the head of each Fed-
eral agency to include the social cost of carbon in 
any consideration of the effect of greenhouse gas 
emissions; 
(9) the regulations of the Department of En-
ergy, the Environmental Protection Agency, the De-
partment of the Interior, and the Council on Envi-
ronmental Quality are costing families of the United 
States billions of dollars each year and are justified, 
in large part, by the social cost of carbon, the social 
cost of methane, and the social cost of nitrous oxide; 
(10) continued use of the social cost of carbon, 
the social cost of methane, and the social cost of ni-
trous oxide by the Department of Energy, the Envi-
ronmental Protection Agency, the Department of the 
Interior, and the Council on Environmental Quality 
ignores sound science for the purpose of eliminating 
the exploration, mining, production, and use of the 
abundant domestic sources of fossil fuel energy of 
the United States; 
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(11) Executive Order 13777 (82 Fed. Reg. 
12285 (March 1, 2017)) states that the policy of the 
United States is to alleviate any unnecessary regu-
latory burden on the people of the United States; 
and 
(12) Executive Order 13783 of March 28, 2017 
(82 Fed. Reg. 16093 (March 31, 2017))— 
(A) disbands the interagency working 
group referred to in paragraph (3); 
(B) withdraws the social cost of carbon, 
the social cost of methane, and the social cost 
of nitrous oxide; and 
(C) directs Federal agencies, in monetizing 
the value of changes in greenhouse gas emis-
sions as a result of a regulation, to follow the 
document of the Office of Management and 
Budget entitled ‘‘Circular A–4’’ and dated Sep-
tember 17, 2003, by using the discount rates 
specified in that document and evaluating only 
the domestic effects of the regulation. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis-
trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ-
mental Protection Agency. 
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(B) any other estimate of the monetized 
damages associated with an incremental in-
crease in carbon dioxide emissions in a given 
year. 
(3) SOCIAL COST OF METHANE.—The term ‘‘so-
cial cost of methane’’ means— 
(A) the estimate of the social cost of meth-
ane described in— 
(i) the proposed rule entitled ‘‘Oil and 
Natural Gas Sector: Emission Standards 
for New and Modified Sources’’ (80 Fed. 
Reg. 56593 (September 18, 2015)); 
(ii) the final rule entitled ‘‘Oil and 
Natural Gas Sector: Emission Standards 
for New, Reconstructed, and Modified 
Sources’’ (81 Fed. Reg. 35824 (June 3, 
2016)); 
(iii) the regulatory impact analysis en-
titled ‘‘Regulatory Impact Analysis of the 
Final Oil and Natural Gas Sector: Emis-
sion Standards for New, Reconstructed, 
and Modified Sources’’, prepared by the 
Environmental Protection Agency, Office 
of Air and Radiation, in May 2016 and 
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identified by docket ID number EPA–HQ– 
OAR–2010–0505–7630; or 
(iv)(I) the document entitled ‘‘Adden-
dum to Technical Support Document on 
Social Cost of Carbon for Regulatory Im-
pact Analysis under Executive Order 
12866: Application of the Methodology to 
Estimate the Social Cost of Methane and 
the Social Cost of Nitrous Oxide’’, pub-
lished by the Interagency Working Group 
on Social Cost of Greenhouse Gases, 
United States Government, in August 
2016; or 
(II) any successor or substantially re-
lated document; and 
(B) any other estimate of the monetized 
damages associated with an incremental in-
crease in methane emissions in a given year. 
(4) SOCIAL
COST
OF
NITROUS
OXIDE.—The 
term ‘‘social cost of nitrous oxide’’ means— 
(A) the estimate of the social cost of ni-
trous oxide described in— 
(i) the document entitled ‘‘Addendum 
to Technical Support Document on Social 
Cost of Carbon for Regulatory Impact 
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Analysis under Executive Order 12866: 
Application of the Methodology to Esti-
mate the Social Cost of Methane and the 
Social Cost of Nitrous Oxide’’, published 
by the Interagency Working Group on So-
cial Cost of Greenhouse Gases, United 
States Government, in August 2016; or 
(ii) any other successor or substan-
tially related document; and 
(B) any other estimate of the monetized 
damages associated with an incremental in-
crease in nitrous oxide emissions in a given 
year. 
SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON CONSIDERING THE SOCIAL COST 
OF GREENHOUSE GAS, INCLUDING THE SO-
CIAL COST OF CARBON, THE SOCIAL COST OF 
METHANE, AND THE SOCIAL COST OF NI-
TROUS OXIDE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Energy, under 
any authority, the Administrator, under the Clean Air Act 
(42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.), the Secretary of the Interior, 
under any authority, and the Chair of the Council on En-
vironmental Quality, under the National Environmental 
Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), may not con-
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sider the social cost of carbon, social cost of methane, or 
social cost of nitrous oxide— 
(1) as part of any cost-benefit analysis required 
under— 
(A) any law; 
(B) Executive Order 12866 (5 U.S.C. 601 
note; relating to regulatory planning and re-
view); or 
(C) Executive Order 13563 (5 U.S.C. 601 
note; relating to improving regulation and regu-
latory review); 
(2) in any rulemaking; 
(3) in the issuance of any guidance; 
(4) in taking any other agency action; or 
(5) as a justification for any rulemaking, guid-
ance document, or agency action. 
(b) EXCEPTION.—The Secretary of Energy, the Ad-
ministrator, the Secretary of the Interior, and the Chair 
of the Council on Environmental Quality may consider the 
social cost of carbon, social cost of methane, or social cost 
of nitrous oxide in carrying out an activity described in 
subsection (a) only if, after the date of enactment of this 
Act— 
(1) a Federal law is enacted that explicitly au-
thorizes the consideration; or 
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(2) the Secretary of Energy, the Administrator, 
the Secretary of the Interior, or the Chair of the 
Council on Environmental Quality uses an estimate 
for the social cost of carbon, social cost of methane, 
or social cost of nitrous oxide that— 
(A) complies with the requirements of the 
document of the Office of Management and 
Budget entitled ‘‘Circular A–4’’ and dated Sep-
tember 17, 2003; 
(B) uses the discount rates of 3 and 7 per-
cent specified in that document; 
(C) considers only the domestic costs and 
benefits of the activity; and 
(D) uses only— 
(i) the most up to date and empiri-
cally estimated equilibrium climate sensi-
tivity distributions; and 
(ii) realistic time horizons. 
SEC. 5. REPORT OF THE ADMINISTRATOR. 
Not later than 120 days after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Administrator, in coordination and con-
sultation with the Secretary of Energy, the Secretary of 
the Interior, and the Chair of the Council on Environ-
mental Quality, shall submit to the Committees on Energy 
and Commerce and Natural Resources of the House of 
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Representatives and the Committees on Environment and 
Public Works and Energy and Natural Resources of the 
Senate a report describing the number of proposed and 
final rulemakings, guidance documents, and agency ac-
tions that, since January 2009, have used the social cost 
of carbon, the social cost of methane, or the social cost 
of nitrous oxide, including the use of the social cost of 
carbon, the social cost of methane, or the social cost of 
nitrous oxide as part of any cost-benefit analysis required 
under Executive Order 12866 (5 U.S.C. 601 note; relating 
to regulatory planning and review) or other relevant au-
thority. 
Æ 
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