Title: Smarter Purchasing Act
Policy area: Environmental Protection

Summary:
Smarter Purchasing Act
This bill requires the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to conduct a study and report on whether it is feasible for agencies to factor in the shadow price of carbon in their internal decision-making processes for procurement, acquisitions, contracting, and other investments. The shadow price of carbon means the hypothetical surcharge to market prices for goods or services that involve significant carbon dioxide emissions in their supply chain.
The EPA must make the final report available to the public.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7399 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 7399

To require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to 
 conduct a feasibility study regarding the use of the shadow price of 
carbon in Federal spending decisions to take into account the resulting 
           carbon dioxide emissions, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 29, 2020

Mr. Beyer (for himself and Mr. Connolly) introduced the following bill; 
      which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Reform

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to 
 conduct a feasibility study regarding the use of the shadow price of 
carbon in Federal spending decisions to take into account the resulting 
           carbon dioxide emissions, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Smarter Purchasing Act''.

SEC. 2. FEASIBILITY STUDY REGARDING THE USE OF THE SHADOW PRICE OF 
              CARBON IN FEDERAL SPENDING DECISIONS TO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT 
              THE RESULTING CARBON DIOXIDE EMISSIONS.

    (a) In General.--The Administrator of the Environmental Protection 
Agency, in consultation with the Secretary of Energy, the Secretary of 
the Interior, the Secretary of Transportation, and the Administrator of 
the General Services Administration, shall conduct a study to determine 
whether it is feasible for Federal agencies to factor in the shadow 
price of carbon in their internal decision-making processes for Federal 
procurement, acquisitions, contracting, and other investments.
    (b) Content.--The feasibility study required by subsection (a) 
shall include the following:
            (1) An assessment of--
                    (A) the use of the shadow price of carbon in the 
                private sector, in States, and in other countries, as 
                relevant; and
                    (B) the ability of Federal agencies to implement 
                similar use of the shadow price of carbon.
            (2) An assessment of which kinds of Federal expenditures 
        and operations are best suited for shadow pricing.
            (3) An assessment of whether the shadow price of carbon 
        should be--
                    (A) tied to the social cost of carbon that Federal 
                agencies use to conduct regulatory analyses of 
                economically significant regulatory actions;
                    (B) tied to a path that minimizes the cost of 
                achieving a long-term cumulative emissions goal; or
                    (C) based on some other rationale.
            (4) An identification and evaluation of any statutory, 
        regulatory, or other obstacle to the use of the shadow price of 
        carbon.
    (c) Final Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the Environmental 
Protection Agency shall--
            (1) prepare a final report on the results of the 
        feasibility study conducted under subsection (a); and
            (2) submit to Congress the final report prepared under 
        paragraph (1) and any recommendations of the Administrator 
        relating to such results.
    (d) Public Availability of Data.--The Administrator of the 
Environmental Protection Agency shall make available to the public the 
final report prepared under subsection (c).
    (e) Definitions.--In this Act:
            (1) Shadow price of carbon.--The term ``shadow price of 
        carbon'' means a hypothetical surcharge to market prices for 
        goods or services that involve significant carbon dioxide 
        emissions in their supply chain.
            (2) Social cost of carbon.--The term ``social cost of 
        carbon'' means the social cost of carbon as described in the 
        technical support document entitled ``Technical Support 
        Document: Technical Update of the Social Cost of Carbon for 
        Regulatory Impact Analysis Under Executive Order 12866'', 
        published by the Interagency Working Group on Social Cost of 
        Carbon, United States Government, in May 2013, revised in 
        November 2013, or any successor or substantially related 
        document, or any other estimate of the monetized damages 
        associated with an incremental increase in carbon dioxide 
        emissions in a given year.
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