Super Pollutants Act of 2015

Bill: 114-s-2076
Sponsor: Sen. Murphy, Christopher [D-CT]
Introduced: 2015-09-24 in the Senate
Policy area: Environmental Protection
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Advisory bodies
Air quality
Arctic and polar regions
Asia
China
Climate change and greenhouse gases
Competitiveness, trade promotion, trade deficits
Congressional oversight
Energy efficiency and conservation
Energy prices
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Environmental regulatory procedures
Environmental technology
Foreign aid and international relief
Government studies and investigations
Hazardous wastes and toxic substances
India
International law and treaties
International organizations and cooperation
Lighting and heating
Lighting, heating, cooling
Marine and coastal resources, fisheries
Marine and inland water transportation
Marine pollution
Motor fuels
Motor vehicles
Oil and gas
Public-private cooperation
Solid waste and recycling
Transportation costs
U.S. and foreign investments

Summary:
action_date: 2015-09-24
text: 

Super Pollutants Act of 2015

 
This bill requires the President to establish the Interagency Task Force on Short-Lived Climate Pollutant Mitigation. The Task Force must report on federal agencies' plans for reducing those pollutants, including: (1) black carbon (soot emissions), (2) methane, and (3) hydrofluorocarbons with high global warming potential (high-GWP HFC).
 
The Department of State must develop a comprehensive plan to reduce black carbon emissions from international shipping, which must include a roadmap toward helping countries reduce fine-particle emissions from shipping. While acting as chairperson of the Arctic Council, the Secretary of State must: (1) lead an effort to reduce black carbon through an Arctic-wide aspirational black carbon goal, and (2) encourage observers of that Council to adopt national black carbon emissions reduction goals and mitigation plans.
 
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) must: (1) prioritize black carbon mitigation activities as part of aid distribution activities; (2) give special emphasis to projects that produce substantial environmental, gender, livelihood, and public health benefits; and (3) work with the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves to help developing nations establish thriving markets for clean and efficient cooking solutions.
 
The State Department must provide technical assistance to aid international efforts in reducing black carbon emissions from diesel trucks, 2-stroke engines, diesel generators, and industrial processes.
 
The Department of Energy (DOE) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must: (1) evaluate the availability of high-GWP HFC alternatives, and (2) report on a plan for revising regulatory barriers that prevent the use of those alternatives.
 
The bill amends the Clean Air Act to prohibit the manufacture of any uncharged hydrochlorofluorocarbon-22 air-conditioning condensing equipment for residential use. The EPA must study and report on the most effective method to minimize the inadvertent release of HFC-134a from automotive air conditioning recharge kits when the recharge container is not being used.
 
The State Department, DOE, the EPA, and the Department of Commerce must provide to other countries technical guidance on containing emissions from gas drilling, landfills, coal mining, and agriculture.
 
The Government Accountability Office must identify: (1) the types of equipment throughout the production value chain that are most likely to have high leak rates, and (2) voluntary efforts on replacing or monitoring those types of equipment.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-09-24
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
action_date: 2015-09-24
text: Introduced in Senate