Full Bill Text

Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that amends various statutes related to energy, including, but not limited to, establishing a cap and trade program to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.

Highlights:

• Establishes the following greenhouse gas emission reduction goals for the U.S. (Sec. 702):
• 3 percent reduction from 2005 levels in 2012;
• 20 percent reduction from 2005 levels in 2020;
• 42 percent reduction from 2005 levels in 2030; and
• 83 percent reduction from 2005 levels in 2050.

• Establishes a cap and trade program in which covered entities are prohibited from emitting greenhouse gas in excess of the number of emission allowances and offset credits that the entity acquired during each calendar year (Sec. 311).

• Specifies that a "covered entity" includes, but is not limited to, the following (Sec. 312):
• Any electricity source;
• Stationary source that produces and entities that import for sale or distribution in 2008 or any subsequent year petroleum-based or coal-based liquid fuel, petroleum coke, or natural gas liquid, the combustion of which would emit at least 25,000 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent of greenhouse gas;
• Any geologic sequestration site; 
• Any stationary source involved in adipic acid production, primary aluminum production, ammonia manufacturing, cement production other than grinding-only operations, hydrochlorofluorocarbon production, lime manufacturing, nitric acid production, petroleum refining, phosphoric acid production, silicon carbine production, soda ash production, titanium dioxide production, and coal-based liquid or gaseous fuel production; and
• Natural gas local distribution companies that deliver at least 460 million cubic feet of natural gas.

• Specifies that any of the following constitute a greenhouse gas: carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, sulfur hexafluoride, hydrofluorocarbons emitted from a chemical manufacturing process at an industrial stationary source, any perfluorocarbon, nitrogen trifluoride, and any other anthropogenic gas designated as a greenhouse gas by the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (Sec. 311).

• Specifies that the following measurements are all equal to 1 ton of carbon dioxide for the purposes of establishing the carbon dioxide equivalent of greenhouse gas (Sec. 311):
• 25 tons of methane;
• 298 tons of nitrous oxide;
• 14,800 tons of HFC-23 (fluoroform);
• 3,500 tons of HFC-125 (pentafluoroethane);
• 1,430 tons of HFC-134a (tetrafluoroethane);
• 4,470 tons of HFC-143a (trifluoroethane);
• 124 tons of HFC-152a (difluoroethane);
• 3,220 tons of HFC-227ea (heptafluoropropane);
• 9,810 tons of HFC-236fa (hexafluoropropane);
• 1,640 tons of HFC-43-10mee (decafluoropentane);
• 7,390 tons of CF4 (tetrafluoromethane);
• 12,200 tons of C2F6 (hexafluorethane);
• 8,860 tons of C4F10 (perfluorobutane);
• 9,300 tons of C6F14 (perfluorohexane);
• 22,800 tons of SF6 (sulfur hexafluoride); and
• 17,200 tons of NF3 (nitrogen fluoride).

• Specifies that one emission allowance is equal to one ton of carbon dioxide equivalent of greenhouse gas (Sec. 311).

• Specifies that emission allowances are not required for fugitive greenhouse gas emissions produced by electricity sources, nitrogen trifluoride sources, industrial stationary sources, and industrial fossil fuel-fired combustion devices, unless the Administrator of the EPA determines that such emissions can be determined with sufficient precision, reliability, accessibility and timeliness (Sec. 311).

• Specifies that emission allowances are not required for petroleum-based or coal-based liquid fuel, petroleum coke, natural gas liquid, fossil fuel-based carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, or fluorinated gas that is exported for sale or use (Sec. 311).

• Limits the number of available emission allowances to the following, with some exceptions for adjustments by the Administrator of the EPA (Sec. 311):
• 4.63 billion for 2012;
• 4.54 billion for 2013;
• 5.1 billion for 2014;
• 5 billion for 2015;
• 5.48 billion for 2016;
• 5.38 billion for 2017;
• 5.27 billion for 2018;
• 5.16 billion for 2019;
• 5.06 billion for for 2020;
• 4.9 billion for 2021;
• 4.75 billion for 2022;
• 4.6 billion for 2023;
• 4.45 billion for 2024;
• 4.29 billion for 2025;
• 4.14 billion for 2026;
• 3.99 billion for 2027;
• 3.84 billion for 2028;
• 3.69 billion for 2029;
• 3.53 billion for 2030;
• 3.41 billion for 2031;
• 3.28 billion for 2032;
• 3.16 billion for 2033;
• 3.03 billion for 2034;
• 2.91 billion for 2035;
• 2.78 billion for 2036;
• 2.66 billion for 2037;
• 2.53 billion for 2038;
• 2.41 billion for 2039
• 2.28 billion for 2040;
• 2.16 billion for 2041;
• 2.03 billion for 2042;
• 1.91 billion for 2043;
• 1.79 billion for 2044;
• 1.66 billion for 2045;
• 1.54 billion for 2046;
• 1.41 billion for 2047;
• 1.29 billion for 2048;
• 1.16 billion for 2049; and
• 1.04 billion for 2050 and each year thereafter.

• Allocates a specific annual percentage of emission allowances automatically for various purposes, including, but not limited to, the following (Sec. 321):
• For the benefit of electricity consumers:
• 43.75 percent for 2012 and 2013;
• 38.89 percent for 2014 and 2015;
• 35 percent for 2016 through 2025;
• 28 percent for 2026;
• 21 percent for 2027;
• 14 percent for 2028; and
• 7 percent for 2029;
• For support of state renewable energy and energy efficiency programs:
• 9.5 percent for 2012 and 2015;
• 6.5 percent for 2016 and 2017;
• 5.5 percent for 2018 and 2021;
• 1 percent for 2022 through 2025;
• 4.5 percent for 2026 through 2050; and
• At the same time allowances are distributed for years 2022 through 2025, 3.55 percent is distributed to be used in four years, in addition to the allocation for years 2026 through 2050;
• For the benefit of natural gas consumers:
• 9 percent for 2016 through 2025;
• 7.2 percent for 2026;
• 5.4 percent for 2027;
• 3.6 percent for 2028; and
• 1.8 percent for 2029;
• For supplemental emission reductions through the International Deforestation Reduction Program established by this Act:
• 5 percent for 2012 through 2025;
• 3 percent for 2026 through 2030; and
• 2 percent for 2031 through 2050;
• For the deployment of carbon capture and sequestration technology:
• 1.75 percent for 2014 through 2017;
• 4.75 percent for 2018 through 2019; and
• 5 percent for 2020 through 2050.

• Requires the Administrator of the EPA to hold a single-round, sealed-bid, uniform price auction 4 times per year at regular intervals, with the first auction to be held no later than March 31, 2011, in which covered entities may purchase emission allowances that were not automatically allocated for various purposes as described above (Sec. 311).

• Prohibits participants from purchasing more than 5 percent of the emission allowances offered for sale at any quarterly auction (Sec. 311).

• Requires the Administrator of the EPA to set aside a specific number of emission allowances for small businesses at each auction as follows (Sec. 311):
• 6.2 percent of the emission allowances from 2012 through 2013;
• 5.4 percent of the emission allowances from 2014 through 2015; and
• 4.9 percent of the emission allowances from 2016 through 2024.

• Authorizes covered entities to utilize offset credits to demonstrate compliance in the cap and trade program for projects that result in reductions or avoidance of greenhouse gas emissions or sequestration of greenhouse gas, provided that such credits do not exceed 2 billion tons of annual greenhouse gas emissions (Sec. 311).

• Authorizes the holder of an emission allowance, compensatory allowance, or offset credit to sell, exchange, transfer, hold for compliance, or request that the Administration retire the emission allowance, compensatory allowance, or offset credit (Sec. 311).

• Establishes a penalty for covered entities that emit greenhouse gases in excess of the amount of emission allowances and offset credits the covered entity has acquired. The penalty is equal to the product obtained by multiplying the following (Sec. 311):
• Total amount of carbon dioxide equivalent of greenhouse gas emissions for which the covered entity failed to demonstrate compliance; and
• Twice the auction clearing price for the earliest year emission allowances in the last auction carried out.

• Requires retail electric suppliers that supply more than 4 million megawatt hours of electric energy to consumers per year to derive the following amounts of the total electricity they sell from renewable sources (Sec. 101):
• 6 percent in 2012 and 2013;
• 9.5 percent in 2014 and 2015;
• 13 percent in 2016 and 2017;
• 16.5 percent in 2018 and 2019; and
• 20 percent from 2020 through 2039.

• Authorizes electric suppliers to opt out of the renewable sources requirement listed above and pay $25 per megawatt hour of electricity savings that would otherwise be due (Sec. 101).

• Requires electric utilities to develop a plan to support the use of plug-in electric drive vehicles, including the deployment of the charging infrastructure or other infrastructure necessary to adequately support the use of plug-in electric drive vehicles (Sec. 121).

• Requires the Secretary of Energy to establish a program to deploy and integrate plug-in electric drive vehicles into the the electricity grid in multiple regions, and authorizes the Secretary to provide financial assistance for the purchase of such vehicles, supporting the use of such vehicles, or other projects the Secretary determines appropriate to support the large-scale deployment of such vehicles (Sec. 122).

• Requires the Secretary of Energy to establish a program to provide financial assistance to automobile manufactures to facilitate the manufacture of plug-in electric drive vehicles, and requires the Secretary to select recipients that are most likely to be successful and are located in local markets that have the greatest need for such assistance (Sec. 123).

• Establishes the energy efficiency goal of the U.S. as an improvement of overall energy productivity by at least 2.5 percent per year through 2030, and requires the Secretary of Energy to develop a strategic plan to achieve this goal, which must include the following (Sec. 272):
• Future regulatory, funding, and policy priorities;
• Energy savings estimates for each sector; and
• Data collection methodologies and compilations used to establish baseline and energy savings data.

• Authorizes the states to utilize funds from their SEED Account, composed of federal funds appropriated pursuant to the Clean Air Act, to provide rebates of up to $7,500 to owners of manufactured homes constructed prior 1976 in which the total income of all members of the household does not exceed 200 percent of the Federal poverty level for income in the applicable area for the purposes of purchasing a new Energy Star qualified manufactured home (Sec. 203).

• Increases energy efficiency standards for electric motors and florescent and incandescent lamps beginning December 19, 2010 (Sec. 161).

• Increases energy efficiency standards for various domestic appliances (Sec. 213).

• Establishes the following national building code energy efficiency targets (Sec. 201):
• 30 percent reduction in energy use relative to a comparable building constructed in compliance with the baseline code effective on the date of enactment of this Act;
• 50 percent reduction in energy use relative to the baseline code beginning January 1, 2014 for residential buildings and January 1, 2015 for commercial buildings; and
• 5 percent additional reduction in energy use relative to the baseline code beginning January 1, 2017 for residential buildings and January 1, 2018 for commercial buildings, and every three years thereafter, respectively, through January 1, 2029.

• Appropriates $25 million to the Secretary of Energy to enforce the national energy efficiency building code (Sec. 201).

• Appropriates $600 million for fiscal years 2010-2011, 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 respectively to establish the Best in Class Appliances Deployment Program for the following reasons (Sec. 214):
• Provide bonus payments to retailers or distributors for the sale of best-in-class high-efficiency household appliance models, high efficiency installed building equipment, and high-efficiency consumer electronics;
• Provide bounties to retailers and manufacturers for the replacement, retirement, and recycling of old inefficient and environmentally harmful products; and
• Provide premium awards to manufacturers for developing and producing new Superefficient Best-in-Class Products.

• Appropriates $7.5 million for fiscal year 2009-2010, $10 million for fiscal year 2010-2011, $20 million for fiscal year 2011-2012, and $50 million for fiscal year 2012-2013 to establish the WaterSense program within the Environmental Protection Agency to promote water efficient products, buildings and landscapes, and services (Sec. 215).

• Appropriates $15 billion for fiscal years 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 respectively to establish the Clean Energy Manufacturing Revolving Loan Fund Program for issuing grants to States to issue loans to manufactures for investments in clean energy technology, including, but not limited to, wind turbines, solar energy, fuel cells, biomass equipment, geothermal equipment, advanced biofuels, ocean energy equipment, carbon capture and storage, and advanced batteries, battery systems, or storage devices (Sec. 246).

• Appropriates $200 million for fiscal year 2009-2010, $250 million for fiscal year 2010-2011, $300 million for fiscal year 2011-2012, $350 million for fiscal year 2012-2013 and $400 for fiscal year 2013-2014 for the Hollings Manufacturing Partnership Program (Sec. 247).

• Appropriates $2.5 billion to establish the Residential Energy Efficiency Block Grant Program for issuing grants to States, metropolitan cities and urban counties, Indian tribes, and insular areas to carry out energy efficiency improvements in new and existing single-family and multifamily housing (Sec. 296).

• Appropriates $5 billion to the Alternative Energy Sources State Loan Fund established by this Act for the Secretary of Energy to issue loans to states and Indian tribes to provide incentives to owners of single-family and multifamily housing, commercial properties, and public buildings to provide renewable energy sources, energy efficiency and energy conserving improvements, and infrastructure related to the delivery of electricity and hot water for structures lacking such amenities (Sec. 299D).

• Increases appropriation for loans to be issued by the Secretary of Energy under the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Incentive Program from $25 million to $50 million (Sec. 125).

• Increases appropriation for the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Worker Training Program from $125 million to $150 million (Sec. 422).

Full Bill Text

Full Bill Text