{ "id": "R43851", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "number": "R43851", "active": false, "source": "EveryCRSReport.com, University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "versions": [ { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 457832, "date": "2016-12-21", "retrieved": "2017-07-17T16:57:18.906855", "title": "Clean Air Issues in the 114th Congress", "summary": "Oversight of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulatory actions received significant attention in the 114th Congress. Of particular interest were two air quality issues: EPA\u2019s Clean Power Plan (CPP) and related rules to regulate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from new and existing power plants, promulgated on August 3, 2015; and a revision of the ambient air quality standard for ozone, promulgated on October 1, 2015. \nReducing GHG emissions to address climate change was a major goal of President Obama, but many in Congress have been less enthusiastic about it. In the absence of congressional action to reduce emissions, the President directed EPA to promulgate GHG standards using existing authority under the Clean Air Act. This authority has been upheld on three occasions by the Supreme Court, but it remains controversial in Congress.\nIn 2014, EPA proposed regulations to reduce GHG emissions from fossil-fueled (coal, oil, and natural gas) power plants, which EPA refers to as electric generating units (EGUs). The agency proposed standards for new EGUs in January 2014 and for existing and modified units five months later. It finalized these rules August 3, 2015. EGUs are the source of 30% of the nation\u2019s GHG emissions, so it is difficult to envision a regulatory scheme that reduces the nation\u2019s GHG emissions without addressing their contribution. At the same time, affordable and reliable electric power is central to the nation\u2019s economy and to the health and well-being of the population. Thus, the potential effects of the rules on the electric power system have been of considerable interest.\nEven before proposal of the Clean Power Plan, the House had passed legislation (H.R. 3826 in the 113th Congress) that would effectively have prohibited EPA from promulgating or implementing power plant GHG emission standards. In September 2014, the House passed the same language a second time, in H.R. 2. The Senate did not consider either bill.\nFollowing promulgation of the CPP, however, in December 2015 Congress passed and sent to the President S.J.Res. 24, a joint resolution disapproving the CPP under the Congressional Review Act. The President vetoed the resolution on December 18, 2015. Earlier, the House passed H.R. 2042, which would have delayed the compliance date of GHG emission standards for EGUs and would have allowed a state to opt out of compliance if the governor determined that the rule would have significant adverse effects on rate-payers or on the reliability of the state\u2019s electricity system. The Senate did not act on the bill.\nBesides addressing climate change, EPA took action on a number of other air pollution regulations affecting power plants and other sources, often in response to court actions remanding previous rules or setting deadlines for actions that are non-discretionary under the Clean Air Act. Remanded rules included the Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR) and Clean Air Mercury Rule\u2014rules designed to control the long-range transport of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and mercury from power plants through cap-and-trade programs. New rules\u2014the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) and the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS)\u2014have replaced those the court remanded. Both CSAPR and MATS went into effect in 2015.\nEPA also completed a review of the national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for ozone in 2015. NAAQS serve as EPA\u2019s definition of clean air for six widespread pollutants, and drive a range of regulatory controls. The ozone NAAQS review, completed October 1, 2015, resulted in tightening the ozone NAAQS from 75 ppb to 70 ppb. At least 13 bills were introduced to modify EPA\u2019s authority or prohibit or delay the agency\u2019s proposed strengthening of the ozone NAAQS: H.R. 1044, H.R. 1327/S. 640, H.R. 1388/S. 751, H.R. 2111, H.R. 2822 (Section 438), H.R. 4000, H.R. 4265, H.R. 4775/S. 2882, H.R. 5538 (Section 438), and S. 2072. In addition, joint resolutions of disapproval of the ozone NAAQS revision were introduced in both the House and Senate, under the Congressional Review Act, but not acted on.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/R43851", "sha1": "1b837b227f852a8b192904a0389f2754cab04376", "filename": "files/20161221_R43851_1b837b227f852a8b192904a0389f2754cab04376.html", "images": null }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R43851", "sha1": "3fe8e4285aff833f07cc6ae9054244e45944a595", "filename": "files/20161221_R43851_3fe8e4285aff833f07cc6ae9054244e45944a595.pdf", "images": null } ], "topics": [ { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4750, "name": "Air Quality" }, { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4840, "name": "Electricity" } ] }, { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 456084, "date": "2016-09-21", "retrieved": "2016-10-17T19:25:23.436857", "title": "Clean Air Issues in the 114th Congress", "summary": "Oversight of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulatory actions has received significant attention in the 114th Congress. Of particular interest have been two air quality issues: EPA\u2019s Clean Power Plan (CPP) and related rules to regulate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from power plants, which were promulgated on August 3, 2015; and a revision of the ambient air quality standard for ozone, which was promulgated on October 1, 2015. \nReducing GHG emissions to address climate change is a major goal of President Obama, but many in Congress have been less enthusiastic about it. In the absence of congressional action to reduce emissions, the President has directed EPA to promulgate GHG standards using existing authority under the Clean Air Act. This authority has been upheld on three occasions by the Supreme Court, but it remains controversial in Congress.\nIn 2014, EPA proposed regulations to reduce GHG emissions from fossil-fueled (coal, oil, and natural gas) power plants, which EPA refers to as electric generating units (EGUs). The agency proposed standards for new EGUs in January 2014 and for existing and modified units five months later. It finalized these rules August 3, 2015. EGUs are the source of 30% of the nation\u2019s GHG emissions, so it is difficult to envision a regulatory scheme that reduces the nation\u2019s GHG emissions without addressing their contribution. At the same time, affordable and reliable electric power is central to the nation\u2019s economy and to the health and well-being of the population. Thus, the effects of the rules on the electric power system are of considerable interest.\nEven before proposal of the Clean Power Plan, the House had passed legislation (H.R. 3826 in the 113th Congress) that would effectively have prohibited EPA from promulgating or implementing power plant GHG emission standards. In September 2014, the House passed the same language a second time, in H.R. 2. The Senate did not consider either bill.\nFollowing promulgation of the CPP, however, Congress passed and sent to the President S.J.Res. 24, a joint resolution disapproving the CPP under the Congressional Review Act. The President vetoed the resolution on December 18, 2015. Earlier, the House passed H.R. 2042, which would delay the compliance date of GHG emission standards for EGUs and would allow a state to opt out of compliance if the governor determines that the rule would have significant adverse effects on rate-payers or on the reliability of the state\u2019s electricity system. The Senate has not acted on the bill.\nBesides addressing climate change, EPA has taken action on a number of other air pollution regulations affecting power plants and other sources, often in response to court actions remanding previous rules or setting deadlines for actions that are non-discretionary under the Clean Air Act. Remanded rules included the Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR) and Clean Air Mercury Rule\u2014rules designed to control the long-range transport of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and mercury from power plants through cap-and-trade programs. New rules\u2014the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) and the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS)\u2014have replaced those the court remanded. Both CSAPR and MATS went into effect in 2015.\nEPA also completed a review of the national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for ozone in 2015. NAAQS serve as EPA\u2019s definition of clean air for six widespread pollutants, and drive a range of regulatory controls. The ozone NAAQS review, completed October 1, 2015, resulted in tightening the ozone NAAQS from 75 ppb to 70 ppb. At least 13 bills have been introduced to modify EPA\u2019s authority or prohibit or delay the agency\u2019s proposed strengthening of the ozone NAAQS: H.R. 1044, H.R. 1327/S. 640, H.R. 1388/S. 751, H.R. 2111, H.R. 2822 (Section 438), H.R. 4000, H.R. 4265, H.R. 4775/S. 2882, H.R. 5538 (Section 438), and S. 2072. In addition, joint resolutions of disapproval of the ozone NAAQS revision have been introduced in both the House and Senate, under the Congressional Review Act.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/R43851", "sha1": "e7482a934e3fb96a8cf0c240544d852ee1ab8a12", "filename": "files/20160921_R43851_e7482a934e3fb96a8cf0c240544d852ee1ab8a12.html", "images": null }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R43851", "sha1": "8df5e0d62257afb47d47e92d1955fe2ab7351973", "filename": "files/20160921_R43851_8df5e0d62257afb47d47e92d1955fe2ab7351973.pdf", "images": null } ], "topics": [ { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4750, "name": "Air Quality" }, { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4840, "name": "Electricity" } ] }, { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 455665, "date": "2016-08-12", "retrieved": "2016-09-16T18:07:12.850056", "title": "Clean Air Issues in the 114th Congress: An Overview", "summary": "Oversight of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulatory actions has received significant attention in the 114th Congress. Of particular interest have been two air quality issues: EPA\u2019s Clean Power Plan (CPP) and related rules to regulate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from power plants, which were promulgated on August 3, 2015; and a revision of the ambient air quality standard for ozone, which was promulgated on October 1, 2015. \nReducing GHG emissions to address climate change is a major goal of President Obama, but many in Congress have been less enthusiastic about it. In the absence of congressional action to reduce emissions, the President has directed EPA to promulgate GHG standards using existing authority under the Clean Air Act. This authority has been upheld on three occasions by the Supreme Court, but it remains controversial in Congress.\nIn 2014, EPA proposed regulations to reduce GHG emissions from fossil-fueled (coal, oil, and natural gas) power plants, which EPA refers to as electric generating units (EGUs). The agency proposed standards for new EGUs in January 2014 and for existing and modified units five months later. It finalized these rules August 3, 2015. EGUs are the source of 30% of the nation\u2019s GHG emissions, so it is difficult to envision a regulatory scheme that reduces the nation\u2019s GHG emissions without addressing their contribution. At the same time, affordable and reliable electric power is central to the nation\u2019s economy and to the health and well-being of the population. Thus, the effects of the rules on the electric power system are of considerable interest.\nEven before proposal of the Clean Power Plan, the House had passed legislation (H.R. 3826 in the 113th Congress) that would effectively have prohibited EPA from promulgating or implementing power plant GHG emission standards. In September 2014, the House passed the same language a second time, in H.R. 2. The Senate did not consider either bill.\nFollowing promulgation of the CPP, however, Congress passed and sent to the President S.J.Res. 24, a joint resolution disapproving the CPP under the Congressional Review Act. The President vetoed the resolution on December 18, 2015. Earlier, the House passed H.R. 2042, which would delay the compliance date of GHG emission standards for EGUs and would allow a state to opt out of compliance if the governor determines that the rule would have significant adverse effects on rate-payers or on the reliability of the state\u2019s electricity system. The Senate has not acted on the bill.\nBesides addressing climate change, EPA has taken action on a number of other air pollution regulations affecting power plants and other sources, often in response to court actions remanding previous rules or setting deadlines for actions that are non-discretionary under the Clean Air Act. Remanded rules included the Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR) and Clean Air Mercury Rule\u2014rules designed to control the long-range transport of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and mercury from power plants through cap-and-trade programs. New rules\u2014the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) and the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS)\u2014have replaced those the court remanded. Both CSAPR and MATS went into effect in 2015.\nEPA also completed a review of the national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for ozone in 2015. NAAQS serve as EPA\u2019s definition of clean air for six widespread pollutants, and drive a range of regulatory controls. The ozone NAAQS review, completed October 1, 2015, resulted in tightening the ozone NAAQS from 75 ppb to 70 ppb. At least 13 bills have been introduced to modify EPA\u2019s authority or prohibit or delay the agency\u2019s proposed strengthening of the ozone NAAQS: H.R. 1044, H.R. 1327/S. 640, H.R. 1388/S. 751, H.R. 2111, H.R. 2822 (Section 438), H.R. 4000, H.R. 4265, H.R. 4775/S. 2882, H.R. 5538 (Section 438), and S. 2072. In addition, joint resolutions of disapproval of the ozone NAAQS revision have been introduced in both the House and Senate, under the Congressional Review Act.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/R43851", "sha1": "d019e69eb244e83ec67a0acd5ea021e345d87e55", "filename": "files/20160812_R43851_d019e69eb244e83ec67a0acd5ea021e345d87e55.html", "images": null }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R43851", "sha1": "0fbee06d57a8fd3388563d951ab7c5255d046675", "filename": "files/20160812_R43851_0fbee06d57a8fd3388563d951ab7c5255d046675.pdf", "images": null } ], "topics": [ { "source": "IBCList", "id": 258, "name": "Clean Air Act and Air Quality" }, { "source": "IBCList", "id": 2913, "name": "Electric Power Sector" } ] }, { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 451141, "date": "2016-03-25", "retrieved": "2016-04-06T16:54:14.168715", "title": "Clean Air Issues in the 114th Congress: An Overview", "summary": "Oversight of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulatory actions has received significant attention in the 114th Congress. Of particular interest have been two air quality issues: EPA\u2019s Clean Power Plan (CPP) and related rules to regulate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from power plants, which were promulgated on August 3, 2015; and a revision of the ambient air quality standard for ozone, which was promulgated on October 1. \nReducing GHG emissions to address climate change is a major goal of President Obama, but many in Congress have been less enthusiastic about it. In the absence of congressional action to reduce emissions, the President has directed EPA to promulgate GHG standards using existing authority under the Clean Air Act. This authority has been upheld on three occasions by the Supreme Court, but it remains controversial in Congress.\nIn 2014, EPA proposed regulations to reduce GHG emissions from fossil-fueled (coal, oil, and natural gas) power plants, which EPA refers to as electric generating units (EGUs). The agency proposed standards for new EGUs in January 2014 and for existing and modified units five months later. It finalized these rules August 3, 2015. EGUs are the source of one-third of the nation\u2019s GHG emissions, so it is difficult to envision a regulatory scheme that reduces the nation\u2019s GHG emissions without addressing their contribution. At the same time, affordable and reliable electric power is central to the nation\u2019s economy and to the health and well-being of the population. Thus, the effects of the rules on the electric power system are of considerable interest.\nEven before proposal of the Clean Power Plan, the House had passed legislation (H.R. 3826 in the 113th Congress) that would effectively have prohibited EPA from promulgating or implementing power plant GHG emission standards. In September 2014, the House passed the same language a second time, in H.R. 2. The Senate did not consider either bill.\nFollowing promulgation of the CPP, however, Congress passed and sent to the President S.J.Res. 24, a joint resolution disapproving the CPP under the Congressional Review Act. The President vetoed the resolution on December 18, 2015. Earlier, the House passed H.R. 2042, which would delay the compliance date of GHG emission standards for EGUs and would allow a state to opt out of compliance if the governor determines that the rule would have an adverse effect on rate-payers or have a significant adverse effect on the reliability of the state\u2019s electricity system. The Senate has not acted on the bill.\nBesides addressing climate change, EPA has taken action on a number of other air pollution regulations affecting power plants and other sources, often in response to court actions remanding previous rules or setting deadlines for actions that are non-discretionary under the Clean Air Act. Remanded rules included the Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR) and Clean Air Mercury Rule\u2014rules designed to control the long-range transport of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and mercury from power plants through cap-and-trade programs. New rules\u2014the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) and the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS)\u2014have replaced those the court remanded. Both CSAPR and MATS went into effect in 2015.\nEPA also completed a review of the national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for ozone in 2015. NAAQS serve as EPA\u2019s definition of clean air for six widespread pollutants, and drive a range of regulatory controls. The ozone NAAQS review, completed October 1, 2015, resulted in tightening the ozone NAAQS from 75 ppb to 70 ppb. At least 10 bills have been introduced to modify EPA\u2019s authority or prohibit or delay the agency\u2019s proposed strengthening of the ozone NAAQS: H.R. 1044, H.R. 1327/S. 640, H.R. 1388/S. 751, H.R. 2111, H.R. 2822 (Section 438), H.R. 4000, H.R. 4265, and S. 2072. In addition, joint resolutions of disapproval of the ozone NAAQS revision have been introduced in both the House and Senate, under the Congressional Review Act.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/R43851", "sha1": "20fc379af6924be5fad09a9afb962e7e7624e180", "filename": "files/20160325_R43851_20fc379af6924be5fad09a9afb962e7e7624e180.html", "images": null }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R43851", "sha1": "c7f2bfbd7fa844901d833ed0ee3cf18aa0a57397", "filename": "files/20160325_R43851_c7f2bfbd7fa844901d833ed0ee3cf18aa0a57397.pdf", "images": null } ], "topics": [ { "source": "IBCList", "id": 258, "name": "Clean Air Act and Air Quality" }, { "source": "IBCList", "id": 2913, "name": "Electric Power Sector" } ] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc818580/", "id": "R43851_2015Sep22", "date": "2015-09-22", "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26", "title": "Clean Air Issues in the 114th Congress: An Overview", "summary": null, "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20150922_R43851_82a43973cc48c2f54b279ad2a4f6e10198582346.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20150922_R43851_82a43973cc48c2f54b279ad2a4f6e10198582346.html" } ], "topics": [] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc689107/", "id": "R43851_2015May12", "date": "2015-05-12", "retrieved": "2015-08-03T15:06:47", "title": "Clean Air Issues in the 114th Congress: An Overview", "summary": "This report discusses regulatory actions that have recently received attention in the 114th Congress including EPA's proposed regulations on the emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) from power plants, and a proposed revision of the ambient air quality standard for ozone.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20150512_R43851_f48c6d2996f269c2ae734d4b9df9ba9824e3f9b9.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20150512_R43851_f48c6d2996f269c2ae734d4b9df9ba9824e3f9b9.html" } ], "topics": [ { "source": "LIV", "id": "Air quality", "name": "Air quality" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Air pollution control", "name": "Air pollution control" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Greenhouse gases", "name": "Greenhouse gases" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Government regulation", "name": "Government regulation" } ] } ], "topics": [ "Environmental Policy" ] }