[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1760 Introduced in House (IH)]
111th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1760
To mitigate the effects of black carbon emissions in the United States
and throughout the world.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 26, 2009
Mr. Inslee (for himself, Mr. Welch, and Mr. Honda) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and
Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Foreign Affairs and
Science and Technology, 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 mitigate the effects of black carbon emissions in the United States
and throughout the world.
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 ``Black Carbon Emissions Reduction Act
of 2009''.
SEC. 2. BLACK CARBON.
(a) Findings.--The Congress finds the following:
(1) Black carbon is a particulate pollutant that
contributes significantly to warming of the Earth's climate
system by absorbing radiation, converting it into heat, and
releasing heat energy into the atmosphere. The atmospheric
residence of black carbon is usually less than 2 weeks, making
this pollutant an important candidate for policy action to
immediately mitigate global warming, including the threat of
abrupt climate change.
(2) Black carbon has a particularly detrimental impact on
snow and ice-covered surfaces, such as the Arctic and the
Tibetan Plateau, by reducing surface reflectivity and
accelerating melting.
(3) Black carbon is a component of particulate matter
regulated under the Clean Air Act, however it is not explicitly
regulated as a global warming agent under United States law or
by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change or
other international instruments.
(4) Through existing clean air programs, the United States
has substantially reduced black carbon emissions, but more can
be done.
(5) Internationally, governments should help spur
technological innovation and energy technology deployment in
countries where major black carbon emissions still occur
through industrial activities, vehicle emissions, agriculture
and forestry practices, and residential cooking and heating.
(6) Human exposure to black carbon is a serious threat to
public health in both developed and developing countries.
Actions to reduce exposure to black carbon will produce
immediate and significant public health benefits.
(7) Taking immediate cost-effective and technologically
feasible action to significantly reduce black carbon emissions
will help protect the Arctic and other areas that are
imminently threatened by warming.
(b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are--
(1) to immediately take action to reduce black carbon
emissions;
(2) to identify cost-effective ways to achieve additional
reductions of domestic and international black carbon
emissions;
(3) to achieve the public health and environmental benefits
of reduced black carbon emissions, including contributing to a
reduction in the rate of global warming; and
(4) to take action to protect areas particularly affected
by black carbon emissions, such as the Arctic.
(c) Definitions.--As used in this Act:
(1) The term ``Administrator'' means the Administrator of
the Environmental Protection Agency.
(2) The term ``black carbon'' means the light-absorbing
component of carbonaceous aerosols.
(d) Black Carbon Abatement Report.--Not later than one year after
the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall, in
consultation with other appropriate Federal agencies, submit to
Congress a report regarding black carbon emissions. The report shall
include the following:
(1) A summary of the current research that identifies--
(A) an inventory of the major sources of black
carbon emissions in the United States and throughout
the world, including--
(i) an estimate of the quantity of current
and projected future emissions; and
(ii) the net climate forcing of the
emissions from such sources, including
consideration of co-emissions of other
pollutants;
(B) effective and cost-effective control
technologies, operations, and strategies for additional
domestic and international black carbon emissions
reductions, such as diesel retrofit technologies on
existing on-road and off-road engines and programs to
address residential cookstoves, forest burning, and
other agriculture-based burning;
(C) potential metrics quantifying the climatic
effects of black carbon emissions, including its
radiative forcing and warming effects, that may be used
to compare the climate benefits of different mitigation
strategies, including an assessment of the uncertainty
in such metrics; and
(D) the public health and environmental benefits
associated with additional controls for black carbon
emissions.
(2) Recommendations regarding--
(A) development of additional emissions monitoring
techniques and capabilities, modeling, and other black
carbon-related areas of study;
(B) areas of focus for additional study of
technologies, operations, and strategies with the
greatest potential to reduce emissions of black carbon;
and
(C) actions, in addition to those identified by the
Administrator pursuant to subsections (e) and (f), the
Federal Government may take to encourage or require
reductions in black carbon emissions.
(e) Domestic Black Carbon Mitigation.--Not later than one year
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator, taking into
consideration the public health and environmental impacts of black
carbon emissions, including the effects on global warming, the Arctic,
and other snow and ice-covered surfaces, shall propose regulations
under the existing authorities of the Clean Air Act to reduce emissions
of black carbon or propose a finding that existing regulations
promulgated pursuant to such Act adequately regulate black carbon
emissions. Not later than two years after the date of enactment of this
Act, the Administrator shall promulgate final regulations under the
existing authorities of the Clean Air Act or finalize the proposed
finding.
(f) International Black Carbon Mitigation.--
(1) Report.--Not later than one year after the date of
enactment of this section, the Administrator, in coordination
with the Secretary of State and other appropriate Federal
agencies, shall transmit a report to Congress on the amount,
type, and direction of all present United States financial,
technical, and related assistance to foreign countries to
reduce, mitigate, and otherwise abate black carbon emissions.
(2) Other opportunities.--The report required under
paragraph (1) shall also identify opportunities and
recommendations, including action under existing authorities,
to achieve significant black carbon emission reductions in
foreign countries through technical assistance or other
approaches to--
(A) promote sustainable solutions to bring clean,
efficient, safe, and affordable stoves, fuels, or both
stoves and fuels to residents of developing countries
that are reliant on solid fuels such as wood, dung,
charcoal, coal, or crop residues for home cooking and
heating, so as to help reduce the public health,
environmental, and economic impacts of black carbon
emissions from these sources by--
(i) identifying key regions for large-scale
demonstration efforts, and key partners in each
such region; and
(ii) developing for each such region a
large-scale implementation strategy with a goal
of collectively reaching 20,000,000 homes over
5 years with interventions that will--
(I) increase stove efficiency by
over 50 percent (or such other goal as
determined by the Administrator);
(II) reduce emissions of black
carbon by over 60 percent (or such
other goal as determined by the
Administrator); and
(III) reduce the incidence of
severe pneumonia in children under 5
years old by over 30 percent (or such
other goal as determined by the
Administrator);
(B) make technological improvements to diesel
engines and provide greater access to fuels that emit
less or no black carbon;
(C) reduce unnecessary agricultural or other
biomass burning where feasible alternatives exist;
(D) reduce unnecessary fossil fuel burning that
produces black carbon where feasible alternatives
exist;
(E) reduce other sources of black carbon emissions;
and
(F) improve capacity to achieve greater compliance
with existing laws to address black carbon emissions.
(g) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be
appropriated such sums as are necessary to carry out this Act.
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