text: SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
  
      This Act may be cited as the ``Transparency and Honesty in Energy 
  Regulations Act of 2017''.
  
  SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
  
      Congress finds that--
              (1) as a tool to justify Federal actions by the Secretary 
          of Energy, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection 
          Agency, the Secretary of the Interior, and the Chair of the 
          Council on Environmental Quality to address greenhouse gas 
          emissions, including the regulation or prohibition of the 
          exploration, mining, production, and use of coal and other 
          fossil fuels as energy sources, the social cost of carbon, the 
          social cost of methane, and the social cost of nitrous oxide 
          represent the hypothetical cost of 1 incremental ton of carbon 
          dioxide, methane, or nitrous oxide emissions in a given year;
              (2) the document of the Office of Management and Budget 
          entitled ``Circular A-4'' and dated September 17, 2003--
                      (A) guides Federal agencies on the development of 
                  regulatory impact analysis required under Executive 
                  Order 12866 (5 U.S.C. 601 note; relating to regulatory 
                  planning and review) and other authorities; and
                      (B) instructs Federal agencies to include discount 
                  rates of 3 and 7 percent and evaluate the costs and 
                  benefits of the regulatory action that accrue to 
                  citizens and residents of the United States;
              (3) first developed in 2009 by an interagency working group 
          that included the Department of Energy, the Environmental 
          Protection Agency, and the Council on Environmental Quality, 
          the estimates for the social cost of carbon, as well as the 
          subsequently developed estimates of the social cost of methane, 
          and the social cost of nitrous oxide fail to comply with the 3- 
          and 7-percent discount rates prescribed by the document of the 
          Office of Management and Budget entitled ``Circular A-4'' and 
          dated September 17, 2003;
              (4) while the document of the Office of Management and 
          Budget entitled ``Circular A-4'' and dated September 17, 2003, 
          specifies that, in carrying out an evaluation of the global 
          effects of a rule, regulation, or action, the evaluation shall 
          be reported separately from domestic costs and benefits of that 
          rule, regulation, or action, the social cost of carbon instead 
          calculates the global benefits in lieu of, not in addition to, 
          the domestic costs of a rule, regulation, or action;
              (5) the use of the estimates for the social cost of carbon, 
          the social cost of methane, and the social cost of nitrous 
          oxide, in the rulemakings of the Department of Energy, the 
          Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of the 
          Interior, and the Council on Environmental Quality without 
          public notice and an adequate opportunity for comment violates 
          scientific peer review requirements;
              (6) the Environmental Protection Agency relied upon the 
          social cost of methane, without appropriate peer review or 
          opportunity for public notice and comment, in justifying the 
          costs and benefits of the September 2015 proposed and the June 
          2016 finalized rules under the Clean Air Act for methane 
          emissions from new, modified, and reconstructed sources in the 
          oil and gas sector;
              (7) the Department of the Interior used the social cost of 
          methane estimate to justify the costs and benefits of the final 
          rule entitled ``Waste Prevention, Production Subject to 
          Royalties, and Resource Conservation'' (81 Fed. Reg. 83008 
          (November 18, 2016));
              (8) the Council on Environmental Quality issued final 
          guidance on August 1, 2016, that, with respect to a monetary 
          cost-benefit analysis for an evaluation of a proposed Federal 
          action under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 
          U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), directed the head of each Federal agency 
          to include the social cost of carbon in any consideration of 
          the effect of greenhouse gas emissions;
              (9) the regulations of the Department of Energy, the 
          Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of the 
          Interior, and the Council on Environmental Quality are costing 
          families of the United States billions of dollars each year and 
          are justified, in large part, by the social cost of carbon, the 
          social cost of methane, and the social cost of nitrous oxide;
              (10) continued use of the social cost of carbon, the social 
          cost of methane, and the social cost of nitrous oxide by the 
          Department of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency, the 
          Department of the Interior, and the Council on Environmental 
          Quality ignores sound science for the purpose of eliminating 
          the exploration, mining, production, and use of the abundant 
          domestic sources of fossil fuel energy of the United States;
              (11) Executive Order 13777 (82 Fed. Reg. 12285 (March 1, 
          2017)) states that the policy of the United States is to 
          alleviate any unnecessary regulatory burden on the people of 
          the United States; and
              (12) Executive Order 13783 of March 28, 2017 (82 Fed. Reg. 
          16093 (March 31, 2017))--
                      (A) disbands the interagency working group referred 
                  to in paragraph (3);
                      (B) withdraws the social cost of carbon, the social 
                  cost of methane, and the social cost of nitrous oxide; 
                  and
                      (C) directs Federal agencies, in monetizing the 
                  value of changes in greenhouse gas emissions as a 
                  result of a regulation, to follow the document of the 
                  Office of Management and Budget entitled ``Circular A-
                  4'' and dated September 17, 2003, by using the discount 
                  rates specified in that document and evaluating only 
                  the domestic effects of the regulation.
  
  SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
  
      In this Act:
              (1) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the 
          Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
              (2) Social cost of carbon.--The term ``social cost of 
          carbon'' means--
                      (A) the estimate of the social cost of carbon 
                  described in--
                              (i) the document entitled ``Technical 
                          Support Document: 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 February 2010; or
                              (ii)(I) the 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 and revised in November 
                          2013 and July 2015, and published and revised 
                          by the Interagency Working Group on the Social 
                          Cost of Greenhouse Gases, United States 
                          Government, in August 2016; or
                              (II) any successor or substantially related 
                          document; and
                      (B) any other estimate of the monetized damages 
                  associated with an incremental increase in carbon 
                  dioxide emissions in a given year.
              (3) Social cost of methane.--The term ``social cost of 
          methane'' means--
                      (A) the estimate of the social cost of methane 
                  described in--
                              (i) the proposed rule entitled ``Oil and 
                          Natural Gas Sector: Emission Standards for New 
                          and Modified Sources'' (80 Fed. Reg. 56593 
                          (September 18, 2015));
                              (ii) the final rule entitled ``Oil and 
                          Natural Gas Sector: Emission Standards for New, 
                          Reconstructed, and Modified Sources'' (81 Fed. 
                          Reg. 35824 (June 3, 2016));
                              (iii) the regulatory impact analysis 
                          entitled ``Regulatory Impact Analysis of the 
                          Final Oil and Natural Gas Sector: Emission 
                          Standards for New, Reconstructed, and Modified 
                          Sources'', prepared by the Environmental 
                          Protection Agency, Office of Air and Radiation, 
                          in May 2016 and identified by docket ID number 
                          EPA-HQ-OAR-2010-0505-7630; or
                              (iv)(I) the document entitled ``Addendum to 
                          Technical Support Document on Social Cost of 
                          Carbon for Regulatory Impact Analysis under 
                          Executive Order 12866: Application of the 
                          Methodology to Estimate the Social Cost of 
                          Methane and the Social Cost of Nitrous Oxide'', 
                          published by the Interagency Working Group on 
                          Social Cost of Greenhouse Gases, United States 
                          Government, in August 2016; or
                              (II) any successor or substantially related 
                          document; and
                      (B) any other estimate of the monetized damages 
                  associated with an incremental increase in methane 
                  emissions in a given year.
              (4) Social cost of nitrous oxide.--The term ``social cost 
          of nitrous oxide'' means--
                      (A) the estimate of the social cost of nitrous 
                  oxide described in--
                              (i) the document entitled ``Addendum to 
                          Technical Support Document on Social Cost of 
                          Carbon for Regulatory Impact Analysis under 
                          Executive Order 12866: Application of the 
                          Methodology to Estimate the Social Cost of 
                          Methane and the Social Cost of Nitrous Oxide'', 
                          published by the Interagency Working Group on 
                          Social Cost of Greenhouse Gases, United States 
                          Government, in August 2016; or
                              (ii) any other successor or substantially 
                          related document; and
                      (B) any other estimate of the monetized damages 
                  associated with an incremental increase in nitrous 
                  oxide emissions in a given year.
  
  SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON CONSIDERING THE SOCIAL COST OF GREENHOUSE GAS, 
                INCLUDING THE SOCIAL COST OF CARBON, THE SOCIAL COST OF 
                METHANE, AND THE SOCIAL COST OF NITROUS OXIDE.
  
      (a) In General.--The Secretary of Energy, under any authority, the 
  Administrator, under the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.), the 
  Secretary of the Interior, under any authority, and the Chair of the 
  Council on Environmental Quality, under the National Environmental 
  Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), may not consider the 
  social cost of carbon, social cost of methane, or social cost of 
  nitrous oxide--
              (1) as part of any cost-benefit analysis required under--
                      (A) any law;
                      (B) Executive Order 12866 (5 U.S.C. 601 note; 
                  relating to regulatory planning and review); or
                      (C) Executive Order 13563 (5 U.S.C. 601 note; 
                  relating to improving regulation and regulatory 
                  review);
              (2) in any rulemaking;
              (3) in the issuance of any guidance;
              (4) in taking any other agency action; or
              (5) as a justification for any rulemaking, guidance 
          document, or agency action.
      (b) Exception.--The Secretary of Energy, the Administrator, the 
  Secretary of the Interior, and the Chair of the Council on 
  Environmental Quality may consider the social cost of carbon, social 
  cost of methane, or social cost of nitrous oxide in carrying out an 
  activity described in subsection (a) only if, after the date of 
  enactment of this Act--
              (1) a Federal law is enacted that explicitly authorizes the 
          consideration; or
              (2) the Secretary of Energy, the Administrator, the 
          Secretary of the Interior, or the Chair of the Council on 
          Environmental Quality uses an estimate for the social cost of 
          carbon, social cost of methane, or social cost of nitrous oxide 
          that--
                      (A) complies with the requirements of the document 
                  of the Office of Management and Budget entitled 
                  ``Circular A-4'' and dated September 17, 2003;
                      (B) uses the discount rates of 3 and 7 percent 
                  specified in that document;
                      (C) considers only the domestic costs and benefits 
                  of the activity; and
                      (D) uses only--
                              (i) the most up to date and empirically 
                          estimated equilibrium climate sensitivity 
                          distributions; and
                              (ii) realistic time horizons.
  
  SEC. 5. REPORT OF THE ADMINISTRATOR.
  
      Not later than 120 days after the date of enactment of this Act, 
  the Administrator, in coordination and consultation with the Secretary 
  of Energy, the Secretary of the Interior, and the Chair of the Council 
  on Environmental Quality, shall submit to the Committees on Energy and 
  Commerce and Natural Resources of the House of Representatives and the 
  Committees on Environment and Public Works and Energy and Natural 
  Resources of the Senate a report describing the number of proposed and 
  final rulemakings, guidance documents, and agency actions that, since 
  January 2009, have used the social cost of carbon, the social cost of 
  methane, or the social cost of nitrous oxide, including the use of the 
  social cost of carbon, the social cost of methane, or the social cost 
  of nitrous oxide as part of any cost-benefit analysis required under 
  Executive Order 12866 (5 U.S.C. 601 note; relating to regulatory 
  planning and review) or other relevant authority.
target: Transparency and Honesty in Energy Regulations Act of 2017 This bill prohibits the Department of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Department of the Interior, and the Council on Environmental Quality from considering the social cost of carbon, methane, or nitrous oxide as part of any cost benefit analysis in the rule making process, unless a federal law is enacted authorizing such consideration. They may also consider those social costs if they use an estimate that: (1) complies with the requirements of the Office of Management and Budget's &quot;Circular A-4&quot; document; (2) uses the discount rates of three and seven percent specified in that document; (3) considers only the domestic costs and benefits of the activity; and (4) uses only the most up to date and empirically estimated equilibrium climate sensitivity distributions, and realistic time horizons. The EPA must report on the number of proposed and final rulemakings, guidance documents, and agency actions since January 2009 that use those social costs, including as part of any cost benefit analysis required under Executive Order 12866 or other relevant authority.
feat_title: Transparency and Honesty in Energy Regulations Act of 2017