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51 records in US in 2015
United States · United States Congress · 18 December 2015
Expresses the sense of Congress that the Paris Agreement on climate change, adopted in December 2015, should not be signed, ratified, acceded to, or adopted by the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 10 December 2015
Climate Protection and Justice Act of 2015 This bill amends the Clean Air Act to address greenhouse gas emissions. Specifically, the bill: states as U.S. policy greenhouse gas emission targets for 2020, 2030, 2040, and 2050 that will result in reducing the emissions 80% below 1990 levels by 2050; establishes a fee for manufacturing, producing, or importing certain carbon polluting substances (coal, petroleum, and natural gas) that increases over time; establishes the Interagency Climate Council to evaluate whether the targets are being met; requires the Environmental Protection Agency to issue regulations to ensure the targets are met if the council finds the targets are not being met; requires those fees to be deposited in the Carbon Fee Rebate Fund established by this bill; establishes the Carbon Fee Rebate Program, which will distribute proceeds from the fees to eligible U.S. residents; establishes a Climate Justice Resiliency Grant Program to fund projects that mitigate climate impacts on communities that are unable to afford the management or mitigation of those impacts; expands the definition of solid waste under the Clean Air Act and applies air pollution emission limits to those wastes; and establishes a fee on carbon pollution-intensive goods imported into the United States, requires the fees to be deposited in the Carbon Equivalency Fee Fund established by this bill, and requires the fund to be used for certain purposes, including improving industrial energy efficiency. The bill provides funding for the Weatherization Assistance Program, the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program, and the Rural Energy for America Program. The bill revises the Food Security Act of 1985 by providing incentives for farmers to use no-till cultivation practices and sustainable fertilizer application practices. The bill revises the Federal Power Act to enable access on the electric grid for demand response programs (programs that enable customers to reduce or shift their power use during peak demand periods).
United States · United States Senate · 8 December 2015
United States · United States Congress · 7 December 2015
Expresses the sense of the Senate that a protocol, amendment, extension, or other agreement (agreement) relating to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, entered into force March 21, 1994, shall have no force or effect in the United States and no funds shall be authorized in its support, including for the Green Climate Fund, until it has been submitted to Senate for advice and consent, if the agreement: fulfills mitigation commitments through existing and future regulations that would put our national industries at a disadvantage compared to the industries of developing countries; includes a financial commitment that will not go into effect without subsequent congressional legislation or authorization; represents an agreement to be overseen by an international administrative entity covering a wide range of topics, including mitigation, adaptation, finance, technology transfer, capacity building, transparency, implementation, and compliance; or establishes a mechanism to assess contributions or commitments for future compliance.
United States · United States Congress · 3 December 2015
Fighting Against Imbalanced Regulatory Burdens Act of 2015 This bill amends the Clean Air Act to prohibit a regulation concerning emissions of carbon dioxide from a fossil fuel-fired electric generating unit from taking effect until the Environmental Protection Agency certifies that a sufficient number of countries have adopted climate change regulations for carbon dioxide that are at least as stringent. A "sufficient number" is a number of countries that account for at least 80% of global carbon dioxide emissions in the last year, excluding those in the United States.
United States · United States House of Representatives · 1 December 2015
United States · United States Congress · 1 December 2015
Beach Act of 2015 This bill amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (commonly known as the Clean Water Act) to revise and reauthorize through FY2020 a grant program for monitoring, and notifying the public of, any pathogens in coastal recreation waters bordering public beaches. The bill reauthorizes through FY2018 the Beaches Environmental Assessment and Coastal Health Act of 2000. The bill establishes requirements with respect to: (1) using rapid testing methods to detect unsafe levels of pathogens or pathogen indicators in those waters, and (2) notifying governmental agencies when pathogens exceed water quality standards. Those methods must provide testing results within four hours of receiving a sample. Communication with governments must occur within two hours of the receipt of the results of water quality samples. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must assess state and local compliance with coastal recreation water quality monitoring and notification legal requirements and grant conditions. The bill limits federal support of grants to non-compliant state or local governments. The Government Accountability Office must review the EPA's compliance assessments and corrective actions. States with coastal recreation waters must adopt the most protective water quality criteria and standards practicable for pathogens. The EPA must: (1) update the national list of beaches that are used by the public regardless of the presence of a lifeguard within 12 months and biennially thereafter (currently, periodically); (2) study the long-term impact of climate change on pathogenic contamination of coastal recreation waters; and (3) study the impacts of excess nutrients on coastal recreation waters.
United States · United States Congress · 1 December 2015
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the President should submit to the Senate as a treaty under article II, section 2, clause 2 of the Constitution any binding and universal agreement on climate change adopted at the Conference of the Parties (COP21) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
United States · United States Congress · 30 November 2015
Declares that the House of Representatives shall: support the achievement of near zero greenhouse gas emissions nationally by January 1, 2050, through policies that shift the U.S. energy supply strategy from fossil fuels to 100% renewable energy, increase energy efficiency, and implement zero waste practices to end dependence on fossil fuels and to promote climate security, jobs, universal access to clean energy, national economic competitiveness, and national security; establish a national goal of deriving 50% of electricity from renewable sources by January 1, 2030; establish policies and programs to modernize the national infrastructure, transition toward full employment with new green jobs, and build a sustainable economy, focusing on historically unemployed or underemployed communities; provide educational and job training programs, transitional financial assistance, and job opportunities for displaced fossil fuel industry workers; provide retraining and re-employment opportunities in green jobs for military veterans; provide increased funding for educational, training, and job assistance programs for rural residents and for increased emergency preparation and assistance to rural communities damaged by the adverse impacts of climate change; help the people of the United States to establish resiliency to withstand the significant impacts of climate change; establish policies that capture and store carbon currently in the atmosphere by protecting forests and improving land and agricultural practices; support trade policies that maintain American labor and environmental standards; support tax incentives that promote the growth of green jobs; ensure universal access to clean energy for moderate- and low-income families; create policies or programs that result in net positive environmental and economic benefits in impacted communities, which shall receive at least 25% of revenues committed to or generated by the implementation of carbon reducing programs; phase out subsidies for fossil fuels; establish a national goal of doubling efficiency of existing buildings from 2015 levels by January 1, 2030; and support a policy to work with international organizations and other nations to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to set a goal to achieve near zero greenhouse gas emissions by January 1, 2050, through replacing fossil fuels with 100% renewable energy, conservation, and energy efficiency.
United States · United States Congress · 30 November 2015
Beach Act of 2015 This bill amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (commonly known as the Clean Water Act) to revise and reauthorize through FY2020 a grant program for monitoring, and notifying the public of, any pathogens in coastal recreation waters bordering public beaches. The bill reauthorizes through FY2018 the Beaches Environmental Assessment and Coastal Health Act of 2000. The bill establishes requirements with respect to: (1) using rapid testing methods to detect unsafe levels of pathogens or pathogen indicators in those waters, and (2) notifying governmental agencies when pathogens exceed water quality standards. Those methods must provide testing results within four hours of receiving a sample. Communication with governments must occur within two hours of the receipt of the results of water quality samples. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must assess state and local compliance with coastal recreation water quality monitoring and notification legal requirements and grant conditions. The bill limits federal support of grants to non-compliant state or local governments. The Government Accountability Office must review the EPA's compliance assessments and corrective actions. States with coastal recreation waters must adopt the most protective water quality criteria and standards practicable for pathogens. The EPA must: (1) update the national list of beaches that are used by the public regardless of the presence of a lifeguard within 12 months and biennially thereafter (currently, periodically); (2) study the long-term impact of climate change on pathogenic contamination of coastal recreation waters; and (3) study the impacts of excess nutrients on coastal recreation waters.
United States · United States Congress · 19 November 2015
Expresses the sense of Congress that: the President should submit to the Senate for advice and consent the climate change agreement proposed for adoption at the twenty-first session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP-21), and Congress should refuse to consider any budget resolutions and appropriations language that include funding for the Green Climate Fund until COP-21 emissions commitments are submitted to the Senate.
United States · United States Congress · 19 November 2015
Expresses the sense of Congress that: the President should submit to the Senate for advice and consent the climate change agreement proposed for adoption at the twenty-first session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP-21), and Congress should refuse to consider any budget resolutions and appropriations language that include funding for the Green Climate Fund until COP-21 emissions commitments are submitted to the Senate.
United States · United States House of Representatives · 18 November 2015
United States · United States Senate · 18 November 2015
United States · United States Congress · 4 November 2015
Keep It in the Ground Act of 2015 This bill states as U.S. policy that: (1) federal land and waters should be managed for the benefit of the people of the United States to avoid the most dangerous impacts of climate change and to promote a rapid transition to a clean energy economy; and (2) the government should pursue management of federal land and waters for the benefit of the people of the United States by not issuing any new lease or renewing any nonproducing lease for coal, oil, or natural gas in any such land or waters. The bill amends the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to prohibit the Department of the Interior from issuing a new lease, renewing, reinstating, or extending any nonproducing lease under such Act, or issuing any other authorization for the exploration, development, or production of oil, natural gas, or any other fossil fuel in the Arctic Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, or any other area of the outer Continental Shelf. Interior shall: (1) cancel any lease issued under such Act before the date of enactment of this Act in the Beaufort Sea, Cook Inlet, or Chukchi Sea; and (2) not conduct any lease sale, enter into any new lease, reoffer for lease any land covered by an expiring lease, or renew, reinstate, or extend any nonproducing lease in existence before such date for onshore fossil fuels, including coal, oil, tar sands, oil shale, and gas on land subject to the Mineral Leasing Act. Interior may exempt any provision of this Act if it determines that there is an imminent national security threat and that issuing an exemption would significantly reduce such threat, but only for as long as the threat persists. Interior may allow a nonproducing lease to be renewed or extended if: (1) the nonproducing lease contract was signed before enactment of this Act, and (2) Interior determines that giving effect to any provision of this Act is likely to lead to a court ruling that there was a material breach of the contract. Such a renewal or extension shall be for the shortest time practicable under the terms of the contract.
United States · United States Congress · 3 November 2015
Stopping EPA Overreach Act of 2015 This bill amends the Clean Air Act to exclude carbon dioxide, water vapor, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, and sulfur hexafluoride pollution from the scope of that Act. The bill declares that current law does not authorize or require the regulation of climate change or global warming and nullifies certain proposed rules relating to greenhouse gas and carbon pollution emissions. Before proposing or finalizing regulations or policies, the Environmental Protection Agency must analyze the net and gross impact of those regulations and policies on employment. Regulations and policies may not take effect if they have a negative impact on employment, unless they are approved by Congress and signed by the President.
United States · United States Senate · 20 October 2015
United States · United States Congress · 20 October 2015
Expresses the sense of the Senate that any protocol to, or other agreement regarding, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change of 1992, negotiated at the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris, shall be considered a treaty requiring the advice and consent of the Senate.
United States · United States Congress · 30 September 2015
EPA Pays Act This bill amends the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA) by making the U.S. government liable for economic damages it caused, including damages that resulted while it was providing assistance in cleaning up hazardous substances. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must reimburse the Department of the Treasury for the cost of CERCLA claims for money damages against the United States. The EPA must make those reimbursements from the unobligated balance of amounts in the "Environmental Programs and Management" account. The EPA must first use amounts in that account that are for outreach. If sufficient amounts are not available from outreach funding, the EPA must use amounts made available for enforcement, and then amounts available for the clean air and climate program area.
United States · United States Congress · 28 September 2015
Stop Arctic Ocean Drilling Act of 2015 This bill declares that it is the policy of the United States that the Arctic Ocean should be managed for the best interests of the people of the United States, including by keeping fossil fuels in the ground to avoid the dangerous impacts of climate change. The Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act is amended to prohibit the Department of the Interior from issuing or renewing a lease or any other authorization for the exploration, development, or production of oil, natural gas, or any other mineral in the Arctic Ocean, including the Beaufort Sea and Chukchi Sea Planning Areas.
United States · United States Congress · 24 September 2015
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.
United States · United States Congress · 15 September 2015
State and Local Fleet Efficiency Act Recognizes state or local government authority to require fleet owners or operators to acquire only new fleet vehicles that: utilize natural gas as a fuel; are flexible fuel vehicles that operate on gasoline, E85, and M85; or meet a technology or performance-based characteristic that is commercially available. Provides that nothing in this Act or any other provision of law shall limit the purchase requirement authority of a state or local government applicable to fleets operating primarily within the jurisdiction if the requirements further any policy regarding climate change, the control of air pollution, energy independence, or local economic benefits. Defines "fleet" as a group of 20 or more light-duty motor vehicles, medium-duty motor vehicles, or heavy-duty motor vehicles carrying 14 or more passengers operating primarily in a metropolitan area with a population of more than 250,000 that are: centrally dispatched; or centrally fueled, or capable of being centrally fueled, and owned, operated, leased, or otherwise controlled by a governmental entity or other person meeting specified criteria.
United States · United States Congress · 5 August 2015
Declares that the Senate stands with Pope Francis and the scientific consensus that: human activity is the primary driver of climate change, present climate trends are unsustainable, and immediate action must be taken to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions in order to limit the deleterious effects of human-induced climate change.
United States · United States Congress · 23 July 2015
Preparedness and Risk Management for Extreme Weather Patterns Assuring Resilience and Effectiveness Act of 2015 or the PREPARE Act of 2015 This bill directs the President to establish the Interagency Council on Extreme Weather Resilience, Preparedness, and Risk Management (Council). The Council shall: establish government-wide goals and priorities for, and develop, recommend, coordinate, and track implementation of priority interagency federal government actions related to, extreme weather resilience, preparedness, and risk management; support regional, state, local, and tribal action to assess extreme weather-related vulnerabilities and cost effectively increase extreme weather resilience, preparedness, and risk management of communities, critical economic sectors, natural and built infrastructure, and natural resources; facilitate the integration of meteorological and extreme weather science; assess the specific recommendations relating to extreme weather in all relevant provisions of the Government Accountability Office's High-Risk Series, identify the feasibility of revising federal programs to implement such recommendations, and develop a plan to address such recommendations; develop or adopt a framework for evaluating the progress and success of extreme weather resilience, preparedness, and risk management-related efforts that is complementary to any national indicator system developed as part of the National Climate Assessment; develop or adopt performance metrics that allow tracking of the actions taken and progress made toward meeting and implementing the established government-wide goals and priorities; provide recommendations to the Council on Environmental Quality and OMB on how agencies should update agency extreme weather plans and remove barriers to state and local extreme weather resilience, preparedness, and risk management in agency regulations, guidance, and policy; make information available online for tracking implementation of agency extreme weather plans and government-wide goals and priorities and on recommendations relating to extreme weather in all relevant High-Risk Series provisions; issue guidance to agencies on developing agency extreme weather plans and agency regulations, guidance, and policies to remove barriers to state and local extreme weather resilience; designate one or more agencies to establish a website that provides information on risks related to extreme weather, preparedness, resilience, and risk management to support state, local, tribal, and private decisionmakers; and publish biannually an inventory of all regional agency offices, centers, and programs that assist with extreme weather preparedness and risk management at the state or local level. Each agency shall submit biannually to OMB and to the Council a comprehensive plan that integrates consideration of extreme weather into its operations and overall mission objectives. OMB shall consolidate and submit such plans to Congress. Annual agency performance plans shall include the most recent agency extreme weather plan.
United States · United States Congress · 16 July 2015
Stop Arctic Ocean Drilling Act of 2015 This bill declares that it is the policy of the United States that the Arctic Ocean should be managed for the best interests of the people of the United States, including by keeping fossil fuels in the ground to avoid the dangerous impacts of climate change. The Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act is amended to prohibit the Department of the Interior from issuing or renewing a lease or any other authorization for the exploration, development, or production of oil, natural gas, or any other mineral in the Arctic Ocean, including the Beaufort Sea and Chukchi Sea Planning Areas.
United States · United States Senate · 8 July 2015
United States · United States House of Representatives · 8 July 2015
United States · United States Congress · 25 June 2015
Yakima River Basin Water Enhancement Project Phase III Act of 2015 This bill amends title XII of P.L. 103-434, which established the Yakima River Basin Water Conservation Program to improve the reliability of water supplies for irrigation in the Yakima River Basin and to protect and enhance fish and wildlife resources, including wetlands. The bill expands the purposes of the original Program to include: (1) improving the resilience of the ecosystems, economies, and communities in the Yakima River Basin as they face drought, climate variability, and climate change; and (2) authorizing and implementing the Yakima River Basin Integrated Water Resources Management Plan as Phase III of the Yakima River Basin Water Enhancement Project. The bill modifies the Yakima River Basin Water Conservation Program to require the Conservation Advisory Group to provide recommendations to advance the purposes and programs of the Yakima River Basin Water Enhancement Project. Additionally, the bill limits the funding by states and the federal government to 17.5% of the local share of the costs of the Conservation Program in exchange for the long-term use of conserved water. The bill increases funding for the Yakima River Basin Water Conservation Program and related projects. The bill grants the Department of the Interior the authority to make grants or enter into cooperative agreements to carry out Phase III of the Yakima River Basin Water Enhancement Project. The bill: (1) expresses the intent of Congress that the Management Plan for the Yakima River Basin Water Enhancement Project shall be implemented in its entirety, in accordance with applicable laws; (2) provides for an initial, intermediate, and final development phase of the Management Plan; and (3) requires a progress report on the Management Plan within five years after enactment of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 25 June 2015
Western Water and American Food Security Act of 2015 Defines: (1) "Delta" as the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and the Suisun Marsh; and (2) "negative impact on the long-term survival" as an appreciable reduction in the likelihood of the survival of a listed species in the wild by reducing the reproduction, numbers, or distribution of that species. TITLE I--ADJUSTING DELTA SMELT MANAGEMENT BASED ON INCREASED REAL-TIME MONITORING AND UPDATED SCIENCE Requires the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), by October 1, 2016, and at least every five years thereafter, to cooperate with federal, California, and local agencies to use updated scientific and commercial data to modify the calculation of incidental take levels for adult and larval/juvenile Delta smelt in the biological opinion for the Central Valley Project (CVP) and the State Water Project (SWP) issued by the USFWS on December 15, 2008. Directs the USFWS to implement and make appropriate amendments to the reasonable and prudent alternative described in that smelt biological opinion. Requires the Department of the Interior to make all significant decisions in writing under the smelt opinion and any successor opinions affecting the CVP or the SWP. Requires Interior, on an annual basis, to determine: (1) the extent that adult Delta smelt are distributed in relation to certain levels of turbidity or other environmental factors that may influence salvage rate, and (2) how the CVP and SWP may be operated to minimize salvage while maximizing export pumping rates without causing a significant negative impact on the long-term survival of the Delta smelt. Requires Interior, if suspended sediment loads from the Sacramento River appear likely to raise turbidity levels in specified areas during each period from December through March, to conduct daily monitoring to determine how increased trawling can inform real-time CVP and SWP operations. Directs Interior, by January 1, 2016, and at least every five years thereafter, in collaboration with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), the California Department of Water Resources, public water agencies, and other interested entities, to implement new targeted sampling and monitoring specifically designed to understand Delta smelt abundance, distribution, and habitats during all life stages. Requires Interior, in implementing the smelt biological opinion pertaining to reverse flow in the Old and Middle River (OMR), to maximize CVP and SWP water supplies by managing export pumping rates to a reverse flow rate of -5,000 cubic feet per second, unless Interior provides documentation concluding that a less negative OMR flow rate is necessary to avoid a negative impact on the long-term survival of Delta smelt. Directs Interior to manage a more negative OMR flow rate if it can be established without an imminent negative impact. Requires the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) and the USFWS to execute a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to ensure that the smelt biological opinion is implemented in a manner that maximizes water supply while complying with applicable laws and regulations. Provides a framework under which reinitiation of consultation is unnecessary if any changes that the MOU makes to the biological opinion will not have a significant negative impact on the long-term survival on listed species and would not be a major change to implementation of the biological opinion. Prohibits procedural changes that do not create a significant negative impact on long-term survival from altering application of the take permitted by the incidental take statement in the biological opinion. Directs Interior, for purposes of increasing CVP and SWP water supplies, to revise the method of calculating reverse flow in the OMR for implementation of the reasonable and prudent alternatives in the USFWS's smelt biological opinion, the salmonid biological opinion issued by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) on June 4, 2009, and any succeeding opinion. TITLE II--ENSURING SALMONID MANAGEMENT IS RESPONSIVE TO NEW SCIENCE Establishes a process for Reclamation and the Assistant Administrator of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for Fisheries to provide for implementation of the reasonable and prudent alternative described in the NMFS's salmonid biological opinion to be adjusted as new scientific and commercial data is developed. Requires Interior and the Department of Commerce, annually, to direct Reclamation and the Assistant Administrator to implement certain recommended adjustments to project operations that, in the exercise of the adaptive management provisions of the salmonid biological opinion, will reduce water supply impacts of the salmonid biological opinion on the CVP and the SWP. Requires implementation of adjustments for which: (1) the net effect on listed salmonid species and the Delta smelt is equivalent to those of the underlying project operational parameters in the salmonid biological opinion, and (2) the effects of the adjustment can be expected to fall within incidental take authorizations. Requires Reclamation and the Assistant Administrator to evaluate potential species survival improvements likely to result from other measures that, if implemented, would offset adverse effects. Requires the Assistant Administrator to compare existing measures to increase through-Delta survival of salmonid through restrictions on export pumping rates to possible alternative management measures to increase salmonid survival through: (1) physical habitat restoration improvements, (2) predation control programs, (3) installation of temporary barriers or management of Cross Channel Gates operations, (4) salvaging near Clifton Court Forebay, or (5) conservation hatchery programs. Directs Reclamation to implement such an alternative measure in order to increase export rates if the Assistant Administrator determines that: (1) the alternative measure is technically feasible and within federal jurisdiction, or (2) California or a local agency has certified that it has the authority and capability to implement the alternative measure. Requires Commerce and California's Oakdale and South San Joaquin Irrigation Districts to conduct a nonnative predator fish removal program to remove nonnative striped bass, smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, black bass, and other nonnative predator fish species from the Stanislaus River. Requires the districts to be responsible for 100% of the cost of the program. TITLE III--OPERATIONAL FLEXIBILITY AND DROUGHT RELIEF Requires the Departments of Agriculture (USDA), Commerce, and the Interior to approve projects and operations to provide the maximum quantity of water supplies practicable (to all individuals or districts that receive CVP water under water service or repayment contracts, water rights settlement contracts, exchange contracts, or refuge contracts or agreements, to SWP contractors, and to any other tribe, locality, water agency, or municipality in California) to address the emergency drought conditions for the period of time such that in any year that the Sacramento Valley Index is 6.5 or lower, or at California's request, and until two succeeding years after either of those events has been completed where the final index is 7.8 or greater. Provides for: (1) temporary barriers or operable gates to be designed so that formal consultations under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA) are not necessary; (2) adoption of a 1:1 inflow to export ratio under specified conditions, as measured as a three-day running average at Vernalis during the period beginning on April 1, and ending on May 31, absent a determination in writing that a more restrictive inflow to export ratio is required to avoid a significant negative impact on the long-term survival of a listed salmonid species under the ESA; and (3) water transfers through the C.W. "Bill" Jones Pumping Plant or the Harvey O. Banks Pumping Plant from April 1 to November 30 if the transfers comply with California law. Provides expedited procedures for consideration of requests by the California governor relating to federal, state, or local projects or operations to provide relief for emergency drought conditions. Allows USDA, Commerce, or Interior to deem alternative arrangements for a project to be in compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) during emergency drought conditions if immediate implementation is necessary to address: (1) human health and safety, or (2) a specific and imminent loss of agriculture production upon which an identifiable region depends for 25% or more of its tax revenue used to support public services. Sets forth requirements concerning: (1) development of drought plans; (2) operation of the Delta Cross Channel Gates; (3) the averaging period of the Delta Export/Inflow ratio pursuant to California State Water Resources Control Board decision D1641; (4) use of groundwater resources, implementation of offsite upstream projects in the Delta and upstream of the Sacramento River and San Joaquin basins, management of reverse flow in the OMR, and actions to expedite CVP water transfers; (5) a program to allow certain agricultural, refuge, municipal, and industrial water service contractors to reschedule water provided for under CVP contracts from one year to the next; and (6) implementation of the Modified Lower American River Flow Management Standard to improve water supply reliability for CVP American River water contractors and resource protection in the lower American River during consecutive dry years under current and future demand and climate change conditions. Repeals the San Joaquin River Restoration Settlement Act and the related settlement. Deems certain fish and game requirements to be satisfied by the existence of a warm water fishery in the San Joaquin River that has an environment suitable for species of fish other than salmon and trout. TITLE IV--CALFED STORAGE FEASIBILITY STUDIES Establishes deadlines for water storage feasibility studies concerning specified dams and reservoirs under Calfed Bay-Delta Authorization Act. Requires Interior, if it finds the Temperance Flat Reservoir Project on the Upper San Joaquin River to be feasible, to manage land recommended in the Bakersfield Field Office, Record of Decision and Approved Resource Management Plan (dated December 2014) for designation under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, regardless of whether Interior submits any official recommendation to Congress. Allows Reclamation to partner or enter into an agreement on certain water storage projects identified in the Water Supply Reliability and Environmental Improvement Act with local joint powers authorities formed pursuant to state law by irrigation districts and other local water districts and local governments within the applicable hydrologic region. Authorizes Interior to carry out feasible projects, but prohibits federal funds from being used for construction. TITLE V--WATER RIGHTS PROTECTIONS Directs Interior to confer with the CDFW on potential impacts to any consistency determination for operations of the SWP resulting from the implementation of this Act. Requires Interior, in the operation of the CVP, to adhere to California laws governing water rights priorities and honor water rights senior to those held by the United States for operation of the CVP, regardless of the source of priority, including any appropriative water rights initiated prior to December 19, 1914. Requires Interior to ensure that actions taken to comply with environmental laws do not: (1) result in the involuntary reduction of water supply or fiscal impacts to recipients of water from either the SWP or the United States, or (2) cause redirected adverse water supply or fiscal impacts to those within the Sacramento River or San Joaquin River watersheds or the SWP service area. Directs Interior, in the operation of the CVP, to allocate water provided for irrigation purposes to existing CVP agricultural water service contractors within the Sacramento River Watershed in compliance with specified allocation percentages. Makes Interior's allocations subject to: (1) the priority of individuals or entities with Sacramento River water rights, (2) the U.S. obligation to make a substitute supply of water available to the San Joaquin River Exchange Contractors, and (3) Interior's obligation to make water available to managed wetlands pursuant to the Central Valley Project Improvement Act. Declares that Interior's allocation authority shall not be deemed to: (1) modify any provision of a water service contract that addresses municipal and industrial water shortage policies; (2) affect or limit Interior's authority to adopt, modify, or implement municipal and industrial water shortage policies; (3) affect allocations to CVP municipal and industrial contractors, including the utilization of such allocations as primary water sources for such contractors for purposes of calculating municipal and industrial water shortages; or (4) result in the involuntary reduction in contract water allocations to individuals or entities with contracts to receive water from the Friant Division. Requires Interior to develop and implement a program to allow existing CVP agricultural water service contractors within the Sacramento River Watershed to reschedule water, provided for under their water service contracts, from one year to the next. Declares that nothing in this Act preempts or modifies any existing obligation of the United States under federal reclamation law to operate the CVP in conformity with state law, including established water rights priorities. TITLE VI--MISCELLANEOUS Includes the Kettleman City Community Services District within the CVP's authorized service area. Requires Interior to enter a long-term contract with such district for the delivery of up to 900 acre-feet of CVP water for municipal and industrial use, limited to the minimal quantity necessary to meet immediate needs if local supplies or SWP allocations are insufficient. Amends the Central Valley Project Improvement Act to establish an advisory board to make recommendations to the Secretary of the Interior regarding expenditures from the Central Valley Project Restoration Fund. Sets forth requirements concerning: (1) the accounting of CVP water credited to the quantity of CVP yield, and (2) implementation of an updated plan to increase the yield of the CVP by the amount dedicated to fish and wildlife purposes. Prohibits Interior and Commerce from distinguishing between natural-spawned and hatchery-spawned or otherwise artificially propagated strains of a species in making any determination under the ESA that relates to any anadromous or pelagic fish species that resides in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta or tributary rivers. Directs Interior to negotiate with interested local water and power providers to transfer ownership, control, and operation of the CVP's New Melones Unit to interested local water and power providers in California. Directs Reclamation, in carrying out the climate change adaptation program, to expand opportunities and expedite assessments, with nonfederal partners, of risks to the water supply of sub-basins and watersheds within major Reclamation river basins. Requires Reclamation to ensure timely decision and expedited implementation of adaptation and mitigation strategies developed through the special study process. Makes nonfederal partners responsible for 100% of the special study costs. Prohibits Interior, in operation of the CVP's Trinity River Division, from making releases from Lewiston Dam in excess of the volume for each water-year type (i.e., critically dry, dry, normal, wet, extremely wet) required by Interior's record of decision in the Trinity River Mainstem Fishery Restoration Final Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report dated December 2000. Restricts the definition of "anadromous fish" under the Central Valley Project Improvement Act to mean only native stocks of salmon (including steelhead) and sturgeon that were present in the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers as of October 30, 1992, and that ascend those rivers and their tributaries to reproduce after maturing in San Francisco Bay or the Pacific Ocean. TITLE VII--WATER SUPPLY PERMITTING ACT Water Supply Permitting Coordination Act Establishes Reclamation as the lead agency for purposes of coordinating all reviews, analyses, opinions, statements, permits, licenses, or other approvals or decisions (reviews) required under federal law to construct qualifying projects (defined as new surface water storage projects in the states covered under the Act of June 17, 1902, and Acts supplemental to and amendatory of that Act on lands administered by Interior or USDA, exclusive of any easement, right-of-way, lease, or any private holding). Directs Reclamation: (1) upon receipt of an application for a qualifying project, to identify any federal agency that may have jurisdiction over a required review; and (2) to notify such agency that it has been designated as a cooperating agency unless the agency notifies Reclamation that the agency has no jurisdiction or authority over the project, has no expertise or information relevant to the project or any associated review, or does not intend to submit comments other than in cooperation with Reclamation. Requires each cooperating agency to submit to Reclamation: (1) a time frame for completing the agency's authorizing responsibilities, (2) all environmental review material produced in the course of carrying out activities required under federal law consistent with the project schedule, and (3) all relevant project data. Allows a state in which a qualifying project is being considered to choose to: (1) participate as a cooperating agency; and (2) make subject to the processes of this title all state agencies that have jurisdiction over the project, that are required to conduct or issue a review, or that are required to make a determination on issuing a permit, license, or approval for the project. Lists as Reclamation's principal responsibilities under this title: (1) to serve as the point of contact for applicants, state agencies, Indian tribes, and others regarding proposed qualifying projects; (2) to coordinate preparation of unified environmental documentation that will serve as the basis for all federal decisions necessary to authorize the use of federal lands for qualifying projects; and (3) to coordinate all federal agency reviews necessary for the development and construction of qualifying projects. Authorizes Interior to accept and expend funds contributed by a nonfederal public entity to expedite the evaluation of a permit of that entity related to a qualifying project. Directs Interior to ensure that all final permit decisions are made available to the public, including on the Internet. TITLE VIII--BUREAU OF RECLAMATION PROJECT STREAMLINING Bureau of Reclamation Project Streamlining Act Sets forth provisions governing feasibility studies for water projects initiated by Interior under the Reclamation Act of 1902 (project studies). Requires a project study initiated after enactment of this title to: (1) result in the completion of a final feasibility report within three years; (2) have a maximum federal cost of $3 million; and (3) ensure that personnel from the local project area, region, and Reclamation's headquarters levels concurrently conduct the required review. Sets forth factors for extending such time line for complex projects. Requires Interior, within 90 days after the initiation of a project study, to: (1) initiate the process for completing reviews, including environmental reviews, required to be completed as part of such study; (2) convene a meeting of federal, tribal, and state agencies required to act; and (3) provide information that will enable required reviews and analyses to be conducted by other agencies in a thorough and timely manner. Directs Interior to: (1) expedite the completion of any ongoing project study initiated before the enactment of this title; and (2) proceed directly to preconstruction planning, engineering, and design of a project that it determines is justified. Sets forth requirements applicable to: (1) project studies initiated after enactment of this title for which an environmental impact statement is prepared under NEPA; (2) other project studies initiated before such enactment for which an environmental review process document is prepared under NEPA; and (3) any project study for the development of a nonfederally owned and operated surface water storage project for which Interior determines there is a demonstrable federal interest and that is located in a river basin where other Reclamation water projects are located, that will create additional water supplies that support Reclamation water projects, or that will become integrated into the operation of Reclamation water projects. Requires Interior to: annually prepare a list of all such studies that do not have adequate funding for study completion; develop and implement a coordinated environmental review process for the development of such studies; identify early all federal, state, and local government agencies and Indian tribes that may have jurisdiction and that may be required to act, which the federal lead agency shall invite to become participating or cooperating agencies; issue guidance regarding the use of programmatic approaches to carry out the environmental review process; and establish an electronic database and issue reporting requirements to make publicly available the status and progress with respect to compliance with applicable NEPA requirements and other action required for a project study. Sets forth the authorities and responsibilities of the joint lead agency, which may be a project sponsor, and the federal lead agency in the environmental review process, including: (1) the preparation and use of environmental documents; (2) establishing a plan for coordinating public and agency participation; (3) working with cooperating and participating agencies to identify and resolve issues that could delay process completion or result in the denial of any approval required for the project study; and (4) establishing, upon request, memoranda of agreement with the project sponsor, Indian tribes, and state and local governments to carry out the early coordination activities. Requires a federal lead agency to serve in that capacity for the entirety of all nonfederal projects that will be integrated into a larger system owned, operated, or administered by Reclamation. Directs Interior, upon determining that a project can be expedited by a nonfederal sponsor and that there is a demonstrable federal interest in expediting the project, to advance it as a nonfederal project. Requires a federal jurisdictional agency to complete any required approval or decision for the environmental review process on an expeditious basis. Provides for a reduction of funds for such an agency that fails to render such a decision by a specified deadline. Directs Interior to: (1) survey the use by Reclamation of categorical exclusions in projects since 2005 and propose a new categorical exclusion for a category of activities if merited, and (2) establish a program to measure and report on progress made toward improving and expediting the planning and environmental review process. Requires Interior to develop and submit annually a Report to Congress on Future Water Project Development that identifies: (1) the costs and benefits of, the nonfederal interests associated with, and the support for project reports, proposed project studies, and proposed modifications to authorized water projects and project studies that are related to Reclamation's missions and authorities, that require specific congressional authorization, that have not been congressionally authorized, that have not been included in any previous annual report, and that, if authorized, could be carried out by Reclamation; and (2) any project study that was expedited under this title. Specifies surface water storage, rural water supply, wastewater, and groundwater projects to be included in such studies and reports. TITLE IX--ACCELERATED REVENUE, REPAYMENT, AND SURFACE WATER STORAGE ENHANCEMENT Accelerated Revenue, Repayment, and Surface Water Storage Enhancement Act Directs Interior to convert certain existing water service contracts between the United States and water users' associations to repayment contracts to allow for prepayment of such contracts, upon the request of the contractor. Specifies the manner of conversion and the terms and conditions of prepayment. Requires a specified percentage of certain receipts generated from prepayment of contracts under this title, beyond amounts necessary to cover the amount of receipts forgone from scheduled payments under current law for the 10-year period following the enactment of this title, to be directed to the Reclamation Surface Water Storage Account. Requires the Secretary to allocate amounts in such Account to fund the construction of surface water storage for: increased municipal and industrial water supply; agricultural floodwater, erosion, and sedimentation reduction; agricultural drainage improvements; agricultural irrigation; increased recreation opportunities; and reduced adverse impacts to fish and wildlife from water storage or diversion projects within watersheds associated with water storage projects funded under this Act. TITLE X--SAFETY OF DAMS Amends the Reclamation Safety of Dams Act of 1978 to authorize Interior, subject to a feasibility study, to develop additional project benefits (including additional conservation storage capacity) through the construction of new or supplementary works when it exercises its authority to modify Reclamation dams and related facilities to preserve their structural safety, provided that: (1) the additional project benefits will promote more efficient management of water and water-related facilities, (2) the feasibility study is authorized under the Federal Water Project Recreation Act of 1965, and (3) the costs are allocated to the authorized purposes of the structure and repaid consistent with federal reclamation law. TITLE XI--WATER RIGHTS PROTECTION Water Rights Protection Act Prohibits Interior and USDA from: conditioning or withholding the issuance, renewal, amendment, or extension of any permit, approval, license, lease, allotment, easement, right-of-way, or other land use or occupancy agreement (permit) on the limitation or encumbrance of any water right or the transfer of any water right to the United States or any other designee or on any other impairment of any water right under state law by federal or state action; requiring any water user (including a federally recognized Indian tribe) to apply for or acquire a water right in the name of the United States under state law as a condition of such a permit; asserting jurisdiction over groundwater withdrawals or impacts on groundwater resources, unless consistent with state groundwater resource laws, regulations, and policies; or infringing on the rights and obligations of a state in evaluating, allocating, and adjudicating state waters originating on or under, or flowing from, land owned or managed by the federal government.
United States · United States Congress · 17 June 2015
Safeguarding America's Future and Environment Act or the SAFE Act This bill requires the President to establish an interagency National Fish, Wildlife, and Plants Climate Adaptation Strategy Joint Implementation Working Group to adopt the National Fish, Wildlife, and Plants Climate Adaptation Strategy (released March 26, 2013) to protect, manage, and conserve fish, wildlife, and plants to maintain the inherent resilience and adaptability of fish, wildlife, and plants to withstand the ongoing and expected effects of extreme weather and climate change. Each federal agency must integrate the elements of the strategy that relate to conservation, management, and protection of fish, wildlife, and plants into agency plans, environmental reviews, and programs. The Department of the Interior must establish a National Climate Change and Wildlife Science Center to assess and develop scientific information, tools, strategies, and techniques to support the Working Groups and other interested parties in addressing the effects of extreme weather and climate change on fish, wildlife, and plants. Interior must establish an Advisory Committee on Climate Change and Natural Resource Sciences to advise the working group on the state of the science regarding the effects of extreme weather and climate change on fish, wildlife, and plants and strategies and mechanisms for fish, wildlife, and plants adaptation. To be eligible to receive funding under the bill, the states (including the District of Columbia, Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands) must submit to Interior and the Department of Commerce for review and approval a state fish, wildlife, and plant adaptation plan that details efforts to address the effects of climate change on fish, wildlife, and plants and coastal areas.
United States · United States Congress · 17 June 2015
Safeguarding America's Future and Environment Act or the SAFE Act This bill requires the President to establish an interagency National Fish, Wildlife, and Plants Climate Adaptation Strategy Joint Implementation Working Group to adopt the National Fish, Wildlife, and Plants Climate Adaptation Strategy (released March 26, 2013) to protect, manage, and conserve fish, wildlife, and plants to maintain the inherent resilience and adaptability of fish, wildlife, and plants to withstand the ongoing and expected effects of extreme weather and climate change. Each federal agency must integrate the elements of the strategy that relate to conservation, management, and protection of fish, wildlife, and plants into agency plans, environmental reviews, and programs. The Department of the Interior must establish a National Climate Change and Wildlife Science Center to assess and develop scientific information, tools, strategies, and techniques to support the Working Groups and other interested parties in addressing the effects of extreme weather and climate change on fish, wildlife, and plants. Interior must establish an Advisory Committee on Climate Change and Natural Resource Sciences to advise the working group on the state of the science regarding the effects of extreme weather and climate change on fish, wildlife, and plants and strategies and mechanisms for fish, wildlife, and plants adaptation. To be eligible to receive funding under the bill, the states (including, the District of Columbia, Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands) must submit to Interior and the Department of Commerce for review and approval a state fish, wildlife, and plant adaptation plan that details efforts to address the effects of climate change on fish, wildlife, and plants and coastal areas.
United States · United States Congress · 12 June 2015
This bill prohibits the National Science Foundation from obligating any amounts for the Polar Learning and Responding Climate Change Educational Partnership. (The Partnership uses novel educational approaches to engage adult learners and inform public understanding and response to climate change.)
United States · United States Congress · 4 June 2015
Hold Accountable and Lend Transparency on Campus Sexual Violence Act or the HALT Campus Sexual Violence Act This bill amends the Department of Education Organization Act to require the Department of Education (ED) to make publicly available on its website: a list of the institutions of higher education (IHEs) under investigation, sanctions or investigation findings, and a copy of program reviews and resolution agreements entered into with ED or the Department of Justice (DOJ), under title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (Title IX) or title IV of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; the letter terminating the ED's monitoring of such agreements; and a list of the IHEs under investigation, and a copy of the program reviews, sanctions or investigation findings, and resolution agreements entered into with ED or DOJ, under the provisions of the Higher Education Act of 1965 known as the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act (Clery Act). ED may impose a civil penalty on an IHE that has violated a law under the jurisdiction of its Office for Civil Rights. The bill amends the Clery Act to direct ED to develop a biennial sexual violence climate survey and include statistics from such survey in the annual campus security report provided to current and prospective students and employees. An individual may allege a violation of the Clery Act in a judicial proceeding. The maximum penalty for substantially misrepresenting the number, location, or nature of the crimes required to be reported under the Clery Act is increased. The IHE's annual statement of its policy regarding domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking must: use simple and understandable language and clear formatting; be made available and posted on its public website and in conspicuous places in and around student housing and other campus buildings; be provided to each student group, team, or organization that has a specified connection to the IHE or is known by the IHE to act on an unaffiliated basis; and ensure that each of those groups distributes a copy of such policy to each of its members or applicants for membership. ED and DOJ are directed to create a joint interagency Campus Sexual Violence Task Force.
United States · United States Congress · 20 May 2015
Regional Infrastructure Accelerator Act of 2015 This bill authorizes the Department of the Treasury to establish a regional infrastructure accelerator program to provide grants to regional infrastructure accelerators to establish and administer a process for developing the priorities of, and acquiring financing for, covered infrastructure projects. A "regional infrastructure accelerator" is defined as a multi-jurisdictional organization dedicated to provide technical assistance, financing options, and resources for covered infrastructure projects within the represented jurisdictions. A "covered infrastructure project" is as an infrastructure project sponsored by a state, local, or regional public entity that involves the construction, consolidation, alteration, or repair of rail, bus, or public transportation facilities or equipment, highway facilities (including bridges and tunnels), airports, port or marine facilities and equipment, pipelines, inland waterways, intermodal facilities and equipment, water treatment and solid waste disposal facilities, storm water management systems, dams and levees, and facilities or equipment for energy transmission, distribution, or storage. From applications received, Treasury shall select five regional infrastructure accelerators from geographically diverse regions to receive initial grants. A regional infrastructure accelerator shall use such a grant to: assess regional approaches to advancing innovative investment in covered infrastructure projects; develop strategies for transparency in the analysis of such projects to ensure protection of the public interest, for the bundling of smaller scale and rural projects into a larger transaction for investment, and for reducing transaction costs; facilitate the creation of a catalog of covered infrastructure projects available for investment; and analyze and apply project procurement methods. Treasury shall review reports submitted by such accelerators and select four of them to receive subsequent grants. A selected accelerator may use such subsequent grant to make subgrants to public entities for covered infrastructure predevelopment costs, which may include project planning, feasibility studies, economic assessments, cost-benefit analyses, public benefit studies, design and engineering, financial planning, permitting, environmental review, assessment of the impacts on the area, workforce and wages and benefits, assessment of infrastructure vulnerability and resilience to the impacts of climate change and other risks, and public outreach and community engagement.
United States · United States House of Representatives · 13 May 2015
United States · United States Congress · 13 May 2015
Fairness for Fallen Officers Act of 2015 Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to include a climate-related injury (including hypothermia, heatstroke, and hyperthermia) sustained by a public safety officer who engaged in a situation involving exposure to extreme environmental conditions while on duty as a personal injury for which death benefits or benefits for permanent and total disability shall be provided.
United States · United States Congress · 12 May 2015
Ending Corporal Punishment in Schools Act of 2015 Amends the General Education Provisions Act to prohibit the Department of Education (ED) from providing education funding to any educational agency or institution that allows school personnel to inflict corporal punishment upon a student as a form of punishment or to modify undesirable behavior. Requires each state to submit a plan to ED, within 18 months of this Act's enactment and every third year thereafter, that describes how the state eliminates the use of corporal punishment in schools and makes school personnel and parents aware of its policies and procedures for doing so. Authorizes ED to award three-year grants to states and, through them, competitive subgrants to local educational agencies (LEAs) to assist them in improving school climate and culture by implementing school-wide positive behavior supports. Requires grant and subgrant funds to be used for professional training, technical assistance, research, and outreach regarding positive behavior supports. Requires LEAs to ensure that private school personnel can participate, on an equitable basis, in activities supported by such funds. Authorizes ED to allocate funds to the Department of the Interior to carry out such activities with regard to schools operated or funded by such Department. Directs ED to conduct a national assessment to determine compliance with this Act's requirements and identify best practices regarding positive behavior support professional training programs. Gives Protection and Advocacy Systems the authority provided under the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act of 2000 to investigate, monitor, and enforce this Act's protections for students.
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 2015
Wasteful EPA Programs Elimination Act of 2015 This bill terminates all existing grant programs of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), its National Clean Diesel Campaign, and its environmental justice programs. The EPA may not establish new grant programs. Federal funds may not be used by the EPA: to implement any ozone standard promulgated after this bill's enactment date; to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from mobile sources, or from fossil fuel-fired electric utility generating units; for the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program; for the Global Methane Initiative; for the Climate Resilience Fund; for the Climate Resilience Evaluation Awareness Tool; for the Green Infrastructure Program; for the Climate Ready Water Utilities Initiative; or for climate research at the EPA's Office of Research and Development. The EPA must: (1) discontinue operation and maintenance of its field offices and activities carried out through those offices, and (2) dispose of or lease any underutilized property.
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 2015
Condemns the murder of Boris Nemtsov and the climate of fear, hatred, and impunity that surrounds this and other political murders in Russia. Offers condolences to the family, friends, and colleagues of Boris Nemtsov. Expresses solidarity with the people of Russia who are struggling against great odds to build a freer, more just, and prosperous future. Reaffirms the U.S. commitment to support Russia's democratic opposition. Calls on: the President to make greater use of the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe to invoke the Moscow Mechanism and conduct an international investigation into Boris Nemtsov's murder, and the government of Russia to establish a Commission of Inquiry consistent with U.N. guidelines and to cooperate with any international investigation or assessment of Boris Nemtsov's murder.
United States · United States Congress · 22 April 2015
Climate Change Education Act This bill declares that the evidence for human-induced climate change is overwhelming and undeniable. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) must establish a Climate Change Education Program to: broaden the understanding of human-induced climate change, possible consequences, and potential solutions; apply the latest scientific and technological discoveries to provide learning opportunities to people of all ages; conduct a national information campaign to help people understand and promote implementation of new technologies, programs, and incentives related to energy conservation, renewable energy, and greenhouse gas reduction; and inform the public of impacts to human health and safety as a result of climate change. NOAA must establish a grant program for climate change education. This grant program must be included in the Program.
United States · United States Congress · 22 April 2015
Climate Solutions Act of 2015 This bill amends the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 by directing the Department of Energy (DOE) to promulgate regulations that require the percentage of electric energy generated from renewable sources that is sold at the retail level to increase each year beginning in 2020 so that in 2050 and each subsequent year, the percentage is at least 80%. DOE must also promulgate regulations that set cumulative energy savings targets for retail electric energy and natural gas suppliers that require each supplier to secure annual savings that are achieved through end-use efficiency improvements at customer facilities. For electric energy suppliers, the targets must increase from .25% of sales in 2018 to 1.5% of sales in 2023 and each year thereafter through 2028. For natural gas suppliers, the target must increase from .25% of sales in 2018 to .5% of sales in 2023 and each year thereafter through 2028. DOE must allow suppliers to achieve the targets through a market-based trading system. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must promulgate annual emission reduction targets for each of 2030 through 2050 to ensure that U.S. greenhouse gas emissions: (1) in 2035 are at least 40% below those in 1990, and (2) in 2050 are at least 80% below those in 1990. The EPA must promulgate final regulations to implement those targets within 7 years and review them at least every 5 years thereafter.
United States · United States Congress · 21 April 2015
It is the sense of the House of Representatives that the United States should not be a signatory to any protocol to, or other agreement regarding, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change of 1992 which would: mandate new commitments to limit or reduce greenhouse gas emissions for the Annex I Parties unless the protocol or agreement also mandates new specific scheduled commitments to limit or reduce greenhouse gas emissions for Non-Annex I Parties within the same compliance period, not ensure that all parties to the agreement reduce an equal amount of greenhouse gas emissions at an equivalent rate within the same compliance period, result in serious harm to the U.S. economy, and not adequately protect U.S. intellectual property rights.
United States · United States House of Representatives · 15 April 2015
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 2015
Recognizes: (1) the disparate impacts of climate change on women and the efforts of women globally to address it, and (2) the need for balanced participation of men and women in climate change adaptation and mitigation efforts. Encourages the use of gender-sensitive frameworks in developing climate change policies. Affirms Congress's commitment to: (1) support women who are particularly vulnerable to prepare for and adapt to climate change impacts, including a commitment to increase education and training opportunities for women to develop local resilience plans to address the effects of climate change; (2) empower women in the planning, design, implementation, and evaluation of climate change strategies; and (3) include women in economic development planning, policies, and practices that directly improve conditions that result from climate change. Encourages the President to: (1) integrate a gender approach in all U.S. policies and programs that are globally related to climate change, and (2) ensure that those policies and programs support women globally to prepare for and adapt to climate change.
United States · United States Congress · 19 March 2015
American Energy Renaissance Act of 2015 Amends the Natural Gas Act regarding natural gas exports to exclude from the expedited application and approval process any nation subject to sanctions or trade restrictions imposed by the United States. Amends the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA) to repeal the authority of the President to restrict exports of coal, petroleum products, natural gas, or petrochemical feedstocks, and related materials or equipment. Amends the Mineral Leasing Act (MLA) to repeal limitations on oil exports. Amends the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) to repeal limitations on export of Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) oil or gas. Declares without force or effect a specified regulation and the limitation placed upon crude oil exports under the Export Administration Act of 1979. Directs the Bureau of Industry and Security of the Department of Commerce to grant licenses to export crude oil except in certain circumstances. Directs the Secretary of the Army, acting through the Chief of Engineers, to take into account solely domestic environmental impacts when completing an environmental impact statement for either coal export terminals or for coal transportation to such terminals. Prescribes an authorization and certification process for certain energy infrastructure projects pertaining to a cross-border segment of either an oil or natural gas pipeline or an electric transmission facility for the import or export of oil or the transmission of electricity to or from Canada or Mexico. Amends the Natural Gas Act to state that no order of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is required to authorize the export or import of any natural gas to or from Canada or Mexico. Amends the Federal Power Act to repeal the prerequisite that, before transmitting electric energy to a foreign country, a person must first obtain authorization from FERC. Declares that a presidential permit shall not be required for a certain pipeline application by TransCanada Corporation to the Department of State for the northern portion of the Keystone XL pipeline from the Canadian border to the border between the states of South Dakota and Nebraska. Prescribes guidelines for leasing on the OCS. Deems the Draft Proposed Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program 2010-2015, issued by the Secretary of the Interior, to be the final oil and gas leasing program under the OCSLA for FY2015-FY2020, except with regard to specified lease sales. Directs the Secretary to: (1) conduct a lease sale every 270 days in each OCS planning area for which there is a commercial interest in purchasing federal oil and gas leases, and (2) conduct Lease Sale 220 for areas offshore of Virginia. Permits a state, in lieu of being subject to a federal oil and gas leasing system, to elect to control energy development and production on available federal land in accordance with certain state leasing, permitting and regulatory programs prescribed by this Act. Amends the MLA to require the Secretary of the Interior (Secretary) to offer for sale all nominated acreage not previously made available for lease, unless an individual lease should not be granted. Prescribes guidelines governing leasing certainty for onshore lease sales. Permits the Secretary to extend for up to 2 periods of 15 days each the initial 30-day period after receipt of an application for deciding whether to issue a drilling permit. Deems an application approved if a decision has not been made within 60 days after the application is received. Imposes a $5,000 documentation fee upon each administrative protest concerning a lease, right-of-way, or application for a drill permit. Directs the Secretary to establish a Federal Permit Streamlining Project in each field office of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) with responsibility for permitting energy projects on federal land. Considers final regulations governing oil shale management published by BLM on November 18, 2008, to satisfy all legal and procedural requirements. Directs the Secretary to implement them and the oil shale leasing program without any other administrative action necessary. Considers the Approved Resource Management Plan Amendments/Record of Decision for Oil Shale and Tar Sands Resources to Address Land Use Allocations in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming, and the Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement of the Bureau of Land Management (Plan), as in effect on November 17, 2008, to satisfy all legal and procedural requirements. Directs the Secretary to implement, without additional administrative action, the oil shale leasing program and regulations authorized in such Plan. Directs the Secretary to: (1) hold a lease sale offering an additional 10 parcels for lease for research, development, and demonstration of oil shale resources, under certain terms; and (2) hold at least five separate commercial lease sales of at least 25,000 acres considered to have the most potential for oil shale development in areas nominated through public comment. Amends the Naval Petroleum Reserves Production Act of 1976 to direct the Secretary to conduct a competitive oil and gas leasing program that includes at least one lease sale annually in areas most likely to produce commercial quantities of oil and natural gas in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPRA) for each of calendar years 2015 through 2024. Directs the Secretary to: (1) facilitate and ensure permits for all surface development activities, including pipeline and road construction; (2) issue an integrated activity plan from among the nonadopted alternatives in the NPRA Integrated Activity Plan Record of Decision, and (3) issue an environmental impact statement for issuance of oil and gas leases in the NPRA. Declares without force or effect the NPRA Integrated Activity Plan Record of Decision, dated February 21, 2013, including the integrated activity plan and environmental impact statement to which it refers. Directs the Secretary to: (1) promulgate regulations to ensure that the Department of the Interior is supporting development of oil and gas leases in the NPRA, and (2) complete a comprehensive assessment of all technically recoverable NPRA fossil fuel resources. Declares that this Act does not authorize issuance of a lease under the MLA to persons designated for the imposition of specified sanctions. Amends the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to declare certain federal actions inapplicable to an endangered or threatened species, unless: (1) the Secretary has reported to Congress economic costs and benefits of the application; and (2) the application is authorized expressly for that species in a law enacted by Congress after the date of enactment of this Act. Directs the Secretary to implement a competitive leasing program for the exploration, development, and production of the oil and gas resources on the Coastal Plain of Alaska. Amends the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act to repeal the prohibition against leasing or other development leading to production of oil and gas from the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). Deems oil and gas leasing programs and activities authorized by this Act to be in compliance with the purposes of ANWR, so that no further findings or decisions are required to implement this determination. States that the Secretary is neither required to identify nonleasing alternative courses of action, nor to analyze their environmental effects. Deems compliance with this Act satisfies all requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) governing analysis and consideration of the environmental effects of proposed leasing. Authorizes the Secretary, after consultation with the state of Alaska, the city of Kaktovik, and the North Slope Borough, to designate as a Special Area up to 45,000 acres of the Coastal Plain. Directs the Secretary to designate the Sadlerochit Spring area as a Special Area. Authorizes the Secretary to exclude any Special Area from leasing. Permits directional (horizontal) drilling in a Special Area. Restricts to the terms of this Act the Secretary's authority to close lands within the Coastal Plain to oil and gas leasing, exploration, development, and production. Instructs the Secretary to offer: (1) tracts with the greatest potential for hydrocarbon discovery; (2) at least 50,000 acres for lease within 22 months after enactment of this Act; and (3) at least an additional 50,000 acres at 6-, 12-, and 18-month intervals thereafter. Authorizes the Secretary to grant to the highest responsible qualified bidder in a lease sale, upon payment of a bonus, any lands to be leased on the Coastal Plain. Prescribes a "no significant adverse effect" standard to govern Coastal Plain activities. Directs the Secretary to develop a facility consolidation plan for the exploration, development, production, and transportation of Coastal Plain oil and gas resources. Directs the Secretary to: (1) issue rights-of-way and easements across the Coastal Plain for the transportation of oil and gas produced under leases under this Act, (2) convey to the Kaktovik Inupiat Corporation the surface estate of specified lands, and (3) convey to the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation a certain subsurface estate to which it is entitled pursuant to a specified agreement. Amends the Energy Policy Act of 1992 to allow either the Secretary, an affected Indian tribe, or a certified third-party appraiser under contract with the Indian tribe, to appraise Indian land or trust assets involved in a transaction requiring the Secretary's approval. Deems approved any appraisal conducted by an Indian tribe or by such an appraiser if the Secretary neither approves nor disapproves it within 60 days after it is received. Gives tribes the option of waiving such appraisals if they give the Secretary an unambiguous indication of tribal intent, including an express waiver of any claims they might have against the United States as a consequence of forgoing the appraisal. States that, when sustainability is federally required, any activities or resources conducted or produced pursuant to either a tribal resource management plan or a Secretary-approved integrated resource management plan shall be deemed to be sustainable. Amends the Long-Term Leasing Act to authorize the Navajo Nation to enter into 99-year leases on their restricted lands without the Secretary's approval, if they are executed under tribal regulations approved by the Secretary. Permits the Navajo Nation to enter into mineral resource leases on restricted lands without the Secretary's approval if they are executed under approved tribal regulations not to exceed 25 years. Permits a renewal option for one additional term not exceeding 25 years. Declares inapplicable, except with the express consent of Indian beneficiaries, any rule promulgated by the Secretary regarding hydraulic fracturing in oil and gas development or production on land either held in trust or restricted status for Indians. Grants to the states sole authority to promulgate or enforce requirements for hydraulic fracturing within their boundaries. Subjects federal land upon which hydraulic fracturing is performed to the law of the state in which the land is located. Prohibits award of legal fees to any nongovernmental organization related to an action that: (1) prevents, terminates, or reduces access to or the production of specified enterprises; (2) diminishes the private property value of a property owner; or (3) eliminates or prevents jobs. Prohibits the Secretary from establishing a master leasing plan as part of any guidance the Secretary issues. Declares certain existing master leasing plans without force or effect. Requires the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), upon request of a state or the governing body of an Indian tribe, to enter into a prescribed refinery permitting agreement to streamline the permitting process using a specified systematic, interdisciplinary multimedia approach. Prescribes deadlines for approval or disapproval of consolidated permits for new refineries and for expansion of existing ones. Amends the Clean Air Act to phase out the renewable fuel standard. Repeals greenhouse gas regulation. Redefines air pollutant to exclude carbon dioxide, water vapor, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, or sulfur hexafluoride. Declares that the following acts neither authorize nor require the regulation of climate change or global warming: (1) the Clean Air Act, (2) the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, (3) the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, (4) the Endangered Species Act of 1973, and (5) the Solid Waste Disposal Act. Declares void and without force or effect certain proposed EPA rules regarding greenhouse gas emissions and carbon pollution. Prohibits both the Secretary of the Army, acting through the Chief of Engineers, and EPA from: (1) finalizing the proposed rule entitled "Definition of Waters of the United States Under the Clean Water Act," or (2) using that rule (or substantially similar guidance) as the basis for any rulemaking or decision regarding either the scope or enforcement of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act. Makes violation of the latter prohibition grounds for vacation of the final rule, the decision, or enforcement action. Requires the Administrator, before proposing or finalizing any regulation, rule, or policy, to first analyze and describe its direct and indirect net and gross impact upon employment in the United States. Establishes the Debt Freedom Fund to pay down the national debt of the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 19 March 2015
Supportive School Climate Act of 2015 Amends the school improvement program under part A of title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to require each state that wants to use a part A grant to provide students with positive behavioral interventions and support to submit a plan to the Secretary of Education that describes specified steps it will take to: (1) create a positive school climate for all students, (2) improve engagement for disconnected youths, (3) create disciplinary policies that are fair and work to keep students in school, and (4) enable those who are removed from school to resume their education upon returning to school. Requires each school receiving school improvement funds to provide parents with the number of incidents, disaggregated by specified student subgroups, of school violence, bullying, drug abuse, alcohol abuse, and certain disciplinary actions involving its students. Requires the school improvement plan of each local educational agency (LEA) to describe how the LEA will support positive behavior interventions and supports by: (1) establishing parental notification requirements for specified disciplinary actions that remove students from instruction, (2) establishing systems to engage families and community members with the school in meaningful and sustained ways, and (3) establishing best practices for a school conduct and discipline code that: protects students and staff from harm; provides students with constructive opportunities to learn from their mistakes without being excluded from school; fosters a positive learning community by providing a continuum of interventions, supports, and strategies within a tiered prevention framework; keeps students in school; and shows mindful consideration of the negative impacts that may result from a student's involvement with the criminal justice system. Amends part D (Prevention and Intervention Programs for Children and Youth Who are Neglected, Delinquent, or At-Risk) of title I of the ESEA to require states applying for part D grants to establish: procedures to ensure that students who have been placed in the juvenile justice system are promptly re-enrolled in secondary school or placed in the re-entry programs that best meet their educational and social needs, procedures to facilitate the transfer of the credits that such students earn during placement, and opportunities for such students to participate in postsecondary and career pathways. Requires LEAs receiving part D subgrants to describe the activities they will undertake to facilitate the transition of youths from the juvenile justice system into their schools or, as appropriate, into postsecondary and career and technical education programs. Requires correctional facilities receiving part D funds to: (1) develop an initial educational services transition plan for entering youths, and (2) consult with LEAs upon a youth's discharge to coordinate educational services so as to minimize disruption to the youth's achievement. Requires the Secretary, under part A (Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities) of title IV of the ESEA, to provide to states, LEAs, and other recipients of part A funding technical assistance for activities that may include developing comprehensive, evidence-based professional development and training programs for relevant school staff and contractors to improve school safety and climate for students and staff.
United States · United States Congress · 18 March 2015
Supportive School Climate Act of 2015 Amends the school improvement program under part A of title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to require each state that wants to use a part A grant to provide students with positive behavioral interventions and support to submit a plan to the Secretary of Education that describes specified steps it will take to: (1) create a positive school climate for all students, (2) improve engagement for disconnected youths, (3) create disciplinary policies that are fair and work to keep students in school, and (4) enable those who are removed from school to resume their education upon returning to school. Requires each school receiving school improvement funds to provide parents with the number of incidents, disaggregated by specified student subgroups, of school violence, bullying, drug abuse, alcohol abuse, and certain disciplinary actions involving its students. Requires the school improvement plan of each local educational agency (LEA) to describe how the LEA will support positive behavior interventions and supports by: (1) establishing parental notification requirements for specified disciplinary actions that remove students from instruction, (2) establishing systems to engage families and community members with the school in meaningful and sustained ways, and (3) establishing best practices for a school conduct and discipline code that: protects students and staff from harm; provides students with constructive opportunities to learn from their mistakes without being excluded from school; fosters a positive learning community by providing a continuum of interventions, supports, and strategies within a tiered prevention framework; keeps students in school; and shows mindful consideration of the negative impacts that may result from a student's involvement with the criminal justice system. Amends part D (Prevention and Intervention Programs for Children and Youth Who are Neglected, Delinquent, or At-Risk) of title I of the ESEA to require states applying for part D grants to establish: procedures to ensure that students who have been placed in the juvenile justice system are promptly re-enrolled in secondary school or placed in the re-entry programs that best meet their educational and social needs, procedures to facilitate the transfer of the credits that such students earn during placement, and opportunities for such students to participate in postsecondary and career pathways. Requires LEAs receiving part D subgrants to describe the activities they will undertake to facilitate the transition of youths from the juvenile justice system into their schools or, as appropriate, into postsecondary and career and technical education programs. Requires correctional facilities receiving part D funds to: (1) develop an initial educational services transition plan for entering youths, and (2) consult with LEAs upon a youth's discharge to coordinate educational services so as to minimize disruption to the youth's achievement. Requires the Secretary, under part A (Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities) of title IV of the ESEA, to provide to states, LEAs, and other recipients of part A funding technical assistance for activities that may include developing comprehensive, evidence-based professional development and training programs for relevant school staff and contractors to improve school safety and climate for students and staff.
United States · United States Congress · 18 March 2015
American Energy Renaissance Act of 2015 Amends the Natural Gas Act regarding natural gas exports to exclude from the expedited application and approval process any nation subject to sanctions or trade restrictions imposed by the United States. Amends the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA) to repeal the authority of the President to restrict exports of coal, petroleum products, natural gas, or petrochemical feedstocks, and related materials or equipment. Amends the Mineral Leasing Act (MLA) to repeal limitations on oil exports. Amends the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) to repeal limitations on export of Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) oil or gas. Declares without force or effect a specified regulation and the limitation placed upon crude oil exports under the Export Administration Act of 1979. Directs the Bureau of Industry and Security of the Department of Commerce to grant licenses to export crude oil except in certain circumstances. Directs the Secretary of the Army, acting through the Chief of Engineers, to take into account solely domestic environmental impacts when completing an environmental impact statement for either coal export terminals or for coal transportation to such terminals. Prescribes an authorization and certification process for certain energy infrastructure projects pertaining to a cross-border segment of either an oil or natural gas pipeline or an electric transmission facility for the import or export of oil or the transmission of electricity to or from Canada or Mexico. Amends the Natural Gas Act to state that no order of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is required to authorize the export or import of any natural gas to or from Canada or Mexico. Amends the Federal Power Act to repeal the prerequisite that, before transmitting electric energy to a foreign country, a person must first obtain authorization from FERC. Declares that a presidential permit shall not be required for a certain pipeline application by TransCanada Corporation to the Department of State for the northern portion of the Keystone XL pipeline from the Canadian border to the border between the states of South Dakota and Nebraska. Prescribes guidelines for leasing on the OCS. Deems the Draft Proposed Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program 2010-2015, issued by the Secretary of the Interior, to be the final oil and gas leasing program under the OCSLA for FY2015-FY2020, except with regard to specified lease sales. Directs the Secretary to: (1) conduct a lease sale every 270 days in each OCS planning area for which there is a commercial interest in purchasing federal oil and gas leases, and (2) conduct Lease Sale 220 for areas offshore of Virginia. Permits a state, in lieu of being subject to a federal oil and gas leasing system, to elect to control energy development and production on available federal land in accordance with certain state leasing, permitting and regulatory programs prescribed by this Act. Amends the MLA to require the Secretary of the Interior (Secretary) to offer for sale all nominated acreage not previously made available for lease, unless an individual lease should not be granted. Prescribes guidelines governing leasing certainty for onshore lease sales. Permits the Secretary to extend for up to 2 periods of 15 days each the initial 30-day period after receipt of an application for deciding whether to issue a drilling permit. Deems an application approved if a decision has not been made within 60 days after the application is received. Imposes a $5,000 documentation fee upon each administrative protest concerning a lease, right-of-way, or application for a drill permit. Directs the Secretary to establish a Federal Permit Streamlining Project in each field office of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) with responsibility for permitting energy projects on federal land. Considers final regulations governing oil shale management published by BLM on November 18, 2008, to satisfy all legal and procedural requirements. Directs the Secretary to implement them and the oil shale leasing program without any other administrative action necessary. Considers the Approved Resource Management Plan Amendments/Record of Decision for Oil Shale and Tar Sands Resources to Address Land Use Allocations in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming, and the Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement of the Bureau of Land Management (Plan), as in effect on November 17, 2008, to satisfy all legal and procedural requirements. Directs the Secretary to implement, without additional administrative action, the oil shale leasing program and regulations authorized in such Plan. Directs the Secretary to: (1) hold a lease sale offering an additional 10 parcels for lease for research, development, and demonstration of oil shale resources, under certain terms; and (2) hold at least five separate commercial lease sales of at least 25,000 acres considered to have the most potential for oil shale development in areas nominated through public comment. Amends the Naval Petroleum Reserves Production Act of 1976 to direct the Secretary to conduct a competitive oil and gas leasing program that includes at least one lease sale annually in areas most likely to produce commercial quantities of oil and natural gas in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPRA) for each of calendar years 2015 through 2024. Directs the Secretary to: (1) facilitate and ensure permits for all surface development activities, including pipeline and road construction; (2) issue an integrated activity plan from among the nonadopted alternatives in the NPRA Integrated Activity Plan Record of Decision, and (3) issue an environmental impact statement for issuance of oil and gas leases in the NPRA. Declares without force or effect the NPRA Integrated Activity Plan Record of Decision, dated February 21, 2013, including the integrated activity plan and environmental impact statement to which it refers. Directs the Secretary to: (1) promulgate regulations to ensure that the Department of the Interior is supporting development of oil and gas leases in the NPRA, and (2) complete a comprehensive assessment of all technically recoverable NPRA fossil fuel resources. Declares that this Act does not authorize issuance of a lease under the MLA to persons designated for the imposition of specified sanctions. Amends the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to declare certain federal actions inapplicable to an endangered or threatened species, unless: (1) the Secretary has reported to Congress economic costs and benefits of the application; and (2) the application is authorized expressly for that species in a law enacted by Congress after the date of enactment of this Act. Directs the Secretary to implement a competitive leasing program for the exploration, development, and production of the oil and gas resources on the Coastal Plain of Alaska. Amends the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act to repeal the prohibition against leasing or other development leading to production of oil and gas from the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). Deems oil and gas leasing programs and activities authorized by this Act to be in compliance with the purposes of ANWR, so that no further findings or decisions are required to implement this determination. States that the Secretary is neither required to identify nonleasing alternative courses of action, nor to analyze their environmental effects. Deems compliance with this Act satisfies all requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) governing analysis and consideration of the environmental effects of proposed leasing. Authorizes the Secretary, after consultation with the state of Alaska, the city of Kaktovik, and the North Slope Borough, to designate as a Special Area up to 45,000 acres of the Coastal Plain. Directs the Secretary to designate the Sadlerochit Spring area as a Special Area. Authorizes the Secretary to exclude any Special Area from leasing. Permits directional (horizontal) drilling in a Special Area. Restricts to the terms of this Act the Secretary's authority to close lands within the Coastal Plain to oil and gas leasing, exploration, development, and production. Instructs the Secretary to offer: (1) tracts with the greatest potential for hydrocarbon discovery; (2) at least 50,000 acres for lease within 22 months after enactment of this Act; and (3) at least an additional 50,000 acres at 6-, 12-, and 18-month intervals thereafter. Authorizes the Secretary to grant to the highest responsible qualified bidder in a lease sale, upon payment of a bonus, any lands to be leased on the Coastal Plain. Prescribes a "no significant adverse effect" standard to govern Coastal Plain activities. Directs the Secretary to develop a facility consolidation plan for the exploration, development, production, and transportation of Coastal Plain oil and gas resources. Directs the Secretary to: (1) issue rights-of-way and easements across the Coastal Plain for the transportation of oil and gas produced under leases under this Act, (2) convey to the Kaktovik Inupiat Corporation the surface estate of specified lands, and (3) convey to the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation a certain subsurface estate to which it is entitled pursuant to a specified agreement. Amends the Energy Policy Act of 1992 to allow either the Secretary, an affected Indian tribe, or a certified third-party appraiser under contract with the Indian tribe, to appraise Indian land or trust assets involved in a transaction requiring the Secretary's approval. Deems approved any appraisal conducted by an Indian tribe or by such an appraiser if the Secretary neither approves nor disapproves it within 60 days after it is received. Gives tribes the option of waiving such appraisals if they give the Secretary an unambiguous indication of tribal intent, including an express waiver of any claims they might have against the United States as a consequence of forgoing the appraisal. States that, when sustainability is federally required, any activities or resources conducted or produced pursuant to either a tribal resource management plan or a Secretary-approved integrated resource management plan shall be deemed to be sustainable. Amends the Long-Term Leasing Act to authorize the Navajo Nation to enter into 99-year leases on their restricted lands without the Secretary's approval, if they are executed under tribal regulations approved by the Secretary. Permits the Navajo Nation to enter into mineral resource leases on restricted lands without the Secretary's approval if they are executed under approved tribal regulations not to exceed 25 years. Permits a renewal option for one additional term not exceeding 25 years. Declares inapplicable, except with the express consent of Indian beneficiaries, any rule promulgated by the Secretary regarding hydraulic fracturing in oil and gas development or production on land either held in trust or restricted status for Indians. Grants to the states sole authority to promulgate or enforce requirements for hydraulic fracturing within their boundaries. Subjects federal land upon which hydraulic fracturing is performed to the law of the state in which the land is located. Prohibits award of legal fees to any nongovernmental organization related to an action that: (1) prevents, terminates, or reduces access to or the production of specified enterprises; (2) diminishes the private property value of a property owner; or (3) eliminates or prevents jobs. Prohibits the Secretary from establishing a master leasing plan as part of any guidance the Secretary issues. Declares certain existing master leasing plans without force or effect. Requires the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), upon request of a state or the governing body of an Indian tribe, to enter into a prescribed refinery permitting agreement to streamline the permitting process using a specified systematic, interdisciplinary multimedia approach. Prescribes deadlines for approval or disapproval of consolidated permits for new refineries and for expansion of existing ones. Amends the Clean Air Act to phase out the renewable fuel standard. Repeals greenhouse gas regulation. Redefines air pollutant to exclude carbon dioxide, water vapor, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, or sulfur hexafluoride. Declares that the following acts neither authorize nor require the regulation of climate change or global warming: (1) the Clean Air Act, (2) the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, (3) the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, (4) the Endangered Species Act of 1973, and (5) the Solid Waste Disposal Act. Declares void and without force or effect certain proposed EPA rules regarding greenhouse gas emissions and carbon pollution. Prohibits both the Secretary of the Army, acting through the Chief of Engineers, and EPA from: (1) finalizing the proposed rule entitled "Definition of Waters of the United States Under the Clean Water Act," or (2) using that rule (or substantially similar guidance) as the basis for any rulemaking or decision regarding either the scope or enforcement of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act. Makes violation of the latter prohibition grounds for vacation of the final rule, the decision, or enforcement action. Requires the Administrator, before proposing or finalizing any regulation, rule, or policy, to first analyze and describe its direct and indirect net and gross impact upon employment in the United States. Establishes the Debt Freedom Fund to pay down the national debt of the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 2015
Climate Change Health Protection and Promotion Act Directs the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to: (1) publish and implement a national strategic action plan to assist health professionals in preparing for and responding to the impact of climate change on public health in the United States and other nations, particularly developing nations; (2) revise the plan periodically to reflect new information; (3) establish a permanent science advisory board; and (4) contract with the National Research Council and the Institute of Medicine to assess the need for health professionals to prepare for and respond to the impact of climate change on public health.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 2015
Coastal State Climate Change Planning Act This bill amends the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 to direct the Department of Commerce to establish a coastal climate change adaptation planning and response program which shall assist coastal states with the voluntary development of coastal climate change adaptation plans in order to: (1) minimize contributions to climate change, and (2) prepare for and reduce the negative consequences that may result from climate change in the coastal zone. The program must also provide financial and technical assistance and training to implement the plans through enforceable state policies. Commerce may make grants to coastal states for developing the plans and supporting projects that implement strategies contained in approved plans. Commerce must promote and encourage the use of National Estuarine Research Reserves as sites for pilot or demonstration projects carried out with the grants.