Tamar Hallerman
GHG Monitor
7/19/13
IN CONGRESS
The House Energy and Commerce Committee approved a bill this week that would bar the Environmental Protection Agency from finalizing any major energy-related regulations if the Secretary of Energy deems they could have “significant adverse effects” on the economy. The committee approved the “Energy Consumers Relief Act” on a 25-18 party-line vote July 17. The measure would require EPA to submit a report to Congress detailing a rule’s cost and impacts on energy prices and employment ahead of promulgation if it has an industry compliance cost of more than $1 billion. The Secretary of Energy would then be required to determine how each rule would impact energy prices, fuel diversity and local electric reliability and decide whether the regulation could have “significant adverse effects” on the economy.
