Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act of 2007 - Title I: Capping Greenhouse Gas Emissions - Subtitle A: Tracking Emissions - (Sec. 1101) Requires the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to: (1) establish a federal greenhouse gas (GHG) registry; (2) establish an advisory body that is broadly representative of private enterprise, agriculture, environmental groups, and state, tribal, and local governments to guide the development and management of the Registry; and (3) publish information contained in the Registry on the Internet, except information vital to national security or confidential business information that would cause significant competitive harm (provides that information relating to GHG emissions shall not be considered to be confidential business information.)
Defines "GHG emissions" to mean emissions of a GHG, including: (1) stationary combustion source emissions from combustion of fuels in stationary equipment; (2) process emissions from chemical or physical processes other than combustion; (3) fugitive emissions from equipment leaks; and (4) biogenic emissions resulting from biological processes, such as anaerobic decomposition, nitrification, and denitrification.
Requires each affected facility to submit periodic reports to the Administrator for inclusion in the Registry, including annual and quarterly data on: (1) the quantity and type of fossil fuels that are extracted, produced, refined, imported, exported, or consumed; (2) the quantity of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons, sulfur hexafluoride, nitrous oxide, carbon dioxide that has been captured and sequestered and other GHGs generated, produced, imported, exported, or consumed; (3) the quantity of electricity generated, imported, exported, or consumed and the quantity of GHGs emitted when the imported, exported, or consumed electricity was generated; (4) the aggregate quantity of all GHG emissions, including stationary combustion source emissions, process emissions, and fugitive emissions; (5) GHG emissions expressed in metric tons of each GHG emitted and in the quantity of carbon dioxide equivalents of each GHG emitted; (6) sources of GHG emissions; and (7) a certification regarding the accuracy and completeness of reported data.
Requires the Administrator to verify the completeness and accuracy of the report before including the information in the Registry. Requires each affected facility to provide information sufficient for the Administrator to: (1) verify that its fossil fuel and GHG emission data have been completely and accurately reported; and (2) ensure the submission or retention, for five-years, of data sources, information on internal control activities, information on assumptions used in reporting emissions and fuels, and uncertainty analyses.
Defines "affected facility" to mean: (1) a covered facility; (2) another facility that emits a GHG; and (3) at the option of the Administrator, a vehicle fleet with emissions of more than 10,000 carbon dioxide equivalents in any year, assuming no double-counting of emissions. Excludes from such a term any facility that: (1) is not a covered facility; (2) is owned or operated by a small business; and (3) emits fewer than 10,000 carbon dioxide equivalents in any year.
Defines "covered facility" to mean any facility that: (1) uses more than 5,000 tons of coal in a year; (2) is a natural gas processing plant, produces natural gas in Alaska, or imports natural gas (including liquefied natural gas); (3) produces or imports petroleum- or coal-based liquid or gaseous fuel, the combustion of which will emit a group I GHG, assuming no capture and sequestration of that gas; (4) produces for sale or distribution or imports, in any year, more than 10,000 carbon dioxide equivalents of chemicals that are group I GHG, assuming no capture and destruction or sequestration of that gas; or (5) emits as a byproduct of the production of hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) more than 10,000 carbon dioxide equivalents of HFCs in any year.
Defines "facility" to mean: (1) buildings, structures, or installations located on contiguous or adjacent properties of an entity in the United States; and (2) at the option of the Administrator, any activity or operation that emits 10,000 carbon dioxide equivalents in any year and that has a technical connection with the activities carried out at a facility, but that is not conducted or located on the facility's property.
Defines "group I GHG" to mean carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, sulfur hexafluoride, or a perfluorocarbon. Defines "group II GHG" to mean HFCs.
Authorized the Administrator to determine: (1) whether certain sources at a facility should be considered to be eligible for a de minimis exemption from such reporting requirements; and (2) the level of GHGs emitted that would qualify for such exemption. Requires each affected facility to submit: (1) required annual data by March 31, 2009, for a baseline period of 2004 through 2007; and (2) quarterly data no later than 60 days after the end of the applicable quarter for 2008 and each subsequent year.
Authorizes the Administrator to waive reporting requirements for specific facilities if the Administrator determines that sufficient and equally or more reliable data are available under other provisions of law.
Requires the Administrator, if information is not provided for an affected facility, to: (1) prescribe methods to estimate emissions for the facility reflecting the highest emission levels that may reasonably have occurred; and (2) take appropriate enforcement action.
(Sec. 1106) Authorizes the Administrator to bring civil action in U.S. district court against the owner or operator of an affected facility that fails to comply with reporting requirements. Subjects any person violating reporting requirements to a civil penalty of no more than $25,000 per day of each violation.
Subtitle B: Reducing Emissions - (Sec. 1201) Requires the Administrator to establish a separate quantity of emission allowances (the authorization to emit carbon dioxide equivalents of GHG) for each of 2012-2050. Provides that an emission allowance is not a property right.
Sets forth emission allowances for 2012-2050, with a declining cap on GHGs.
Requires the owner or operator a covered facility to submit to the Administrator an emission allowance, an offset allowance awarded to electric load-serving entities, or an international emission allowance for each carbon dioxide equivalent of a: (1) group I GHG that was emitted by the use of coal during the preceding year; (2) group I GHG that will, assuming no capture and sequestration, be emitted from the use of any petroleum- or coal-based liquid or gaseous fuel that was produced or imported during the preceding year; (3) group I GHG that was produced for sale or distribution or imported during the preceding year; (4) group II GHG that was emitted as a byproduct of HCFC production; and (5) group I GHG that will, assuming no capture and destruction or sequestration, be emitted from the use of natural gas that was processed, imported, or produced and not reinjected into the field or from the use of natural gas liquids that were processed or imported during the preceding year.
Requires the Administrator to: (1) retire emission allowances immediately upon their receipt; or (2) determine whether the owners and operators of all covered facilities are in full compliance with requirements concerning emission allowances for the preceding year by July 1.
Requires the Administrator to establish and distribute feedstock credits to entities that have used a petroleum- or coal-based product, natural gas, or a natural gas liquid as feedstock during 2012-2050 for the quantity of allowances that were submitted for that feedstock, minus the number of carbon dioxide equivalents of GHG that the facility released to the atmosphere from the feedstock.
Requires the Administrator to establish and distribute to: (1) owners or operators of covered facilities that are subject to submission requirements and that have geologically sequestered carbon dioxide during any of years 2012-2050 quantities of emission allowances equal to the number of metric tons of carbon dioxide that the owners or operators sequestered; and (2) entities that have destroyed GHGs during any of such years a quantity of emission allowances equal to the number of carbon dioxide equivalents of GHG destroyed.
Sets forth excess emission penalties. Requires the Administrator to deposit penalty receipts into the Treasury.
Makes owners or operators of covered facilities that fail to submit emission allowances due by the deadline for any year liable to offset the excess emissions by an equal quantity during the following year (or such longer period as the Administrator may prescribe). Requires such owners and operators to submit a plan to achieve the required offsets to the Administrator and to the states in which the covered facilities are located. Requires such plan to be considered to be a condition of the operating permit for the covered facility. Requires the Administrator to deduct emission allowances equal to the excess emissions from each facility. Requires the owner or operator of any facility liable for a penalty and offset to: (1) pay the penalty; (2) provide such plan; and (3) offset excess emissions.
Requires the Administrator, within two years, to expand the definition of "covered facility" to ensure the inclusion of all GHG emissions from natural gas emitted, flared during production or processing, or sold for use in the United States.
Title II: Managing and Containing Costs Efficiently - Subtitle A: Trading - (Sec. 2101) Allows the lawful holder of an emission allowance to sell, exchange, transfer, submit for compliance, or retire such allowance.
(Sec. 2102) Prohibits the privilege of purchasing, holding, selling, exchanging, and retiring emission allowances from being restricted to owners and operators of covered facilities.
(Sec. 2103) Requires the Administrator to promulgate regulations to implement the provisions relating to emission allowances within 18 months, including regulations governing the transfer of allowances.
Subtitle B: Banking - (Sec. 2202) Provides that the passage of time shall not, by itself, cause an emission allowance to be retired or otherwise diminish its compliance value.
Subtitle C: Borrowing - (Sec. 2301) Requires the Administrator, within three years, to promulgate regulations under which the owner or operator of a covered facility may: (1) borrow emission allowances for a specific future year from the Administrator; and (2) submit borrowed emission allowances to the Administrator in satisfaction of up to 15% of its compliance obligation for a prior year. Prohibits allowances from being borrowed for any year that is more than five years earlier. Sets forth provisions governing the repayment of borrowed allowances.
Subtitle D: Offsets - (Sec. 2401) Requires the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the Chief of the Natural Resources Conservation Service, the Chief of the Forest Service, the Administrator of the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service, and land-grant colleges and universities, to establish an outreach initiative to provide information to agricultural producers, agricultural organizations, foresters, and other landowners about opportunities under this Act to earn new revenue. Authorizes such initiative to include the creation and development of regional marketing centers or coordination with existing centers.
Requires the Secretary of Agriculture, within two years, to publish a handbook on achieving, reporting, registering, and marketing offsets for use by agricultural producers, agricultural cooperatives foresters, and other landowners, offset buyers, and other stakeholders. Requires the Secretary to ensure that the handbook: (1) is electronically available; (2) includes electronic forms and calculation tools to facilitate the petition process for offset project approval; and (3) is distributed widely through land-grant colleges and universities.
(Sec. 2402) Authorizes the owner or operator of a covered entity, beginning with 2012, to satisfy up to 15% of its total allowance submission requirement by submitting offset allowances.
Requires the Administrator, within 18 months and in conjunction with the Secretary of Agriculture, to promulgate regulations authorizing the issuance and certification of offset allowances. Requires such regulations to: (1) require the owner of a project to establish a project baseline and register emissions under the Federal Greenhouse Gas Registry for offsets from sources of GHGs not linked to agricultural, forestry, or other land use-related projects; (2) authorize the issuance and certification of offset allowances for GHG emission reductions below the project baseline; and (3) ensure that those offsets represent a real, verifiable, additional, permanent, and enforceable reduction in GHG emissions or increases in sequestration.
Requires such regulations for offsets from certain agricultural, forestry, and other land use-related projects to: (1) ensure that those offsets represent real, verifiable, additional, permanent, and enforceable reductions in GHG emissions or increases in biological sequestration; (2) specify the types of offset projects eligible to generate offset allowances; and (3) ensure permanence of offsets by mitigating and compensating for reversals.
Provides that initial ownership of an offset alliance lies with a project developer, unless otherwise specified in a legally-binding contract or agreement.
Authorizes such offset allowances to be sold, traded, or transferred on the conditions that: (1) the offset allowances have not expired or been retired or canceled; and (2) liability and responsibility for mitigating and compensating for reversals of registered offset allowances is specified.
(Sec. 2403) Limits offset allowances from agricultural, forestry, and other land use related projects to those allowances achieving an offset of one or more GHGs by a method other than a reduction of combustion of GHG-emitting fuel. Sets forth categories of eligible offset projects.
(Sec. 2404) Authorizes a project developer to submit a petition for offset project approval following the effective date of the domestic offset requirements. Prohibits developers from registering or issuing offset allowances until such approval is received and the emission reductions or sequestrations supporting the offset allowances have occurred.
Requires a monitoring and quantification plan to be used to monitor, quantify, and discount reductions in GHG emissions or increases in sequestration. Requires a monitoring and quantification plan to be: (1) completed for all offset projects prior to offset project initiation; and (2) retained by the project developer for the duration of the offset project.
Requires the Administrator, in conjunction with the Secretary of Agriculture, to specify the required components of a monitoring and quantification plan.
Requires the Administrator, in reviewing petitions, to seek to exclude each activity that undermines the integrity of the offset program, such as the conversion or clearing of land, or marked change in management regime, in anticipation of offset project initiation.
Sets forth requirements for GHG initiation certification. Requires: (1) a determination to be made as to whether, as a result of activities or behavior inconsistent with trading permitted under this Act, a significant deviation exists between the average annual GHG flux or carbon stock and the GHG flux or carbon stock for a given year; (2) the Administrator, in the case of a significant deviation, to adjust the number of allowances awarded; and (3) the Administrator to develop standardized methods for accounting for additionality and uncertainty, estimating the baseline, and discounting for leakage for each eligible offset project and to require such leakage be subtracted from reductions in GHG emissions or increases in sequestration attributable to a project.
Defines "additionality" to mean the extent to which reductions in GHG emissions or increases in sequestration are incremental to business as usual, measured as the difference with baseline GHG fluxes of an offset project. Defines "leakage" to mean: (1) a significant unaccounted increase in GHG emissions caused by an offset project that produces an accounted reduction in GHG emissions; or (2) a significant unaccounted decrease in sequestration caused by an offset project that results in an accounted increase in sequestration.
(Sec. 2405) Authorizes offset allowances to be claimed for net emission reductions or increases in sequestration annually, after accounting for any necessary discounts, by submitting a verification report for an offset project to the Administrator. Sets forth regulations concerning third-party verification of offset projects and related reporting requirements. Requires the Administrator to establish mechanisms for the appeal and review of determinations of whether offsets in verification reports satisfy such requirements.
(Sec. 2406) Directs the Administrator to require the submission of a reversal certification for each offset project on an annual basis following the registration of offset allowances. Requires a reversal certification to state: (1) whether any unmitigated reversal relating to the offset project has occurred in the preceding year; and (2) the quantity of each unmitigated reversal. Requires the Administrator to: (1) declare invalid all offset allowances issued for any offset project that has undergone a complete reversal; and (2) render invalid offset allowances issued for the offset project in direct proportion to the degree of reversal in the case of an offset project that has undergone a partial reversal.
Places liability and responsibility for compensation of a reversal of a registered offset with the owner of the offset allowance. Provides for compensation for reversals.
Authorizes a project developer to cease participation in the domestic offset program on the condition that any registered allowances awarded for increases in sequestration have been compensated for by the developer through the submission of an equal number of offset and emission allowances.
(Sec. 2407) Requires the Administrator, within two years and in conjunction with the Secretary of Agriculture, to promulgate regulations governing the examination and auditing of offset allowances.
(Sec. 2408) Authorizes an offset project that commences operation on or after the effective date of such regulations to generate offset allowances. Authorizes the Administrator to allow for the transition into the Registry of offset projects and banked offset allowances that are registered under, or that meet the standards of, the Climate Registry, the Chicago Climate Exchange, the GHG CleanProjects Registry, or any other federal, state, or private reporting programs or registries if the Administrator determines that such other offset projects and banked offset allowances under those other programs or registries satisfy the applicable offset requirements. Makes an offset allowance that is expired, retired, or canceled under any other offset program, registry, or market ineligible for transition into the Registry.
(Sec. 2410) Requires the Administrator, in promulgating offset regulations, to act in conjunction with the Secretary of Agriculture to avoid or minimize adverse effects on human health or the environment resulting from the implementation of offset projects.
Requires the Administrator, within two years and in conjunction with the Secretary of Agriculture, to report to Congress on incentives, programs, or policies capable of fostering improvements to human health or the environment in conjunction with the implementation of offset projects.
Requires the Administrator, within 18 months and in conjunction with the Secretary of Agriculture, to promulgate regulations for the selection, use, and storage of native and nonnative plant materials to: (1) ensure native plant materials are given primary consideration, in accordance with applicable Department of Agriculture guidance for use of native plant materials; (2) prohibit the use of federal- or state-designated noxious weeds; and (3) prohibit the use of a species listed by a regional or state invasive plant council within the applicable region or state.
(Sec. 2411) Requires the Administrator, in conjunction with the Secretary of Agriculture, to review and revise offset regulations within five years and periodically thereafter.
(Sec. 2412) Requires the Administrator, by January 1, 2009, to establish new qualifying levels and requirements for Energy Star certification for retail carbon offsets that will become effective on January 1, 2010. Defines "retail carbon offset" to mean any carbon credit or carbon offset that can not be used in satisfaction of any mandatory compliance obligation under a regulatory system for reducing GHG emissions.
Subtitle E: International Emission Allowances - (Sec. 2501) Authorizes the owner or operator of a covered facility to satisfy up to 15% of its allowance submission requirement by submitting emission allowances obtained on a foreign GHG emissions trading market.
(Sec. 2502) Requires the Administrator, within two years and taking into consideration protocols adopted in accordance with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change on May 9, 1992, to promulgate regulations: (1) approving the use of emission allowances from such foreign GHG emissions trading markets; and (2) permitting the use of international emission allowances. Requires such regulations to require that, in order to be approved for use: (1) an emission allowance shall have been issued by a foreign country pursuant to a governmental program that imposes mandatory absolute tonnage limits on GHG emissions from that country or from industry sectors in that country; and (2) the governmental program be of comparable stringency to the program established by this Act.
(Sec. 2503) Requires the owner or operator of a covered facility who submits an international emission allowance to certify that the allowance has not been retired from use in the registry of the applicable foreign country.
Subtitle F: Carbon Market Efficiency Board - (Sec. 2601) Provides that the purposes of this subtitle are to: (1) ensure that the imposition of limits on GHG emissions will not significantly harm the U.S. economy; and (2) establish a Carbon Market Efficiency Board to ensure the implementation and maintenance of a stable, functioning, and efficient market in emission allowances.
(Sec. 2602) Establishes the Carbon Market Efficiency Board to: (1) promote such purposes; and (2) observe the national GHG emission market and evaluate periods during which the cost of emission allowances provided under federal law might pose significant harm to the economy. Requires the Board to submit to the President and Congress and publish on the Internet, quarterly, independent reports on: (1) the status of the emission allowance market; (2) the economic costs and benefits of the market, regional, industrial, and consumer responses to the market; (3) energy investment responses; (4) any corrective measures that should be carried out to relieve excessive net costs of the market; (5) plans to compensate for those measures to ensure that the long-term emission reduction goals of this Act are achieved; and (6) any instances and effects of actual or potential fraud on, or manipulation of, the market that the Board has identified.
(Sec 2603) Requires the Board to collect and analyze relevant market information to promote a full understanding of the dynamics of the emission allowance market. Designates information gathering as the primary activity of the Board during the initial two-year period of its operation. Requires the Board to assume authority to implement the cost-relief measures after such period.
Requires the Board to: (1) study other markets for tradable permits to emit covered GHGs; (2) submit and publish a report on the status of the market, specifically with respect to volatility and the average price of emission allowances during the initial two-year period; (3) carry out cost relief measures relating to an emission allowance market established by this Act if the Board determines such market poses a significant harm to the U.S. economy; and (4) increase the quantity of emission allowances that covered facilities may borrow from the prescribed allocations of the covered facilities for future years and take subsequent action if, during the initial two-year period of the market's operation, the Board determines that the average daily closing price of emission allowances during a 180-day period exceeds the upper range of the estimate of costs to the U.S. economy of limiting GHG emissions.
Requires the Board to submit to the President and Congress quarterly reports on the status of the emission allowance market and related issues.
(Sec. 2604) Authorizes the Board, after the expiration of the Board's initial two-year period of operation, to implement the following cost relief measures to ensure functioning, stable, and efficient markets for emission allowances: (1) increase the quantity of emission allowances that covered facilities may borrow from the prescribed allocations of the covered facilities for future years; (2) expand the period during which a covered facility may repay the Administrator for an emission allowance; (3) lower the interest rate at which an emission allowance may be borrowed; (4) increase the quantity of emission allowances obtained on a foreign GHG emissions trading market that the owner or operator of any covered facility may use to satisfy the allowance submission requirement of the covered facility on the condition that the Administrator has certified the market; (5) increase the quantity of offset allowances generated that the owner or operator of any covered facility may use to satisfy its total allowance submission requirement; and (6) expand the total quantity of emission allowances made available to all covered facilities at any given time by borrowing against the total allowable quantity of emission allowances to be provided for future years.
Requires the Board, on its determination to implement such a cost relief measure, to: (1) allow it to be used only during the applicable allocation year; (2) exercise it incrementally and only as needed to avoid significant economic harm during the applicable allocation year; (3) specify the terms of the relief to be achieved; (4) submit a report on the Board's actions and recommendations for the terms under which the measure should be authorized by Congress and carried out by federal entities; and (5) evaluate, at the end of the applicable allocation year, actions that need to be implemented during subsequent years to compensate for any measure carried out during the applicable allocation year.
Requires the Board to increase the quantity of emission allowances available for the applicable allocation year if the Board implements a cost relief measure that results in the expansion of borrowing of emission allowances and if the average daily closing price of emission allowances for the 180-day period beginning on the date on which borrowing is so expanded exceeds the upper range of the estimated costs of limiting GHG emissions. Requires such an increase to: (1) apply to all covered facilities; (2) be equal to no more than 5% of the total quantity of emission allowances otherwise available for the applicable allocation year; (3) remain in effect only for the applicable allocation year; and (4) specify the date for repayment by covered facilities that is no later than 15 years after the increase is provided.
Authorizes the Board to levy on owners and operators of covered facilities an assessment sufficient to pay the Board's estimated expenses and salaries.
(Sec. 2605) Requires the Director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to report to Congress by July 1, 2014, on the projected: (1) price range at which emission allowances are expected to trade during the two-year period of the initial GHG emission market; and (2) impact of that market on the U.S. economy.
Title III: Allocating and Distributing Allowances - Subtitle A: Auctions - (Sec. 3101) Requires the Administrator, within 180 days, to allocate 5% of the emission allowances established for 2012, 3% of the emission allowances established for 2013, and 1% of the emissions established for 2014 to the Climate Change Credit Corporation (CCCC) established by this Act.
(Sec. 3102) Requires the Administrator, by April 1, 2011, and annually through 2049, to allocate a percentage of emission allowances to CCCC for annual auctioning.
Subtitle B: Early Action - (Sec. 3201) Requires the Administrator, within two years, in recognition of actions taken since January 1, 1994, that resulted in verified and credible reductions of GHG emissions, to allocate to owners or operators of covered facilities and other facilities that emit GHGs: (1) 5% of the emission allowances established for 2012; (2) 4% of the emission allowances established for 2013; (3) 3% of the emission allowances established for 2014; (4) 2% of the emission allowances established for 2015; and (5) 1% of the emission allowances established for 2016.
(Sec. 3202) Requires the Administrator, within a year, to establish procedures and standards for distributing such emission allowances to owners and operators of covered facilities and other facilities that emit GHGs. Requires such procedures and standards to provide for consideration of verified and credible emission reductions registered before enactment of this Act under: (1) the Climate Leaders Program or any other voluntary GHG reduction program of the EPA and the Department of Energy (DOE); (2) the Voluntary Reporting of Greenhouse Gases Program of the Energy Information Administration; (3) state or regional GHG emission reduction programs that include systems for tracking and verifying the greenhouse gas emission reductions; and (4) voluntary entity programs that resulted in entity-wide reductions in GHG emissions.
Requires the Administrator, within four years, to distribute all emission allowances allocated for early action taken since 1994.
Subtitle C: States - (Sec. 3301) Requires the Administrator, by April 1, 2001, and annually through 2049, to allocate 2% of the Emission Allowance Account for the following calendar year among states that subject utilities that deliver gas or electricity in those states to regulations that: (1) automatically adjust the rates charged by such utilities to fully recover fixed costs of service without regard to whether actual sales are higher or lower than the forecast on which the tariffed rates were based; and (2) make cost-effective energy-efficiency expenditures by investor-owned natural gas or electric utilities at least as rewarding to their shareholders as power or energy purchases or expenditures on new energy supplies or infrastructure.
Requires the Administrator, by January 1, 2012, and annually through 2050, to allocate 1% of the Emission Allowance Account for the following year among states that are in compliance with the Energy Conservation and Production Act's national model building energy codes and standards.
(Sec. 3302) Requires the Administrator, by April 1, 2011, and annually through 2049, to allocate 2% of the Emission Allowance Account for the following year among states that have: (1) enacted statewide GHG emission reduction targets that are more stringent than the nationwide targets; and (2) imposed on covered facilities aggregate GHG emission limitations more stringent than those imposed under this Act.
(Sec. 3303) Requires the Administrator, by April 1, 2011, and annually through 2049, to allocate 5% of the Emission Allowance Account for the following year among states for: (1) mitigating impacts on low-income energy consumers; (2) promoting energy efficiency; (3) promoting investment in non-emitting electricity generation technology; (4) improving public transportation and passenger rail service and promoting reductions in vehicle miles traveled; (5) encouraging advances in energy technology that reduce or sequester GHG emissions; (6) addressing local or regional impacts of climate change; (7) collecting, evaluating, disseminating, and using information necessary for affected coastal communities to adapt to climate change; (8) mitigating obstacles to investment by new entrants in electricity generation markets and energy-intensive manufacturing sectors; (9) addressing local or regional impacts of local climate change policy; (10) mitigating impacts on energy-intensive industries in internationally competitive markets; (11) reducing hazardous fuels and preventing and suppressing wildland fire; (12) funding rural, municipal, and agricultural water projects that are consistent with the sustainable use of water resources; and (13) mitigating negative economic impacts as a result of global warming or new regulatory requirements as a result of this Act.
Provides for the distribution of allowances.
Requires a state to retire or use not less than 5% of its emission allowances for increasing recycling rates.
Requires the Administrator, within three years and in consultation with the Secretary of the Interior, to establish a program to: (1) deliver assistance to tribal communities within the United States that face disruption or dislocation as a result of global climate change; and (2) distribute 0.5% of the Emission Allowance Account for each year among tribal governments of such communities through 2050.
(Sec. 3304) Requires the Administrator, by April 1, 2011, and annually through 2049, to allocate 1% of the Emission Allowance Account for the following year among states for: (1) operating costs of state and municipal mass transit systems; (2) efforts to increase mass transit service and ridership; and (3) efforts to increase the efficiency of mass transit systems through the development, purchase, or deployment of innovative technologies that reduce emissions of GHGs. Provides for the use of such allowances.
Subtitle D: Electricity Consumers - (Sec. 3401) Requires the Administrator, by April 1, 2011, and annually through 2049, to allocate among load-serving entities 9% of the Emission Allowance Account for the following year. Defines "load-serving entity" to mean an entity: (1) that has an obligation to deliver electricity to retail consumers; and (2) whose rates and costs are regulated by a state agency, regulatory commission, municipality, or public utility district, except in the case of a registered electric cooperative. Provides for the distribution and use of such allowances. Requires proceeds from the sale of such allowances to be used to: (1) mitigate economic impacts on low- and middle-income energy consumers; and (2) promote energy efficiency on the part of energy consumers. Prohibits such entities from using such proceeds to provide rebates to consumers based on the quantity of electricity used. (Sets forth reporting requirements for load-serving entities that accept emission allowances.
Subtitle E: Natural Gas Consumers - (Sec. 3501) Requires the Administrator, by April 1, 2011, and annually through 2049, to allocate among natural gas local distribution companies 2% of the Emission Allowance Account for the following year for: (1) mitigating economic impacts on low- and middle-income energy consumers; and (2) promoting energy efficiency on the part of energy consumers. Provides for the distribution and use of such allowances. Prohibits such companies from using the proceeds from the sale of such allowances to provide rebates to consumers based on the quantity of natural gas used. Sets forth reporting requirements for companies that accept emission allowances.
Subtitle F: Bonus Allowances for Carbon Capture and Geological Sequestration - (Sec. 3601) Requires the Administrator, within three years, to: (1) establish a Bonus Allowance Account; and (2) allocate 4% of the emission allowances established for 2012-2030 to such Account.
(Sec. 3602) Requires a carbon capture and sequestration project, in order to be eligible to receive allowances, to: (1) sequester carbon dioxide capture from any unit for which allowances are allocated in a geological formation permitted by the Administrator for that purpose in accordance with part C of the Safe Drinking Water Act; and (2) have begun operations between January 1, 2008, and December 31, 2035. Sets forth emission performance standards for such projects.
Authorizes CCCC to adjust the emission performance standard for such a project for an electric generation unit that uses subbituminous coal, lignite, or petroleum coke in significant amounts.
(Sec. 3603) Provides for the distribution of allowances from the Bonus Allowance Accounts.
(Sec. 3604) Provides that a project may receive allowances only for: (1) the first ten years of operation; or (2) 2012-2021 if the unit covered by the project began operating before January 1, 2012.
Subtitle G: Domestic Agriculture and Forestry - (Sec. 3701) Requires the Administrator, by April 1, 2011, and annually through 2049, to allocate to the Secretary of Agriculture 5% of the Emission Allowance Account for use in achieving real, verifiable, additional, permanent, and enforceable reductions in GHG emissions and increases in GHG sequestration from the agriculture and forestry sectors of the U.S. economy. Requires the Secretary of Agriculture to report to Congress on the status of research on agricultural and forestry GHG management. Requires the President and the Secretary of Agriculture to initiate a program to conduct any additional research that is necessary. Provides for the distribution of such allowances.
Subtitle H: International Forest Protection - (Sec. 3803) Requires the Administrator, by April 1, 2011, and annually through 2049, to allocate and distribute 2.5% of the Emission Allowance Account for the following year for use in implementing forest carbon activities in other countries.
(Sec. 3804) Requires the Administrator, within two years, to promulgate eligibility requirements for forest carbon activities directed at reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation and at sequestration of carbon through restoration of forests and degraded land, afforestation, and improved forest management in other countries.
(Sec. 3805) Requires the Administrator to identify and periodically update: (1) a list of countries that have demonstrated capacity to participate in international forest carbon activities, have capped GHG emissions or otherwise established a national emission reference scenario based on historical data, and have commenced an emission reduction program for the forest sector; and (2) a list of such countries that have achieved national-level reductions of deforestation and degradation below a historical reference scenario and demonstrated those reductions using remote sensing technology that meets international standards.
Provides that a forest carbon activity, other than a reduction in deforestation or forest degradation, is eligible for distribution of emission allowances, subject to the quality criteria.
Requires the Administrator, with respect to countries that are not on such lists, to recognize forest carbon activities. Encourages the Administrator to identify other incentives to encourage developing countries to protect largely-intact native forests.
(Sec. 3806) Requires the Administrator to review international forest protection within three years and every five years thereafter.
Authorizes the Administrator, beginning 10 years after this Act's enactment, to apply a discount to the distribution of emission allowances to countries that, in the aggregate, account for more than 0.5% of the global GHG emissions and that have not capped those emissions, established emissions reference scenarios based on historical data, or otherwise reduced total forest emissions.
Subtitle I: Transition Assistance - (Sec. 3901) Requires the Administrator, by April 1, 2011, and annually through January 1, 2029, to allocate specified percentages of the Emission Allowance Account for the following year for transition assistance for: (1) fossil fuel-fired electric power generating facilities; (2) rural electric cooperatives; (3) owners and operators of energy intensive manufacturing facilities; (4) facilities that produce or import petroleum based fuel; and (5) HFC producers and importers. Provides for the distribution of such allowances and for requirements concerning the allowances of facilities that shut down.
(Sec. 3902) Requires the Administrator to set aside a quantity of emission allowances for distribution to owners and operators of new entrant fossil fuel-fired electric power generating facilities.
(Sec. 3903) Requires the Administrator to establish a pilot program for distributing 15% of the total number of emission allowances allocated for 2012-2029 to rural electric cooperatives in specified states. Provides for the distribution of allowances to other states. Sets forth program reporting requirements.
(Sec. 3904) Provides for the distribution of allowances available for allocation to energy-intensive manufacturing facilities among currently operating facilities.
Subtitle J: Reducing Methane Emissions from Landfills and Coal Mines - (Sec. 3907) Requires the Administrator, by April 1, 2011, and annually through 2049, to allocate 1% of the Emission Allowance Account for the following year to a program for achieving real, verifiable, additional, permanent, and enforceable reductions in emissions of methane from landfills and coal mines. Provides for the distribution of such allowances.
Title IV: Auctions and Uses of Auction Proceeds - Subtitle A: Funds - (Sec. 4101) Establishes in the Treasury: (1) the Energy Assistance Fund; (2) the Climate Change Worker Training Fund; (3) the Adaptation Fund; (4) the Climate Change and National Security Fund; (5) the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Emergency Firefighting Fund; (6) the Forest Service Emergency Firefighting Fund; and (7) the Climate Security Act Management Fund.
Subtitle B: Climate Change Credit Corporation - (Sec. 4201) Establishes the CCCC as a nonprofit corporation without stock, which shall not be considered to be an agency or establishment of the federal government.
(Sec. 4204) Requires the Comptroller General of the United States, annually beginning January 1, 2013, to review and audit each expenditure under this Title.
Subtitle C: Auctions - (Sec. 4301) Requires CCCC to begin auctioning its emission allowances within a year and to complete auctioning of all of its allowances by December 31, 2010. Requires the proceeds from such auctioning to be used to implement energy technology deployment programs.
Provides for CCCC's annual auctions and the distribution and use of the proceeds to the Bureau of Land Management Emergency Firefighting Fund, the Forest Service Emergency Firefighting Fund; the Climate Security Act Management Fund, and energy technology deployment programs.
Subtitle D: Energy Technology Deployment - (Sec. 4402) Requires CCCC to competitively award financial incentives in the technology categories of: (1) the production of electricity from new zero- or low-carbon generation; (2) the manufacture of high-efficiency consumer products; and (3) facility establishment or conversion by manufacturers and component suppliers of such technology.
Defines "zero- or low-carbon generation" to mean generation of electricity by an electric generation unit that: (1) emits no carbon dioxide into the atmosphere or is fossil-fuel fired and emits into the atmosphere no more than 250 pounds of carbon dioxide per megawatt-hour; and (2) was placed into commercial service after this Act's enactment.
(Sec. 4403) Provides for: (1) demonstration projects using advanced coal generation technology; and (2) large-scale geological carbon storage projects that store carbon dioxide captured from electric generation units.
Defines "advanced coal generation technology" to mean an advanced coal-fueled power plant technology that meets one of specified performance standards for limiting carbon dioxide emissions from an electric generation unit on an annual average basis. Authorizes CCCC to adjust such standards for a project for an electric generation unit that uses subbituminous coal, lignite, or petroleum coke in significant amounts.
(Sec. 4404) Requires CCCC to provide deployment incentives to encourage projects to domestically produce transportation fuels from cellulosic biomass, relying on different feedstocks in different U.S. regions. Requires such incentives to be provided on a competitive basis to projects that domestically produce fuels that: (1) meet U.S. fuel and emission specifications; (2) help diversify domestic transportation energy supplies; and (3) improve or maintain air, water, soil, and habitat quality and protect scarce water supplies. Authorizes such incentives to consist of: (1) loan guarantees for the construction of production facilities and supporting infrastructure; or (2) production payments through a reverse auction.
(Sec. 4405) Requires CCCC to provide facility conversion funding awards to automobile manufacturers and component suppliers to pay up to 30% of the costs of: (1) reequipping or expanding an existing manufacturing facility to produce qualifying advanced technology vehicles or qualifying components; and (2) engineering integration of qualifying vehicles and qualifying components. Requires awards to apply to: (1) facilities and equipment placed in service before January 1, 2030; and (2) engineering integration costs incurred after this Act's enactment. Limits the maximum amount of awards.
Prohibits CCCC from making such an award to manufacturers that are out of compliance with corporate average fuel economy standards. Requires manufacturers that receive such awards to certify that they are complying with specified employment standards.
Defines "advanced technology vehicle" to mean an electric vehicle, a fuel cell-powered vehicle, a hybrid or plug-in hybrid electric vehicle, or an advanced diesel light duty motor vehicle that meets: (1) the Tier II Bin 5 or a lower-numbered emission standard established under the Clean Air Act; (2) any new emission standard for fine particulate matter prescribed by the Administrator under that Act; and (3) a standard of at least 125% of the average base year combined fuel economy for vehicles of a substantially similar nature and footprint.
Defines "combined fuel economy" to mean: (1) the combined city-highway miles per gallon values as reported in accordance with federal regulation; and (2) in the case of an electric drive vehicle with the ability to recharge from an off-board source, the reported mileage using a petroleum equivalence factor for the off-board electricity (as defined by the Secretary of Energy).
(Sec. 4406) Requires CCCC to use specified percentages of funding to: (1) support demonstration projects using sustainable energy technology; and (2) provide financial incentives to facilitate the deployment of sustainable energy technology.
Subtitle E: Energy Consumers - (Sec. 4501) Requires specified percentages of funds deposited in the Energy Assistance Fund to be made available to the: (1) low-income home energy assistance program established under the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Act of 1981; (2) Weatherization Assistance Program for Low-Income Persons established under the Energy Conservation and Production Act; and (3) rural energy assistance program.
(Sec. 4502) Requires the Secretary of Energy to implement a program to provide financial assistance to promote the availability of reasonably-priced distributed electricity in off-grid rural regions in which electricity prices exceed 150% of the national average.
Subtitle F: Climate Change Worker Training Program - (Sec. 4603) Requires the Secretary of Labor to establish a climate change worker training program that: (1) creates a sustainable, comprehensive public program that provides quality training that is linked to jobs that are created through low-carbon energy, sustainable energy, and energy efficiency initiatives; (2) satisfies industry demand for a skilled workforce, supports economic growth, boosts the global competitiveness of the United States in expanding low-carbon energy, sustainable energy, and energy efficiency industries, and provides economic self-sufficiency and family-sustaining jobs for U.S. workers through quality training and placement in job opportunities in those industries; and (3) provides funds for federal and state industry-wide research, labor market information and labor exchange programs, and the development of federal- and state-administered training programs.
(Sec. 4604) Requires the Secretary of Labor, acting through the Bureau of Labor Statistics, to provide assistance to support national research to develop labor market data and to track future workforce trends resulting from energy-related initiatives.
Requires the Secretary to award competitive, national energy training partnership grants to enable entities to: (1) implement national training that leads to economic self-sufficiency; and (2) develop a low-carbon energy, sustainable energy, and energy efficiency industries workforce. Sets forth grant eligibility requirements and authorized grant activities.
Requires the Secretary to award competitive grants to enable states to administer: (1) labor market and labor exchange information programs; and (2) low-carbon energy, sustainable energy, and energy efficiency workforce development programs. Sets forth authorized grant activities and grant eligibility requirements.
(Sec. 4605) Applies provisions of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 concerning workforce investment system administration to programs carried out under the Climate Change Worker Training Program. Requires a labor organization, if it represents a substantial number of workers that are engaged in similar work or training in an area that is the same as the area that is proposed to be funded under such Program, to be provided an opportunity to be consulted and to submit comments in regard to such a proposal.
(Sec. 4606) Requires a specified percentage of the funds for the Climate Change Worker Training Program to be used for the University Programs within DOE to help U.S. universities and colleges stay at the forefront of science education and research and to assist universities in the operation of advanced energy research facilities and in the performance of other educational activities.
Requires the Secretary to provide technical assistance and funds for training directly to nonprofit employee organizations, voluntary emergency response organizations, and joint labor-management organizations that demonstrate experience in implementing and operating worker health and safety training and education programs.
Requires the Secretary of Labor, in cooperation with the Secretary of Energy, to promulgate regulations to: (1) implement a program to provide workforce training to meet the high demand for workers skilled in zero- and low-emitting carbon energy technologies and provide for related safety issues; (2) implement a fully validated electrical craft certification program, career and technology awareness at the primary and secondary education level, pre-apprenticeship career technical education for all zero- and low-emitting carbon energy technologies-related industrial skilled crafts, community college and skill center training for such technology technicians, development of construction management personnel for zero- and low-emitting carbon energy technology construction projects and regional grants for integrated zero- and low-emitting carbon energy technology workforce development programs; and (3) ensure the safety of workers in such careers.
Defines "qualifying zero- and low-emitting carbon energy" to mean any technology that has a rated capacity of at least 750 megawatts of power.
Subtitle G: Adaptation Program for Natural Resources in United States and Territories - (Sec. 4702) Requires funds deposited into the Adaptation Fund to be used to implement activities that assist fish and wildlife and their habitats, plants, and associated ecological processes in becoming more resilient, adapting to, and surviving the impacts of climate change and ocean acidification.
Allocates specified percentages of the Fund: (1) to the Secretary of the Interior to be made available to states through the Wildlife Conservation and Restoration Account to implement adaptation activities in accordance with comprehensive state adaptation strategies; (2) to the Secretary for adaptation activities carried out under endangered species, migratory bird, and other fish and wildlife programs administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and on wildlife refuges and other public land under the jurisdiction of FWS, the Bureau of Land Management, or the National Park Service or within federal water managed by the Bureau of Reclamation; (3) for adaptation activities carried out under cooperative grant programs, including the cooperative endangered species conservation fund, programs under the North American Wetlands Conservation Act, the multinational species conservation fund, the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Fund, the Coastal Program of FWS, the National Fish Habitat Action Plan, the Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program, the Landowner Incentive Program, the Wildlife Without Borders Program of FWS, and the Park Flight Migratory Bird Program of the National Park Service; (4) to the Secretary to be made available to Indian tribes to implement adaptation activities through the FWS tribal wildlife grants program ; (5) to the Land and Water Conservation Fund; (6) to the Secretary of Agriculture for use in funding adaptation activities carried out on national forests and national grasslands under the jurisdiction of the Forest Service or pursuant to the cooperative Wings Across the Americas Program; (7) to the Administrator for use in adaptation activities restoring and protecting large-scale freshwater aquatic ecosystems, large-scale estuarine ecosystems, and freshwater and estuarine ecosystems, watershed, and basins identified as priorities by the Administrator; (8) to the Secretary of the Army for use by the Corps of Engineers to implement adaptation activities restoring large-scale freshwater aquatic ecosystems, large-scale estuarine ecosystems, and freshwater and estuarine ecosystems, watershed, and basins identified as priorities by the Corps and habitats or ecosystems under programs such as the Estuary Restoration Act of 2000, project modifications for improvement of the environment, and aquatic restoration of the Water Resources Development Act of 1996; and (9) to the Secretary of Commerce for use in funding adaptation activities to protect, maintain, and restore coastal, estuarine, and marine resources, habitats and ecosystems.
Requires the President: (1) within three years, to develop and implement a national strategy for assisting fish and wildlife and their habitats, plants, and associated ecological processes in becoming more resilient and adapting to the impacts of climate change and ocean acidification; and (2) to review and update the strategy every five years.
Requires the Secretary of the Interior to establish and appoint the members of a science advisory board to: (1) advise the President and relevant federal agencies on the best available science regarding the impacts of climate change and ocean acidification on fish and wildlife, habitat, plants, and associated ecological processes and scientific strategies and mechanisms for adaptation; and (2) identify and recommend priorities for ongoing research needs on those issues.
Requires funds going to states to be used only for activities that are consistent with a federally approved state comprehensive adaptation strategy. Requires a state strategy to: (1) describe the impacts of climate change and ocean acidification on the diversity and health of the fish, wildlife and plant populations, habitats, and associated ecological processes; (2) describe and prioritize proposed conservation actions; (3) establish programs for monitoring such impacts of climate change; (4) include strategies, specific conservation actions, and a time frame for implementing conservation actions; (5) establish methods for assessing the effectiveness of conservation actions taken; and (6) be incorporated into a revision of a state's comprehensive wildlife conservation strategy. Requires state strategies to be updated at least every five years.
Subtitle H: International Climate Change Adaptation and National Security Program - (Sec. 4803) Requires the Secretary of State, working with the Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Administrator, to establish an International Climate Change Adaptation and National Security Program within USAID.
Requires the Program to report annually to the President and specified congressional committees on: (1) the extent to which other countries are committing to reducing GHG emissions through mandatory programs; (2) the extent to which global climate change, through its potential negative impacts on sensitive populations and natural resources in least developed countries, may threaten, cause, or exacerbate political instability or international conflict in those regions; (3) the ramifications of any potentially destabilizing impacts climate change may have on U.S. economic and national security; and (4) recommendations of countries in which assistance can have the greatest and most sustainable benefit to reducing vulnerability to climate change, primarily in the form of deploying adaptation and GHG reduction technologies.
(Sec. 4804) Requires the Administrator of USAID to distribute to the International Climate Change and National Security Program funds deposited into the Climate Change and National Security Fund to: (1) protect U.S. national security by minimizing, averting, or increasing resilience to potentially destabilizing climate change impacts; (2) support the development of national and regional climate change adaptation plans in least developed countries; (3) support the deployment of technologies that would help least developed countries reduce their GHG emissions and respond to such destabilizing impacts; (4) provide assistance to least developed countries and small island developing states with national or regional climate change adaptation plans in the planning, financing, and execution of adaptation projects; (5) support investments and capital to reduce vulnerability related to climate change and its impacts; (6) support climate change adaptation research in or for least developed countries; and (7) encourage the identification and adoption of appropriate low-carbon and efficient energy technologies in least developed countries. Provides that no more than 10% of such funds may be spent in any single country in a year.
Subtitle I: Emergency Firefighting Programs - (Sec. 4902) Makes the amounts deposited into the Bureau of Land Management Emergency Firefighting Fund available to pay for wildland fire suppression activities with costs that are in excess of amounts annually appropriated to the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of the Agriculture for normal, nonemergency wildland fire suppression activities. Sets forth requirements concerning reports on expenditures from such Fund.
Title V: Energy Efficiency - Subtitle A: Appliance Efficiency - (Sec. 5101) Amends the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to revise minimal annual fuel utilization efficiency standards for boilers. Requires boiler manufacturers to equip each hot water boiler (other than a boiler equipped with tankless domestic water heating coils) with an automatic means for adjusting the temperature of the water supplied by the boiler to ensure that an incremental change in inferred heat load produces a corresponding incremental change in the temperature of water supplies. Sets forth exceptions to such requirements.
(Sec. 5102) Authorizes the Secretary of Energy to establish: (1) regional standards for space heating and air conditioning products, other than window- unit air-conditioners and portable space heaters; (2) a national minimal standard for such products; and (3) two or more stringent regional standards for regions determined to have significantly differing climatic conditions. Requires the Secretary to conduct an economic justifiability study as a preliminary step in determining whether the establishment of stringent regional standards is justified. Sets forth requirements for labels that provide information about such standards on products.
Subtitle B: Building Efficiency - (Sec. 5201) Amends the Energy Conservation and Production Act to require the Secretary of Energy to support updating the national model building energy codes and standards within three years and at least every three years thereafter to achieve overall energy savings of at least: (1) 30%, with respect to each edition of a model code or standard published during from January 1, 2010, through December 31, 2019; and (2) 50%, with respect to each edition of a model code or standard published on or after January 1, 2020.
Requires targets for intermediate and subsequent years to be established by the Secretary not less than three years before the beginning of each target year at the maximum level of energy efficiency that is technologically feasible and life cycle cost-effective.
Requires the Secretary: (1) to determine if a revision to the 2006 International Energy Conservation Code IECC for residential buildings or the ASHRAE/IES Standard 90.1 will improve energy efficiency in buildings and meet such energy savings targets; and (2) if a code or standard does not meet the targets or if a code or standard is not updated for more than three years, to establish a modified code or standard that meets the targets.
Sets forth requirements for state certifications regarding the energy efficiency of, and compliance with, state residential and commercial building codes.
Requires the Secretary to provide: (1) technical assistance to ensure that national model building energy codes and standards meet the targets; (2) assistance to states to comply with this Act; and (3) incentive funding to states to improve and implement building energy efficiency codes.
Requires the Secretary to provide additional funding for implementation of a plan to demonstrate a rate of compliance with applicable residential and commercial building energy efficiency codes of not less than 90% to a state or local government that has adopted and is implementing building efficiency codes that meet or exceed the requirements of the IECC and ASHRAE Standard 90.1 standards.
Title VI: Global Effort to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions - (Sec. 6003) Provides that the purposes of this title are to: (1) promote a strong global effort to significantly reduce GHG emissions; (2) ensure that GHG emissions occurring outside the United States do not undermine U.S. objectives in addressing global climate change; and (3) encourage effective international action to achieve those objectives through agreements negotiated between the United States and foreign countries and measures implemented by the United States that comply with applicable international agreements.
Provides that it is the policy of the United States to work proactively under the United Nations Framework Convention on climate change and to establish binding agreements committing all major GHG-emitting nations to contribute equitably to the reduction of such emissions. Declares Congress's intent that the U.S. negotiating object, in such agreements that involve measures that will affect international trade in goods or services, is to focus multilateral and bilateral international agreements on the reduction of GHG emissions to advance su