Bill Text: TX SCR27 | 2015-2016 | 84th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Expressing opposition to EPA-proposed guidelines regarding carbon dioxide emissions from existing fossil fuel-fired power plants under Section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2015-05-05 - Left pending in committee [SCR27 Detail]
Download: Texas-2015-SCR27-Introduced.html
84R10023 KMW-F | ||
By: Hancock | S.C.R. No. 27 |
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WHEREAS, A reliable and affordable electricity supply is | ||
vital to the overall well-being of this nation's citizens and to the | ||
economic growth and prosperity of each state; and | ||
WHEREAS, Under protections of the 10th Amendment to the U.S. | ||
Constitution, any regulation necessary to ensure a reliable and | ||
affordable supply of electricity for citizens is the sole authority | ||
of each state, and federal agencies have a legal obligation to | ||
respect and preserve this sovereign state function; and | ||
WHEREAS, On June 25, 2013, the president issued a memorandum | ||
to the administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency | ||
directing the EPA to develop guidelines to control greenhouse gas | ||
emissions from existing fossil fuel-fired power plants under | ||
Section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act and to seek input from states; | ||
and | ||
WHEREAS, On June 2, 2014, the EPA issued proposed guidelines | ||
requiring states to limit carbon dioxide emissions from existing | ||
fossil fuel-fired power plants, and the Section 111(d) rule was | ||
published for comment in the Federal Register on June 16, 2014; and | ||
WHEREAS, The proposed rule is based on the EPA assessment of | ||
each state's ability to improve the efficiency of coal-fired | ||
electric generating units, to retire, de-rate, or operate | ||
differently coal-fired electric generating units, to substantially | ||
increase the generation of electricity from natural gas, to | ||
significantly increase reliance on renewable energy sources, and to | ||
substantially reduce the use of electricity by consumers, all in a | ||
plan and on a schedule that is not achievable or workable; and | ||
WHEREAS, The EPA has admitted that this proposed rule will | ||
not measurably affect any degree of climate change, but it will have | ||
a major impact on the economy of each state and significant | ||
consequences for how electricity is generated, transmitted, | ||
distributed, and used in each state; and | ||
WHEREAS, The Clean Air Act does not authorize the EPA to | ||
require states to regulate beyond the individual physical sources | ||
of emissions to include forced retirement or de-rating of | ||
coal-fired electricity generating units, the reliance on | ||
generation of electricity from natural gas, the reliance on | ||
renewable energy sources, or the energy efficiency or demand | ||
management of end users, each of these being exclusively within the | ||
police powers of the state; and | ||
WHEREAS, Section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act expressly limits | ||
the EPA to articulating guidelines for the states' formulation of | ||
performance standards for existing sources and that authority has | ||
never been expanded, but the proposed rule would effectively amount | ||
to a federal takeover of the entire system of electric power in the | ||
United States and significantly impede if not destroy | ||
constitutional constraints on federal powers and the rule of law; | ||
and | ||
WHEREAS, The Texas governor, attorney general, Public | ||
Utility Commission of Texas, and Texas Commission on Environmental | ||
Quality have sent comments to the Environmental Protection Agency | ||
expressing opposition to implementation of the Section 111(d) rule, | ||
and it is appropriate for the legislature to also express its | ||
sentiment; now, therefore, be it | ||
RESOLVED, That the 84th Legislature of the State of Texas | ||
hereby refuse to recognize the attempt by the Environmental | ||
Protection Agency to enlarge its authority or conscript authority | ||
from the states, unless and until the United States Congress enacts | ||
legislation to the contrary; and, be it further | ||
RESOLVED, That the 84th Texas Legislature respectfully urge | ||
Congress to take immediate action utilizing all available legal | ||
avenues to effect the withdrawal of the proposed Section 111(d) | ||
rule; and, be it further | ||
RESOLVED, That the 84th Texas Legislature direct state | ||
agencies to take appropriate steps to resist the implementation of | ||
the Section 111(d) rule to protect the state's sovereignty and | ||
police powers authorities in light of the federalism imbedded in | ||
the language and structure of the Clean Air Act and to prevent | ||
federal commandeering of state police powers resources; and, be it | ||
further | ||
RESOLVED, That the 84th Texas Legislature authorize state | ||
agencies, including the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality | ||
and the Public Utility Commission of Texas, to examine the | ||
implications of preparing plans as may be directed by the Section | ||
111(d) rule, but direct the agencies not to prepare, draft, submit, | ||
or execute a state plan under the rule, take any action that assists | ||
in the implementation of a state or federal plan, or acknowledge the | ||
legality of the Section 111(d) rule unless or until the rule has | ||
been fully and finally resolved on judicial review; and, be it | ||
further | ||
RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official | ||
copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to | ||
the president of the Senate and speaker of the House of | ||
Representatives of the United States Congress, and to all the | ||
members of the Texas delegation to Congress with the request that | ||
this resolution be entered in the Congressional Record as a | ||
memorial to the Congress of the United States of America; and, be it | ||
further | ||
RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official | ||
copies of this resolution to the administrator of the Environmental | ||
Protection Agency, to the commissioners and the executive director | ||
of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, and to the | ||
commissioners and executive director of the Public Utility | ||
Commission of Texas as an expression of the sentiment of the Texas | ||
Legislature. |