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
 
 
 
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
         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.
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