ACES passage assisted by 300+ pages of amendments

Posted on June 30, 2009 by Wendy Coats

Facing tough opposition to its passage in the House, the American Clean Energy and Security Act’s (ACES) chief sponsor, Democratic Representative Henry Waxman (D-CA) submitted a 300-plus page amendment to H.R. 2454, which was reported out of the House Rules Committee at 3:47 a.m. – the morning of the vote – Friday, June 26, 2009.

In lieu of the amendment originally recommended by the Committee on Energy and Commerce that was printed in the bill, the House considered, debated, and passed the Act with the Waxman amendment consisting of the text of H.R. 2998.

A substantive summary of the components of the Waxman amendment follows.

(Names in parens are original sponsors of each component, with link to text of that section.)

  • Provides accommodations for states using a central purchasing model for their renewable electricity standards (Waxman);
  • Provides Federal Regulation and Oversight of Energy (“FERC”) authority to build interstate transmission lines in the Western Interconnection and amends the National Interest Electric Transmission Corridors (Inslee/Markey);
  • Exempts forestry and agriculture industries from the Act’s emission’s caps, grandfathers existing biodiesel plants making them exempt from the Renewable Fuels Standard’s lifecycle analysis; changes the definition of “biomass”; and mandates the Secretary of Agriculture create a list of agricultural and forestry practices that reduce or avoid greenhouse gas emissions (Peterson);
  • Allows states to convey allowances in a SEED account directly to renewable energy generators (Polis);
  • Mandates the creation of a carbon incentives program by the Secretary of Agriculture to achieve supplemental greenhouse gas emissions reductions on private agricultural and forestland (Kratovil);
  • Sets a Renewable Electricity Standard (“RES”) for Federal agencies and allows Federal agencies to enter into renewable energy power purchase agreements for up to 20 years (Titus/Giffords/Heinrich);
  • Makes natural gas fueled vehicles eligible for clean vehicle incentives, the vehicle integration program, and the manufacturing incentives for alternatively fueled vehicles (Boren/Larson/Sullivan);
  • Caps the cost of a permit for a license for the construction of a solar energy system and provides that noncompliance with the permit cost requirements disqualifies the entity from Community Development Block Grants (Cardoza);
  • Authorizes a national education, training, and awareness program to inform building, facility, and industrial plant owners and managers, government and industry leaders of the large energy-saving potential of using of mechanical insulation and (Halvorson);
  • Amends the definition of a “cluster,” as it applies to Energy Innovation Hub, and ensures that virtual connections qualify when defining a cluster (Hinchey);
  • Amends the Retrofit for Energy and Environmental Performance (REEP) program so that funds provided to disaster victims through the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act may qualify as the building owners’ contribution toward the matching requirements of the REEP program while also requiring Federal agencies administering such assistance inform disaster victims of the REEP program, and finally provides 10% of funding under the REEP program for retrofits of public and assisted housing (Loebsack);
  • Creates a Community Building Code Administration Grant program, providing $100 million over five years in competitive, matching grants for local building code enforcement (Moore);
  • Limits the Building Energy Performance Labeling Program in sec. 204 of the bill to new construction only (Perlmutter);
  • Incentivizes lenders and financial institutions to provide lower interest loans and other benefits to consumers who build, buy, or remodel homes and businesses to improve their energy efficiency (Perlmutter);
  • Directs Department of Housing and Urban Development to issue rules prohibiting private covenants that restrict or prohibit the installation of solar energy systems (Cardoza);
  • Authorizes the Secretary of Energy to develop a research program studying the factors affecting whether consumers adopt energy conservation practices or make energy efficiency improvements (Holt/DeLauro/Baldwin/ Baird);
  • Requires the Secretary of Energy report to Congress on a study on the use of thorium-fueled nuclear reactors for national energy needs, including a response to the IAEA study entitled “Thorium fuel cycle - Potential benefits and challenges.” (Sestak);
  • Establishes a clean energy career training clearinghouse to aid institutions with Federal resources, expertise, information and points of contact when establishing and maintaining quality training programs (Polis);  
  • Adds provision seeking to ensure that minority-owned and women-owned businesses benefit from grants aimed at stimulating business development, and requires the Secretary of Labor monitor the potential growth of impacted and displaced workers to ensure that the necessary funding continues to support the number of workers affected (Jackson-Lee);
  • Expresses the sense of Congress that the United States should work with the International Civil Aviation Organization regarding the development of a global framework for the regulation of greenhouse gas emissions (Larsen).

With the amendment, the bill passed by recorded vote: 219 - 212 (Roll no. 477). The final vote included 211 Democrats and 8 Republicans in favor with 168 Republicans and 44 Democrats opposed. Representatives Jeff Flake (R-AZ); John Sullivan (R-OK); and Alcee Hastings (D-FL) abstained.
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