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H.R. 3797, SENSE Act [1] (March 4, 2016)

handle is hein.congrec/cbo2752 and id is 1 raw text is: 




                  CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE
                             COST ESTIMATE

                                                                   March 4, 2016


                                  H.R. 3797
                                  SENSE Act

        As ordered reported by the House Committee on Energy and Commerce
                               on February 25, 2016


H.R. 3797 would require the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to provide greater
flexibility to certain power plants that are subject to emissions limitations under EPA's
Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) and the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards for
Power Plants (MATS). Affected power plants generate electricity by burning coal refuse (a
waste byproduct of coal) as their primary fuel source.

The bill would require EPA to allocate to plants using coal refuse in 2017 and subsequent
years the same number of emissions allowances for sulfur dioxide that have been
previously allocated to those plants, rather than reducing allowances for those plants. The
legislation also would prohibit those plants from transferring unused allowances to other
entities and would allow coal refuse operators to bank those allowances for use in future
years. The bill would not change the total number of allowances allocated to each state
under the CSAPR.

In addition, H.R. 3797 would require EPA to permit operators of plants using coal refuse to
comply with an alternative emissions standard for sulfur dioxide that is less stringent than
the current MATS.

Based on information from EPA about the costs of modifying its existing regulations to
comply with this legislation, CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 3797 would have an
insignificant cost to EPA. Because enacting H.R. 3797 would not affect direct spending or
revenues, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply.

CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 3797 would not increase net direct spending or
on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2027.

H.R. 3797 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act.

The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Jon Sperl. The estimate was approved by
H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.

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