Texas 2015 - 84th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SCR27 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	84R10023 KMW-F
2	2	By: Hancock S.C.R. No. 27
3	3
4	4
5	5	CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
6	6	WHEREAS, A reliable and affordable electricity supply is
7	7	vital to the overall well-being of this nation's citizens and to the
8	8	economic growth and prosperity of each state; and
9	9	WHEREAS, Under protections of the 10th Amendment to the U.S.
10	10	Constitution, any regulation necessary to ensure a reliable and
11	11	affordable supply of electricity for citizens is the sole authority
12	12	of each state, and federal agencies have a legal obligation to
13	13	respect and preserve this sovereign state function; and
14	14	WHEREAS, On June 25, 2013, the president issued a memorandum
15	15	to the administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
16	16	directing the EPA to develop guidelines to control greenhouse gas
17	17	emissions from existing fossil fuel-fired power plants under
18	18	Section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act and to seek input from states;
19	19	and
20	20	WHEREAS, On June 2, 2014, the EPA issued proposed guidelines
21	21	requiring states to limit carbon dioxide emissions from existing
22	22	fossil fuel-fired power plants, and the Section 111(d) rule was
23	23	published for comment in the Federal Register on June 16, 2014; and
24	24	WHEREAS, The proposed rule is based on the EPA assessment of
25	25	each state's ability to improve the efficiency of coal-fired
26	26	electric generating units, to retire, de-rate, or operate
27	27	differently coal-fired electric generating units, to substantially
28	28	increase the generation of electricity from natural gas, to
29	29	significantly increase reliance on renewable energy sources, and to
30	30	substantially reduce the use of electricity by consumers, all in a
31	31	plan and on a schedule that is not achievable or workable; and
32	32	WHEREAS, The EPA has admitted that this proposed rule will
33	33	not measurably affect any degree of climate change, but it will have
34	34	a major impact on the economy of each state and significant
35	35	consequences for how electricity is generated, transmitted,
36	36	distributed, and used in each state; and
37	37	WHEREAS, The Clean Air Act does not authorize the EPA to
38	38	require states to regulate beyond the individual physical sources
39	39	of emissions to include forced retirement or de-rating of
40	40	coal-fired electricity generating units, the reliance on
41	41	generation of electricity from natural gas, the reliance on
42	42	renewable energy sources, or the energy efficiency or demand
43	43	management of end users, each of these being exclusively within the
44	44	police powers of the state; and
45	45	WHEREAS, Section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act expressly limits
46	46	the EPA to articulating guidelines for the states' formulation of
47	47	performance standards for existing sources and that authority has
48	48	never been expanded, but the proposed rule would effectively amount
49	49	to a federal takeover of the entire system of electric power in the
50	50	United States and significantly impede if not destroy
51	51	constitutional constraints on federal powers and the rule of law;
52	52	and
53	53	WHEREAS, The Texas governor, attorney general, Public
54	54	Utility Commission of Texas, and Texas Commission on Environmental
55	55	Quality have sent comments to the Environmental Protection Agency
56	56	expressing opposition to implementation of the Section 111(d) rule,
57	57	and it is appropriate for the legislature to also express its
58	58	sentiment; now, therefore, be it
59	59	RESOLVED, That the 84th Legislature of the State of Texas
60	60	hereby refuse to recognize the attempt by the Environmental
61	61	Protection Agency to enlarge its authority or conscript authority
62	62	from the states, unless and until the United States Congress enacts
63	63	legislation to the contrary; and, be it further
64	64	RESOLVED, That the 84th Texas Legislature respectfully urge
65	65	Congress to take immediate action utilizing all available legal
66	66	avenues to effect the withdrawal of the proposed Section 111(d)
67	67	rule; and, be it further
68	68	RESOLVED, That the 84th Texas Legislature direct state
69	69	agencies to take appropriate steps to resist the implementation of
70	70	the Section 111(d) rule to protect the state's sovereignty and
71	71	police powers authorities in light of the federalism imbedded in
72	72	the language and structure of the Clean Air Act and to prevent
73	73	federal commandeering of state police powers resources; and, be it
74	74	further
75	75	RESOLVED, That the 84th Texas Legislature authorize state
76	76	agencies, including the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
77	77	and the Public Utility Commission of Texas, to examine the
78	78	implications of preparing plans as may be directed by the Section
79	79	111(d) rule, but direct the agencies not to prepare, draft, submit,
80	80	or execute a state plan under the rule, take any action that assists
81	81	in the implementation of a state or federal plan, or acknowledge the
82	82	legality of the Section 111(d) rule unless or until the rule has
83	83	been fully and finally resolved on judicial review; and, be it
84	84	further
85	85	RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official
86	86	copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to
87	87	the president of the Senate and speaker of the House of
88	88	Representatives of the United States Congress, and to all the
89	89	members of the Texas delegation to Congress with the request that
90	90	this resolution be entered in the Congressional Record as a
91	91	memorial to the Congress of the United States of America; and, be it
92	92	further
93	93	RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official
94	94	copies of this resolution to the administrator of the Environmental
95	95	Protection Agency, to the commissioners and the executive director
96	96	of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, and to the
97	97	commissioners and executive director of the Public Utility
98	98	Commission of Texas as an expression of the sentiment of the Texas
99	99	Legislature.