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.