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90_HB2940
New Act
Creates the Kyoto Protocol Act of 1998. Provides that
the Environmental Protection Agency and the Pollution Control
Board shall not propose or adopt any new rule intended to
reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. Provides that in the
absence of an Act of the General Assembly, the Director of
the Environmental Protection Agency shall not submit any
legally enforceable commitments related to the reduction of
greenhouse gases to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
or to any other agency of the federal government. Provides
that the Act shall not limit or impede State or private
participation in any on-going voluntary initiatives to reduce
emissions of greenhouse gases. Provides that the Act shall
become inoperative upon ratification of the Kyoto Protocol.
Effective immediately.
LRB9009106LDdv
LRB9009106LDdv
1 AN ACT in relation to climate change, creating the Kyoto
2 Protocol Act of 1998.
3 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
4 represented in the General Assembly:
5 Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
6 Kyoto Protocol Act of 1998.
7 Section 5. Definitions. As used in this Act:
8 (a) "FCCC" means the 1992 United Nations Framework
9 Convention on Global Climate Change.
10 (b) "Kyoto Protocol" means the protocol to expand the
11 scope of the FCCC that was negotiated in December 1997 in
12 Kyoto, Japan.
13 Section 10. Findings and purposes. The General Assembly
14 hereby finds that:
15 (1) The United States is a signatory to the 1992 United
16 Nations Framework Convention on Global Climate Change.
17 (2) A protocol to expand the scope of the FCCC was
18 negotiated in December 1997 in Kyoto, Japan, requiring the
19 United States to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases such as
20 carbon dioxide and methane by 7% from 1990 emission levels
21 during the period 2008 to 2012, with similar reduction
22 obligations for other major industrial nations.
23 (3) Developing nations, including China, India, Mexico,
24 Indonesia, and Brazil, are exempt from greenhouse gas
25 emission limitation requirements in the FCCC.
26 (4) Developing nations refused in the Kyoto negotiations
27 to accept any new commitments for greenhouse gas emission
28 limitations through the Kyoto Protocol or other agreements.
29 (5) With respect to new commitments under the FCCC,
30 President Clinton pledged on October 22, 1997, that "The
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1 United States will not assume binding obligations unless key
2 developing nations meaningfully participate in this effort".
3 (6) On July 25, 1997, the United States Senate adopted
4 Senate Resolution No. 98 by a vote of 95-0, expressing the
5 sense of the Senate that, inter alia, "the United States
6 should not be a signatory to any protocol to or other
7 agreement regarding, the Framework Convention on Climate
8 Change ... which would require the advice and consent of the
9 Senate to ratification, and which would mandate new
10 commitments to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions for the
11 Developed Country Parties, unless the protocol or other
12 agreement also mandates specific scheduled commitments within
13 the same compliance period to mitigate greenhouse gas
14 emissions for Developing Country Parties".
15 (7) The Kyoto Protocol fails to meet the tests
16 established for acceptance of new climate change commitments
17 by President Clinton and by U.S. Senate Resolution No. 98.
18 (8) Achieving the emission reductions proposed by the
19 Kyoto Protocol would require more than a 35% reduction in
20 projected United States carbon dioxide and other greenhouse
21 gas emissions during the period 2008 to 2012.
22 (9) Developing countries exempt from emission
23 limitations under the Kyoto Protocol are expected to increase
24 their rates of fossil fuel use over the next 2 decades and to
25 surpass the United States and other industrialized countries
26 in total emissions of greenhouse gases.
27 (10) Increased emissions of greenhouse gases by
28 developing countries would offset any potential environmental
29 benefits associated with emissions reductions achieved by the
30 United States and by other industrial nations.
31 (11) Economic impact studies by the U.S. Government
32 estimate that legally binding requirements for the reduction
33 of U.S. greenhouse gases to 1990 emission levels would result
34 in the loss of more than 900,000 jobs in the United States,
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1 sharply increased energy prices, reduced family incomes and
2 wages, and severe losses of output in energy-intensive
3 industries such as aluminum, steel, rubber, chemicals, and
4 utilities.
5 (12) The failure to provide for commitments by
6 developing countries in the Kyoto Protocol creates an unfair
7 competitive imbalance between industrial and developing
8 nations, potentially leading to the transfer of jobs and
9 industrial development from the United States to developing
10 countries.
11 (13) Federal implementation of the Kyoto Protocol, if
12 ratified by the United States Senate, would entail new
13 Congressional legislation whose form and requirements cannot
14 be predicted at this time, but could include national energy
15 taxes or emission control allocation and trading schemes that
16 would preempt State-specific programs intended to reduce
17 emissions of greenhouse gases.
18 (14) Piecemeal or other uncoordinated State regulatory
19 initiatives intended to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases
20 may be inconsistent with subsequent Congressional
21 determinations concerning the Kyoto Protocol and with related
22 federal legislation implementing the Kyoto Protocol.
23 (15) Individual state responses to the Kyoto Protocol,
24 including development of new regulatory programs intended to
25 reduce greenhouse gas emissions, are premature prior to
26 Senate ratification of the Protocol in its current or amended
27 form and Congressional enactment of related implementing
28 legislation.
29 (16) There is neither federal nor State statutory
30 authority for new regulatory programs or other efforts
31 intended to reduce greenhouse gas emissions for purposes of
32 complying with or facilitating compliance with the provisions
33 of the Kyoto Protocol.
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1 Section 15. Restrictions on State rules related to
2 greenhouse gas emissions.
3 (a) Effective immediately, the Environmental Protection
4 Agency and the Pollution Control Board shall not propose or
5 adopt any new rule intended in whole or in part to reduce
6 emissions of greenhouse gases, as those gases are defined by
7 the Kyoto Protocol, from the residential, commercial,
8 industrial, electric utility, or transportation sectors. In
9 the absence of an Act of the General Assembly approving such
10 rules, the Director of the Environmental Protection Agency
11 shall not submit to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
12 or to any other agency of the federal government any legally
13 enforceable commitments related to the reduction of
14 greenhouse gases, as those gases are defined by the Kyoto
15 Protocol.
16 (b) Nothing in this Section shall be construed to limit
17 or to impede State or private participation in any on-going
18 voluntary initiatives to reduce emissions of greenhouse
19 gases, including, but not limited to, the U.S. Environmental
20 Protection Agency's Green Lights program, the U.S. Department
21 of Energy's Climate Challenge program, and similar State and
22 federal initiatives relying on voluntary participation.
23 Section 20. Effectiveness. Section 15 of this Act shall
24 become inoperative upon ratification of the Kyoto Protocol by
25 the United States Senate.
26 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
27 becoming law.