Senate Bill No. 476
(By Senators Wooton, Tomblin, Mr. President, Kessler, Ross,
Schoonover, Sprouse, Oliverio, Sharpe, Scott, Bailey, Snyder,
Jackson, Bowman, Prezioso, McKenzie, White, Anderson, Dittmar,
Fanning, Helmick, Love, Ball, Hunter, Boley, Minear, Kimble,
Deem, Chafin, Craigo, Walker and Plymale)
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[Introduced February 12, 1998; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend chapter twenty-two of the code of West Virginia,
one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, by adding
thereto a new article, designated article twenty-three,
relating to prohibiting the state division of environmental
protection from modifying any agency rule which implements
the provisions of the United Nations framework convention on
global climate change treaty and its proposed reductions of
limitations on greenhouse gases emissions; providing
legislative findings relating thereto; prohibiting the
division of environmental protection from entering into any
agreement with any federal agency relating to limiting state emission of greenhouse gases; allowing continuation of
voluntary reduction efforts; providing that this article be
effective until a federal treaty supersedes the requirements
of this article; and prohibiting any state court from having
jurisdiction relating to the provisions of this article.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That chapter twenty-two of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended by
adding thereto a new article, designated article twenty-three, to
read as follows:
ARTICLE 23. LIMITING IMPLEMENTATION OF KYOTO PROTOCOL.
§22-23-1. Findings and Purposes.
The West Virginia Legislature hereby finds that:
(a) The United States is a signatory to the one thousand
nine hundred ninety-two "United Nations Framework Convention on
Global Climate Change Treaty" (FCCC);
(b) A protocol to expand the scope of the FCCC was
negotiated in December, one thousand nine hundred ninety-seven in
Kyoto, Japan ("Kyoto Protocol"), requiring the United States to
reduce emissions of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and
methane by seven percent from one thousand nine hundred ninety
emission levels during the years two thousand eight to two
thousand twelve, with similar reduction obligations for other
major industrial nations;
(c) Developing nations, including China, India, Mexico,
Indonesia and Brazil, are exempt from greenhouse gas emission
limitation requirements in the FCCC;
(d) Developing nations refused in the Kyoto negotiations to
accept any new commitments for greenhouse gas emission
limitations through the Kyoto Protocol or other agreements;
(e) With respect to new commitments under the FCCC,
President William J. Clinton pledged on the twenty-second day of
October, one thousand nine hundred ninety-seven, that "The United
States will not assume binding obligations unless key developing
nations meaningfully participate in this effort";
(f) On the twenty-fifth day of July, one thousand nine
hundred ninety-seven, the United States Senate adopted Senate
resolution number ninety-eight by a vote of ninety-five to zero,
expressing the sentiment of the Senate that "the United States
should not be a signatory to any protocol to other agreement
regarding, the framework convention on climate change... which
would require the advice and consent of the Senate to
ratification, and which would mandate new commitments to mitigate
greenhouse gas emissions for the developed country parties,
unless the protocol or other agreement also mandates specific
scheduled commitments within the same compliance period to
mitigate greenhouse gas emissions for developing country
parties;"
(g) The Kyoto Protocol fails to meet the tests established
for acceptance of new climate change commitments by President
Clinton and by United States Senate resolution number
ninety-eight;
(h) Achieving the emission reductions proposed by the Kyoto
Protocol would require more than a thirty-five percent reduction
in projected United States carbon dioxide and other greenhouse
gas emissions during the period between two thousand eight to two
thousand twelve;
(i) Developing countries exempt from emission limitations
under the Kyoto Protocol are expected to increase their rates of
fossil fuel use over the next two decades, and to surpass the
United States and other industrialized countries in total
emissions of greenhouse gases;
(j) Increased emissions of greenhouse gases by developing
countries would offset any potential environmental benefits
associated with emissions reductions achieved by the United
States and by other industrial nations;
(k) Economic impact studies by the United States government
estimate that legally binding requirements for the reduction of
United States greenhouse gases to one thousand nine hundred
ninety, emission levels would result in the loss of more than
nine hundred thousand jobs in the United States, sharply
increased energy prices, reduced family incomes and wages, and severe losses of output in energy-intensive industries important
to the West Virginia economy such as aluminum, steel, rubber,
chemicals and utilities;
(l) The failure to provide for commitments by developing
countries in the Kyoto Protocol creates an unfair competitive
imbalance between industrial and developing nations, potentially
leading to the transfer of jobs and industrial development from
the United States to developing countries;
(m) Federal implementation of the Kyoto Protocol, if
ratified by the United States Senate, would entail new
congressional legislation whose form and requirements cannot be
predicted at this time, but could include national energy taxes
or emission control allocation schemes that would preempt
state-specific programs intended to reduce emissions of
greenhouse gases;
(n) Piecemeal or other uncoordinated state regulatory
initiatives intended to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases may
be inconsistent with subsequent congressional determinations
concerning the Kyoto Protocol, and with federal legislation
implementing the Kyoto Protocol;
(o) Individual state responses to the Kyoto Protocol,
including development of new regulatory programs intended to
reduce greenhouse gas emissions, are premature prior to Senate
ratification of that protocol, in its current or amended form, and congressional enactment of related implementing legislation.
§22-23-2. Restrictions on state regulations related to
greenhouse gas emissions.
(a) The West Virginia division of environmental protection
shall refrain from proposing or promulgating any new rule
intended, in whole or in part, to reduce emissions of greenhouse
gases, as such gases are defined by the Kyoto Protocol, from the
residential, commercial, industrial, electric utility or
transportation sectors;
(b) In the absence of an act of the Legislature of the state
of West Virginia approving same, the West Virginia division of
environmental protection shall not submit to the United States
environmental protection agency or to any other agency of the
federal government any legally enforceable commitments related to
the reduction of greenhouse gases, as such gases are defined by
the Kyoto Protocol;
(c) Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit or to
impede state or private participation in any on-going voluntary
initiatives to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, including,
but not limited to, the federal environmental protection agency's
"Green Lights" program, the federal department of energy's
climate challenge program, and similar state and federal
initiatives relying on voluntary participation.
(d) This article shall remain in effect until repealed by an act of the Legislature of the state of West Virginia, or until
ratification of the Kyoto Protocol by the United States Senate
and enactment of federal legislation implementing the Kyoto
Protocol.
(e) No state court has jurisdiction for any cause of action
based, in whole or in part, on the provisions of this article.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to prohibit the
promulgation of state rules intended to reduce emissions of
greenhouse gases, prior to ratification of the Kyoto climate
change protocol by the United States Senate and enactment of
implementing legislation by the United States Congress.
This article is new; therefore, underscoring and
strike-throughs have been omitted.