S.Amdt. 3139

SA 3139. Mr. COATS (for himself, Mr. Manchin, and Mrs. Capito)
submitted an amendment intended to be proposed to amendment SA 2953
proposed by Ms. Murkowski to the bill S. 2012, to provide for the
modernization of the energy policy of the United States, and for other
purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

At the end of subtitle E of title IV, add the following:

SEC. 44__. ENSURING SCIENTIFIC TRANSPARENCY IN THE
DEVELOPMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS.

(a) Publication of Scientific Products for Rules and
Related Environmental Impact Statements, Environmental
Assessments, and Economic Assessments.--
(1) In general.--Title V of the Surface Mining Control and
Reclamation Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.) is amended
by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 530. PUBLICATION OF SCIENTIFIC PRODUCTS FOR RULES AND
RELATED ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENTS,
ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENTS, AND ECONOMIC
ASSESSMENTS.

``(a) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) Agency action.--The term `agency action' has the
meaning given the term in section 551 of title 5, United
States Code.
``(2) Background information.--The term `background
information' means--
``(A) a biographical document, including a curriculum vitae
or resume, that details the exhaustive, professional work
history, education, and any professional memberships of a
person; and
``(B) the amount and date of any Federal grants or
contracts received by that person.
``(3) Economic assessment.--The term `economic assessment'
means any assessment prepared by a Federal agency in
accordance with section 6(a)(3)(C) of Executive Order 12866
(5 U.S.C. 601 note; relating to regulatory planning and
review).
``(4) Environmental assessment.--The term `environmental
assessment' has the meaning given the term in section 1508.9
of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations.
``(5) Environmental impact statement.--The term
`environmental impact statement' means any environmental
impact statement or similar analysis required under the
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et
seq.).
``(6) Publicly available.--The term `publicly available'
means published online on--
``(A) a publicly accessible website that allows the
submission of comments on proposed regulations and related
documents published by the Federal Government;
``(B) a publicly accessible website of the Secretary; and
``(C) the website of the Federal Register.
``(7) Raw data.--The term `raw data' means any
computational process or quantitative or qualitative data
processed from a source that is relied upon in a scientific
product to support a finding or observation.
``(8) Relied upon.--The term `relied upon' means explicitly
cited or referenced in a rule, environmental impact
statement, environmental assessment, or economic assessment.
``(9) Rule.--The term `rule' has the meaning given the term
in section 551 of title 5, United States Code.
``(10) Scientific method.--The term `scientific method'
means a method of research under which--
``(A) a problem is identified;
``(B) relevant data are gathered;
``(C) a hypothesis is formulated from the data; and
``(D) the hypothesis is empirically tested in a manner
specified by documented protocols and procedures.
``(11) Scientific product.--The term `scientific product'
means any product that--
``(A) employs the scientific method for inventorying,
monitoring, experimenting, studying, researching, and
modeling purposes;
``(B) is relied upon by the Secretary in development of any
rule, environmental impact statement, environmental
assessment, or economic assessment; and
``(C) is not protected under copyright laws.
``(b) Requirements.--The Secretary shall--
``(1) make publicly available on the date of the
publication of any draft, final, emergency, or supplemental
rule under this Act,

[[Page S398]]

or any related environmental impact statement, environmental
assessment, or economic assessment, each scientific product
the Secretary relied upon in developing the rule,
environmental impact statement, environmental assessment, or
economic assessment; and
``(2) for those scientific products receiving Federal
funds, also make publicly available--
``(A) the raw data used for the federally funded scientific
product; and
``(B) background information of the authors of the
scientific study.
``(c) Compliance.--
``(1) In general.--Subject to paragraph (2), failure to
comply with the publication requirements of subsection (b)--
``(A) with respect to draft or supplemental rules,
environmental impact statements, environmental assessments,
or economic assessments shall extend by 1 day the notice and
comment period for each day of noncompliance; or
``(B) with respect to final or emergency rules, shall delay
the effective date of the final rule by 60 days plus an
additional day for each day of noncompliance.
``(2) Withdrawal.--If the Secretary fails to comply with
the publication requirements of subsection (b) for more than
180 days after the date of publication of any rule, or any
related environmental impact statement, environmental
assessment, or economic assessment, under this Act, the
Secretary shall withdraw the rule, environmental impact
statement, environmental assessment, or economic
assessment.''.
(2) Conforming amendment.--The table of contents for the
Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C.
1201 et seq.) is amended by inserting after the item relating
to section 529 the following:

``Sec. 530. Publication of scientific products for rules and related
environmental impact statements, environmental
assessments, and economic assessments.''.

(b) Compliance With Other Federal Laws.--Section 702 of the
Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C.
1292) is amended--
(1) by redesignating subsections (c) and (d) as subsection
(e) and (f), respectively; and
(2) by inserting after subsection (b) the following:
``(c) Compliance With Other Federal Laws.--Nothing in this
Act authorizes the Secretary to take any action by rule,
interpretive rule, policy, regulation, notice, or order that
duplicates any action taken under an Act referred to in
subsection (a) (including regulations and rules).
``(d) Deference to Implementing Agencies and State
Authorities.--In carrying out this Act (including rules,
interpretive rules, policies, regulations, notices, or
orders), the Secretary--
``(1) shall defer to the determinations of an agency or
State authority implementing an Act referred to in subsection
(a) with respect to any agency action under the jurisdiction
of the agency or State authority, as applicable; and
``(2) shall not make any determination regarding any agency
action subject to an Act referred to in subsection (a).''.
______