Sponsors (4)
The bill trades increased short‑term regulatory predictability, business relief, and public disclosure against weakening or complicating federal use of social‑cost metrics—potentially reducing the rigor of climate protections and raising long‑term health, climate, and legal risks for Americans.
Taxpayers, Congress, and the public will get clearer disclosure of where and how agencies quantified greenhouse‑gas costs, improving transparency and oversight of past and present regulatory choices.
Businesses, utilities, and state/local governments gain greater clarity and predictability about historical valuation methods and specified technical documents, helping compliance planning and regulatory forecasting.
Regulated firms (particularly energy producers and small businesses) may face lower compliance costs because agencies cannot rely on monetized social‑cost estimates to justify stricter greenhouse‑gas standards.
Americans face higher long‑term climate and health damages (worse extreme weather, property loss, health impacts) if removing or chilling use of social‑cost metrics leads to fewer or weaker rules that reduce greenhouse‑gas emissions.
Eliminating a common metric or limiting agencies' use of social‑cost estimates makes federal rulemaking less consistent and can reduce comparability and transparency across agencies, hampering oversight and coherent policy.
Mandating use of specified social‑cost definitions or relying on monetized future climate harms could raise compliance costs for energy producers and utilities and ultimately increase energy prices for consumers and households.
Based on analysis of 4 sections of legislative text.
Bars federal agencies from using monetized social cost metrics for greenhouse gases in rulemaking, analyses, guidance, or other agency actions, and requires a report on past uses.
Introduced May 1, 2025 by Richard Hudson · Last progress May 1, 2025
Prohibits federal agencies from using monetized "social cost" metrics for greenhouse gases (including the social cost of carbon, methane, nitrous oxide, or social cost of greenhouse gases) in cost‑benefit or cost‑effectiveness analyses, rulemaking, guidance, or any other agency action. Defines those social cost metrics to include specific Interagency Working Group and EPA technical documents and any successor or substantially related estimates. Also requires heads of all federal agencies to report to four congressional committees within 120 days of enactment describing how many proposed and final rules, guidance documents, and agency actions since January 2009 used those social cost metrics, including use under Executive Order 12866 or other authority.