{"bills":[{"photos":{"featured":"https://assets.causes.com/bill/photo/hr1119-115/featured_satisfying-energy-needs-and-saving-the-environment-act-1520553857.jpg","featured_large":"https://assets.causes.com/bill/photo/hr1119-115/featured_large_satisfying-energy-needs-and-saving-the-environment-act-1520553857.jpg","shareable":"https://n.causes.com/share-images/bills/hr1119-115.png"},"introduced_on":"2017-02-16","title_override":"Do Power Plants That Burn Coal Waste Need Leeway on Emissions Standards?","summary_override":"

This bill — the SENSE Act — would ease emissions regulations for facilities which generate electricity by burning coal refuse by providing them with an alternative means of complying with the Mercury and Air Toxics Standard (MATS). Such facilities would be able to choose an emissions standard for either hydrogen chloride or sulfur dioxide with which to comply. Affected power plants generate electricity by burning coal refuse — a waste byproduct of coal that when sitting idle can catch fire or pollute bodies of water — as their primary fuel source, generating relatively inexpensive energy.

The bill’s full title is the Satisfying Energy Needs and Saving the Environment Act.

","official_title":"To establish the bases by which the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency shall issue, implement, and enforce certain emission limitations for existing electric utility steam generating units that convert coal refuse into energy.","short_title":"Satisfying Energy Needs and Saving the Environment Act","popular_title":null,"short_summary":"(This measure has not been amended since it was reported to the House on January 12, 2018. The summary of that version is repeated here.)\n\nSatisfying Energy Needs and Saving the Environment Act or the SENSE Act\n\n(Sec. 2) This bill eases emission limits for hazardous air pollutants from electric utility steam generating units (electric power plants) that convert coal refuse into energy. The Environmental Protection Agency must allow utilities to select a standard for either hydrogen chloride or sulfur dioxide with which to comply from a list of specified standards.","summarized":true,"cost":0,"cost_commentary":"The CBO estimates that enacting this bill would have an insignificant impact on the budget.","impact":"People who receive their electricity from, or work for coal refuse power plants; and the EPA.","argument_for":"Coal refuse piles are an environmental and aesthetic blight on the communities they neighbor. Thankfully, coal refuse power plants not only remove and clean up those piles, but generate affordable energy. Emissions regulations should do more to accommodate these power plants.","argument_against":"While coal refuse piles are environmental nuisances polluting nearby bodies of water or catching on fire, burning the coal waste to generate power simply trades one type of pollution for the another. This would unfairly advantage coal refuse power plants at the expense of other energy producers.","bill_type":"hr","published":true,"type":"FederalBill","id":"hr1119-115","bill_id":"hr1119-115","formal_id":"H.R. 1119","chamber":"house","congress":115,"last_action_at":"2018-03-08T00:00:00.000Z","active":true,"enacted":false,"enacted_at":null,"vetoed":false,"last_vote_at":"2018-03-08T15:45:04.000Z","debated_on":"2018-03-05T00:00:00.000Z","congress_url":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th/house-bill/1119","plain_text_url":"https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-115hr1119rfs/html/BILLS-115hr1119rfs.htm","shareable_image_url":"https://n.causes.com/share-images/bills/hr1119-115.png","congress_full_text_url":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th/house-bill/1119/text","is_current_congress":false,"last_version_on":"2018-03-08","related_bill_ids":["hres762-115"],"progress":"Passed House","house_passage_result":true,"senate_passage_result":false,"position_count":871,"committees":[{"name":"Committee on Energy and Commerce","chamber":"house","committee_id":"HSIF","subcommittee":false},{"name":"Environment and Climate Change","chamber":"house","committee_id":"HSIF18","subcommittee":true},{"name":"Committee on Environment and Public Works","chamber":"senate","committee_id":"SSEV","subcommittee":false}],"links":{"rollCalls":"/api/roll_calls?bill_id=hr1119-115","details":"/api/bills/hr1119-115/details","sharingMessage":"/api/sharing_messages/hr1119-115","positionsFor":"/api/bills/hr1119-115/positions/for","positionsAgainst":"/api/bills/hr1119-115/positions/against"},"upcoming":false,"cosponsors_count":6,"slug":"hr1119-115-satisfying-energy-needs-and-saving-the-environment-act","latest_chamber_votes_id":"hr1119-115","official_url":null,"target_video":true,"following":false,"vote_count":4519,"yea_vote_count":530,"nay_vote_count":3976,"passed_house":true,"passed_senate":false,"vote_id":null,"my_position_id":null,"topic_ids":["environment"],"issue_ids":["environment","climate-change"],"sponsor_id":115}],"votes":[],"issues":[{"id":"environment","name":"Environment","slug":"environment","description":"Congressional legislation related to research and regulation of the Environment, including: Air and water quality, Pollution, Climate Change, Recycling, Radioactive Waste, Hazardous Wastes and Toxic Substances. 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Make your voice heard about the issues you care about.\r\n","page_title":"Climate Change Legislation - Vote on Bills, Stay informed, Hold Your Reps Accountable","icons":{"black":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/climate-change/black_climate-change-1429641619.svg","grey":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/climate-change/grey_climate-change-1429641619.svg","white":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/climate-change/white_climate-change-1429641619.svg"},"cover_image_url":null,"is_following":false}],"users":[{"name":"Jake","vote_count":146,"photos":{"large":"https://graph.facebook.com/10154399305137404/picture?width=150&height=150","small":"https://graph.facebook.com/10154399305137404/picture?width=75&height=75","tiny":"https://graph.facebook.com/10154399305137404/picture?width=20&height=20","facebook":"https://graph.facebook.com/10154399305137404/picture"},"links":{"following":"/api/users/yWjDXv0m/following","followers":"/api/users/yWjDXv0m/followers"},"about_me":null,"twitter_id":null,"facebook_id":null,"youtube_id":null,"google_plus_id":null,"website":null,"slug":null,"issue_count":26,"is_following":null,"influence_score":30,"influence_level":10,"follower_count":1,"following_count":3,"position_count":25,"id":"yWjDXv0m","partner_id":null}],"bill_position":{"flagged":false,"id":"987fe685-3b46-4a5e-be3a-f02b572c6e96","argument_for":null,"argument_against":"Coal refuse is not a long term solution for our energy needs and it's highly polutive whether stored or burned. Instead we should consider helping coal powered utilities to transition to cleaner energy technologies.","show_argument_for":false,"show_argument_against":true,"upvote_count":0,"upvotes_for_count":null,"upvotes_against_count":0,"has_upvoted":false,"endorsement_count":0,"links":{"self":"https://www.causes.com/positions/987fe685-3b46-4a5e-be3a-f02b572c6e96"},"body":"Coal refuse is not a long term solution for our energy needs and it's highly polutive whether stored or burned. Instead we should consider helping coal powered utilities to transition to cleaner energy technologies.","stance":"nay","created_at":"2018-03-08T17:00:49.760Z","shareable_image_url":"https://n.causes.com/share-images/positions/987fe685-3b46-4a5e-be3a-f02b572c6e96.png","note_color":null,"note_text":null,"bill_id":"hr1119-115","user_id":"yWjDXv0m","endorser_ids":[]}}

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Do Power Plants That Burn Coal Waste Need Leeway on Emissions Standards?