Skip to main content

Executive Branch

Filter by

276 resources

Resource Pipeline Permitting

US GAO report, Pipeline Permitting

The US Government Accountability Office’s 2013 report, Pipeline Permitting: Interstate and Intrastate Natural Gas Permitting Processes Include Multiple Steps, and Time Frames Vary, which reviewed rele...

Example Programs Offering Funding for Diesel Reduction

NY/NJ Port Authority Truck Replacement Program

The Port Authority established a grant program to help truck owners finance the purchase of 2013-or-newer engines, up to $25,000 apiece, for trucks that service the port frequently and currently have ...

Example Efficiency on the Transmission and Distribution System

DOE’s Proposed Distribution Transformer Efficiency Rule

In December 2022, DOE proposed new energy-efficiency standards for distribution transformers aiming to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and potentially saving consumers approximately $15 billion over 3...

Resource Increasing Landowner Buy-In For Transmission Siting

Eminent Domain, Inc.

Lehavi and Licht’s 2007 Columbia Law Review article, proposes a novel replacement for eminent domain, the Special-Purpose Development Corporation (SPDC), which would acquire unified ownership of the l...

Resource Promoting Efficiency in the Hydropower Licensing Process

FERC report, Hydroelectric Licensing Policies, Procedures and Regulations

In 2001, FERC concluded a comprehensive investigation of the hydropower licensing process, titled Hydroelectric Licensing Policies, Procedures and Regulations: Comprehensive Review and Recommendations...

Example EPA Authority Over Sources of Black Carbon

CAA §202(a)(3) – Engine Retrofits

Clean Air Act §202(a)(3) authorizes EPA to regulate the rebuilding of heavy-duty vehicle engines. For any engine built after 2004, a rebuild of that engine must bring it up to performance standards co...

Example Using EVs as a Grid Resource

Los Angeles Air Force Base Vehicle-to-Grid Pilot

In 2013, a small fleet at the Los Angeles Air Force Base was the testbed for a successful vehicle-to-grid services pilot. The vehicles provided services over five minute intervals to balance energy su...

Example Agricultural Land Conservation

Conservation Stewardship Program

The CSP pays farmers to improve, maintain, or adopt conservation practices on their farms. Farmers are paid annually under a five-year contract with the option to renew for an additional five years if...

Example CCS Subsidies

CarbonSAFE Initiative

The CarbonSAFE Initiative made awards in two phases. In Phase I, $15 million went to assess the pre-feasibility of sequestration projects. In Phase II, three projects in Illinois, North Dakota, and Mi...

Resource Border Tax Adjustments

RFF Report, Policy Guidance for US GHG Tax Legislation and Regulation: Border Tax Adjustments for Products of Energy-Intensive, Trade-Exposed and Other Industries

This report describes how border adjustments set up around a greenhouse gas tax and an appropriately designed greenhouse gas index can be framed in a fashion analogous to value added taxes (VAT) that ...

Example EPA's SNAP Program and State Implementation

EPA’s SNAP Program

EPA’s SNAP Program was established under Section 612 of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. § 7671k, et seq.) to identify and evaluate substitutes for ozone-depleting substances. The program looks at overall...

Example Stranded Assets and Climate Disclosures

SEC Guidance Regarding Disclosure Related to Climate Change

The SEC promulgated a 2010 interpretive release on disclosure requirements related to climate change, requiring that companies disclose risks from decreased demand for carbon-intensive goods and servi...

Resource Minimizing Pipeline LeaksPipeline Leaks

Report, Lost But Not Forgotten: The Hidden Environmental Costs of Compensating Pipelines for Natural Gas Losses

Webb’s 2015 report examines the current frameworks for recovery of lost and unaccounted-for gas in each U.S. jurisdiction, and recommends changes to those frameworks to encourage improved management o...

Resource Promoting Pumped Storage Hydro Facilities

Report, Pumped Storage: 5 Misperceptions About Licensing

The 2017 Water Power Magazine article, 5 Misperceptions About Licensing, surveys the extent to which mandatory licensing requirements apply to pumped storage projects.

Example Restricting Fossil Fuel Pollution in Frontline Communities

EPA’s Cumulative Impacts Addendum

In January 2023, EPA released a new playbook for confronting the onslaught of pollutants in low-income and minority communities across the country. The Cumulative Impacts Addendum informs how the fede...

Resource Low Carbon Gas Technical Potential

Biogas Opportunities Roadmap

The USDA’s 2014 report, Biogas Opportunities Roadmap: Voluntary Actions to Reduce Methane Emissions and Increase Energy Independence, identifies voluntary actions that can be taken to reduce methane e...

Resource Energy Consumption Data Policies

DOE’s Voluntary Code of Conduct

In 2015, DOE issued a Voluntary Code of Conduct on data privacy and the smart grid, articulating principles to address concerns that an individual’s energy consumption data not be disclosed in a manne...

Example Advancing Fuel Economy Regulatory Programs

EPA’s New Emissions Standards for Heavy-Duty Vehicles

In January 2023, the Environmental Protection Agency finalized stricter emissions standards for heavy-duty vehicles. The agency’s new rule, part of its larger Clean Trucks Plan, is the first time poll...

Resource Phasing Out the Use of Fossil Fuels for the Generation of Electricity

EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Regulations for Coal and NG Power Plants

In April 2024, EPA issued final carbon pollution standards for power plants that CO2 limits for new gas-fired combustion turbines and CO2 emission guidelines for existing coal, oil and gas-fired steam...

Example Reorienting Transportation Planning to Minimize GHGs

FHWA GHG Planning Requirements

In November 2023, the Federal Highway Administration announced a greenhouse gas rule that will require state and local transportation officials to set declining emissions targets for road projects fun...

Example Promoting Decarbonization through R&D

DOE Advanced Battery R&D Awards

In 2017, DOE made a collective $5.7M award to Battery500, a consortium of battery companies, to fund 15 projects geared towards developing a battery that costs less than $100/kWh. In 2018, DOE followe...

Resource Sectoral Emissions Controls: Refining and Chemicals

Petition to Revise Clean Air Act 111 & 112 Standards on Petro-Plastic Production

364 different NGOs cosigned a 2017 EPA petition to update New Source Performance Standards and National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants that apply to facilities that convert fossil fu...

Resource Small Modular Reactors

Illinois Legislation on Permitting Small Modular Reactors

Illinois passed a law in November, 2023, that would allow companies to develop new nuclear power generation in the state for the first time since 1987. House Bill 2473 does not entirely lift the 36-ye...

Example Controlling Methane from Manure

EPA’s AgStar Program

AgStar is a voluntary program coordinated by EPA, in cooperation with USDA, that supports farmers and industry in the development and adoption of anaerobic digester systems. AgStar provides expert con...

Example End of Life Vehicles and Producer Responsibility Laws

National and State vehicle mercury programs

End of Life Vehicle Solutions is a national not-for-profit corporation formed by automobile manufacturers providing educational materials, collecting and recycling automotive switches at no cost to di...

Resource Promoting Marine Hydrokinetic Development

DOE report, Powering the Blue Economy

DOE’s 2019 report, Powering the Blue Economy, highlights eight markets where MHK technology can be tested and developed while providing high value, including ocean observation, underwater vehicle char...

Resource Regional Transmission Planning

FERC Order 1000

In Order 1000, FERC imposed on all public utility electric transmission providers the need to develop regional transmission plans. Those plans must consider non-transmission options as well as transmi...

Resource Promoting Conduit Hydro Facilities

DOE report, Pumped Storage and Potential Hydropower from Conduits

DOE’s 2015 report to Congress, Pumped Storage and Potential Hydropower from Conduits, reviews potential actions to increase hydropower production from existing conduits, including resource assessment,...

Resource CCS Technical and Economic Potential

Report, Accelerating Breakthrough Innovation in Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage

DOE’s 2017 report aims to assess current gaps in CCS technologies and identify the most promising directions for basic research that is needed to achieve long-term global carbon management. These area...

Example Reducing Fluorinated Gases through Purchasing Policies

Green Proving Ground Program

The Green Proving Ground Program uses the General Services Administration’s real estate portfolio to identify, test, and support the commercialization of cost-effective technologies to reduce energy a...

Example Funding Innovation in Transmission Distribution and Storage

ARPA-E energy storage innovation funding

In May 2018, the Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA-E) committed up to $30 million in funding for long-term energy storage innovation. The funding went to the Duration Addi...

Resource Carbon Adders in Rates and Utility Planning

Report, Addressing Climate Change Without Legislation

UC Berkeley School of Law’s publication, Addressing Climate Change Without Legislation, proposes that through FERC’s authority over electricity rates, power contracts, and utility planning, as well as...

Resource Reports on Industrial Efficiency Generally

DOE’s Industrial Decarbonization Roadmap

In September 2022, the Dept. of Energy released an Industrial Decarbonization Roadmap, which lays out a comprehensive strategy to reduce emissions associated with five sectors: chemical manufacturing,...

Example Sectoral Emissions Controls: Refining and Chemicals

Existing standards for petrochemical facilities

At present, petrochemical facilities are regulated under New Source Performance Standards that cover, among other things, fluid catalytic cracking units, fuel gas combustion devices, fluid coking unit...

Resource Fuel Switching and Building Electrification

Los Angeles’ Digital Twin

Cityzenith, a Chicago-based digital twin platform, is partnering with the Los Angeles branch of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Better Buildings Challenge to help construct a digital twin, or virtual ...

Example Conservation Incentives

IRS Conservation Contributions.

Under the IRC §170(f) and (h), a qualified conservation contribution in the form of a donation of land or a conservation easement to a 501(c)(3) organization such as a land conservancy or a state or l...

Resource Eco-Labels

Ecolabel Index

The Ecolabel Index catalogs over 200 different ecolabel programs in the United States.

Resource Reports on Carbon Price Mechanism DesignPricing Carbon into Energy Costs

Report, Carbon Pricing in Wholesale Electricity Markets: An Economic and Legal Guide

The Institute for Policy Integrity’s 2020 report explains how such carbon-pricing rules in organized wholesale electricity markets can improve economic efficiency. It then explores the economic princi...

Example Reducing Interconnection Costs and Burdens

FERC Order 2023

In 2023, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) released Order No. 2023, directing transmission providers to improve their interconnection processes, primarily by instituting a first-ready fi...

Resource Investing in Rail Efficiency

Report, ECP Brake System for Freight Service

The Federal Railroad Administration has published a report estimating that electronically controlled pneumatic (ECP) braking technology would reduce locomotive fuel use 5% to 10%.

Resource Technological Development and Information Sharing

DOE’s 21st Century Truck Partnership and Vehicle Technologies Office

DOE’s 21st Century Truck Partnership and Vehicle Technologies Office has partnered with industry, other federal agencies, and national laboratories on researching the next generation of HDV technologi...

Resource Protecting Forests through Conservation Easements

Report, An Introduction to Conservation Easements in the United States: A Simple Concept and Complicated Mosaic of Law

Cheever and McLaughlin’s 2015 article surveys the complex body of state and federal law that shapes the creation, funding, tax treatment, enforcement, modification, and termination of conservation eas...

Example Corporate Partnerships to Reduce Fluorinated Gas Emissions

GreenChill Partnership

EPA’s GreenChill Partnership with food retailers, technology manufacturers, and chemical manufacturers works to reduce refrigerant emissions and transition to environmentally safe refrigerants.

Resource Nuclear Facility Design Standardization

Report, Advanced Light Water Reactors Utility Requirements Document

Among other historical nuclear standards, EPRI-URD has produced a 2014 technical design standard for small modular light water reactors.

Resource Reports on Reducing Emissions from ShippingOffshore Wind DevelopmentCarbon Capture and Removal

White House Ocean Climate Action Plan

In March 2023, the White House Ocean Policy Committee released an Ocean Climate Action Plan (OCAP). The plan sets three overall goals: creating a carbon-neutral future; accelerating nature-based solut...

Resource CCS Technical and Economic Potential

NETL Reports, Best Practices for Carbon Storage Systems

The National Energy Technology Laboratory publishes Best Practice Manuals focused on establishing uniform approaches for carrying out essential activities common to the success of all CCS projects, in...

Resource Setting Emissions Standards for Locomotives

California’s In-Use Locomotive Regulation

In April 2023, California’s Air Resources Board (CARB) approved a first-in-the-nation rule limiting rail pollution. The rule will ban locomotive engines more than 23 years old by 2030 and increase the...

Resource Resources and Reports on Soil Carbon Sequestration Potential and Carbon Farming Generally

Report, Soil Carbon Sequestration Potential in US Croplands and Grasslands

Chambers et al.’s 2016 report assess the sequestration potential of US croplands and grasslands in the context of the 4 Per Thousand initiative, a French effort to enhance the carbon stock on a large ...

Resource Federal Mortgage Requirements

ACEEE Study on Federal Home Efficiency Requirements

In May 2022, ACEEE released a report analyzing the impacts of updating federally efficiency requirements for new homes receiving federally-backed mortgages or qualifying for federal programs. Congress...

Example Programs Offering Funding for Diesel Reduction

EPA’s SmartWay program

EPA’s voluntary SmartWay program is a partnership between the Agency, shippers, freight carriers, and freight logistics companies to benchmark and track CO2 emissions and disseminate information on fu...

Example Promoting Decarbonization through R&D

Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear

DOE’s Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear program seeks to provide the nuclear community with access to the technical, regulatory, and financial support necessary to move innovative nuclear ...

Example Promoting Decarbonization through R&D

Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy (ARPA-E)

The Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy (ARPA-E) was established in 2007 to bring new technologies from laboratory to market. ARPA-E has distributed $1.5 billion in R&D funding to more than 580 p...

Resource Proposed Carbon Pricing Schemes (US)Pricing Carbon into Energy CostsCarbon Adders in Rates and Utility Planning

FERC Technical Conference regarding Carbon Pricing in Organized Wholesale Electricity Markets (Sept. 2020)

At a September 2020 FERC Technical Conference, legal experts agreed that FERC does have the legal authority to implement a carbon price. Under sections 206 and 205 of the Federal Power Act, FERC has t...

Example Subsidies for Bioenergy Feedstock Development

Advanced Biofuel Production Payments

Through the Bioenergy Program for Advanced Biofuels, eligible producers may receive payments to support expanded production of advanced biofuels. Payment amounts will depend on the quantity and durati...

Resource Overcoming Obstacles to State Authorization of Transmission

DOE’s Grid Modernization Initiative’s 2015 Quadrennial Technology Review

The DOE’s Grid Modernization Initiative’s 2015 Quadrennial Technology Review provides a survey of the state of the nation’s interconnected grids, the challenges to achieving higher renewable penetrati...

Resource Utilizing Disturbed Lands for Renewables Development

NREL report: Solar Development on Contaminated and Disturbed Lands

NREL has prepared a 2013 report, Solar Development on Contaminated and Disturbed Lands, which examines the prospect of developing utility-scale solar power on degraded and environmentally contaminated...

Example EPA Authority Over Sources of Black Carbon

New Stationary Sources Standards

Different sections of the Clean Air Act authorize EPA to regulate particulate matter emissions from new stationary sources, including new source performance standards, prevention of significant deteri...

Resource Transmission Planning Processes

FERC’s Order 1920 on Transmission Planning

In May 2024, FERC issued Order 1920 on long-term transmission planning and cost allocation. The rule will require transmission operators to conduct and periodically update long-term regional transmiss...

Resource Balancing Wildlife Conservation Concerns

FWS’s Land Based Wind Energy Guidelines

The Fish and Wildlife Service’s Land Based Wind Energy Guidelines (2012) breaks down how the Endangered Species Act’s requirements impact the siting of wind farms.

Example Regulatory Approaches to Reducing Fluorinated Gases

EPA and NHTSA’s CAFE Standards GHG Credits Program

EPA and the NHTSA’s CAFE Standards GHG Credits Program encourages automobile manufacturers and importers to replace HFC-134a in mobile A/Cs. The program’s 2012 standards provide credits to manufacture...

Resource Setting the Value of Nuclear Power

FERC’s proposed Grid Resiliency Pricing Rule

The proposed Grid Resiliency Pricing Rule (82 Fed. Reg. at 46940) would have required system operators to develop pricing guidelines for “grid reliability and resiliency resources,” with a focus on pr...

Resource Expanding Vehicle Charging and Refueling Infrastructure

DOE’s EV Readiness Scorecard and Tools

DOE’s Vehicle Technologies Office houses EV Readiness Scorecard tools, designed to help estimate how much charging infrastructure a locality might need, determine how much exists now, and calculate th...

Resource Stranded Assets and Climate Disclosures

Final Guidance for Federal Depts. on Consideration of GHGs in NEPA Reviews

The Council on Environmental Quality issued final guidance in 2016 on considering GHG emissions and climate change in NEPA reviews. This guidance was withdrawn by the Trump Administration in 2017.

Resource Reports on Forest Management and Carbon Sequestration Potential

Report, Forest Management for Carbon Sequestration and Climate Adaptation

Ontl et al.’s 2020 report provides a Forest Carbon Management Menu to help translate broad carbon management concepts into actionable tactics that help managers reduce risk from expected climate impac...

Resource Building Energy Performance Standards

National Building Performance Standard Coalition

The National Building Performance Standards Coalition comprises a nationwide group of state and local governments that have committed to inclusively design and implement building performance policies ...

Resource Regulatory Cost-Benefit Analysis

White House Guidance on Cost-Benefit Analysis in Regulation

In November, 2023, the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) issued revisions to Circular A-4, the government-wide guidance on regulatory analysis, for the first time since 2003. The rev...

Example Increasing biofuel usage

FAA’s Sustainable Alternative Jet Fuels programs

The FAA’s Sustainable Alternative Jet Fuels work includes several federal partnerships and research efforts. These include the Commercial Aviation Alternative Fuels Initiative (a coalition of airlines...

Resource Transmission Planning Processes

NARIS Study

NREL’s 2021 North American Renewable Integration Study (NARIS) models potential features of an integrated US-Canada grid capable of achieving an 80% reduction in carbon emissions through multiple path...

Resource Subsidy Support for Industrial Process Improvements

RMI’s Decarbonizing Industry Resources Tool

The goal of the Decarbonizing Industry Resource Tool (DIRT) is to help project developers, industrial companies, and investors discover the state and federal financial incentives that may be applicabl...

Resource Enforcing Climate Law Through the Courts

Report, Model Statute for Proceedings Challenging Government Failure to Act on Climate Change

The purpose of this Model Statute is to suggest a path forward for individuals and communities to access their courts to challenge government action or inaction on climate change. The Model Statute, i...

Resource Overcoming Obstacles to State Authorization of Transmission

FERC Order 1000

FERC Order 1000 imposed on all public utility electric transmission providers the need to develop regional transmission plans. Those plans must consider non-transmission options as well as transmissio...

Example Subsidies for Bioenergy Feedstock Development

Advanced Biofuel Production Grants and Loan Guarantees

The Biorefinery Assistance Program provides loan guarantees for the development, construction, and retrofitting of commercial-scale biorefineries that produce advanced biofuels. Grants for demonstrati...

Resource Agricultural Land Conservation

National Conservation Easement Database

The NCED contains records for more than 130,000 conservation easements encumbering more than 24 million acres of land.

Resource Permitting Advanced Non-Light Water ReactorsReducing Costs of NRC Review

NRC Advanced Reactor Licensing Guidance

In April, 2024, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission published a new advanced reactor licensing guidance that could “significantly reduce the regulatory uncertainty” for non-light water reactors submitti...

Resource Reducing Interconnection Costs and Burdens

Report, UNLOCKING AMERICA’S ENERGY: How to Efficiently Connect New Generation to the Grid

The generator interconnection approval process has become a major barrier in recent years. The surge of generator interconnection requests has overwhelmed existing processes, causing major delays and ...

Resource Restricting Fossil Fuel Pollution in Frontline Communities

Harvard’s Federal Environmental Justice Tracker

This tracker follows regulations, policies, and other federal actions that affect communities’ exposure to environmental pollution, including public health protections for workers, pollution standards...

Resource Opportunities for EPA to Regulate Nitrous OxideReports on Technical and Legal Pathways to Reduce Nitrous Oxide Emissions Generally

Report, Managing a Forgotten Gas Under Existing US Law: An Interdisciplinary Analysis

Kanter et al.’s 2017 report studies regulatory options to control nitrous oxide and explores the environmental and economic impacts of enacting them. It determines that the Clean Air Act is the most p...

Resource Federal Fossil Fuel PhaseoutsProhibiting Oil and Gas Extraction

Report, A New Way Forward on Climate Change and Energy Development for Public Lands and Waters

Anticipating a change in Presidential Administration, this 2020 report from the Institute for Policy Integrity describes immediate and longer-term actions that Interior’s Bureau of Land Management and...

Resource Proposed Carbon Pricing Schemes (US)

IWG Social Cost of Carbon

The Interagency Working Group Social Cost of Carbon’s 2013 update gave four updated SCC estimates for 2020 at $12, $43, $64, and $128 (2007$) based on different integrated assessment models.

Example Opportunities for EPA to Regulate Nitrous Oxide

Clean Air Act §111

CAA §111 establishes a framework for regulating air pollution from stationary sources such as power plants and industrial facilities. EPA has not yet promulgated any new source performance standards o...

Resource Zero Net Energy Buildings

GSA’s Sustainable Facilities Tool

The General Service Administration’s Sustainable Facilities Tool offers information and resources on transitioning to net zero buildings.

Resource Proposed Carbon Pricing Schemes (US)

Berkeley report, Addressing Climate Change Without Legislation

UC Berkeley School of Law’s publication, Addressing Climate Change Without Legislation, proposes that through FERC’s authority over electricity rates, power contracts, and utility planning, as well as...

Resource CCS R&D

DOE Carbon Capture and Sequestration Technologies Funding

In April 2020, DOE announced up to $131 million for carbon capture, utilization, and storage R&D projects through one new funding opportunity announcement and the winners of five project selections fr...

Resource Purchasing Electric FleetsFederal Fossil Fuel PhaseoutsRegulatory Approaches to Reducing Fluorinated GasesRestricting Fossil Fuel Pollution in Frontline Communities

Executive Order 14008

EO 14088, one of the first Executive Orders signed during the Biden Administration, has been hailed as “a mini Green New Deal” in effect. It has several disparate provisions aimed at climate and clima...

Example Promoting Marine Hydrokinetic Development

DOE’s Water Power Technologies Office

DOE’s Water Power Program funds both hydropower and MHK resources. Their technology development areas include MHK R&D, MHK technology-specific system design and validation, reducing barriers to MHK te...

Example Funding Nuclear Innovation

DOE Grants for Advanced Nuclear Research

In 2017, DOE announced nearly $67 millionin grants awarded towards advanced nuclear energy research from a series of funding programs, including $37 million to support university-led nuclear energy re...

Resource Transmission Planning ProcessesRegional Transmission Planning

New FERC Transmission Planning Proceeding (2021)

In July 2021, FERC launched docket RM21-17-000, a rulemaking on high-voltage transmission planning, and said it is seeking comments about how it could change or enhance existing transmission regulatio...

Example Opportunities for EPA to Regulate Nitrous Oxide

Clean Air Act Title VI

CAA §615 provides the EPA Administrator authority to promulgate regulations controlling any substance anticipated to affect the stratosphere to the detriment of public health and welfare. This authori...

Example Promoting Pumped Storage Hydro Facilities

FERC policy statement on pumped storage in transmission markets

FERC issued a 2017 policy statement affirming that storage resources (including pumped storage) can serve as transmission assets, and therefore receive multiple revenue streams in organized markets.

Example Direct Loan, Grant, and Rebate Programs

USDA Energy Efficiency and Conservation Loan Program

The USDA’s Energy Efficiency and Conservation Loan Program provides direct loans to finance energy efficiency and conservation projects for commercial, industrial, and residential consumers in rural a...

Example Federal Land Management Strategies for Bioenergy

Multiple-Use and Sustained Yield Act of 1960

The Multiple-Use and Sustained Yield Act of 1960 regulates the “multiple Use” function of forest resources, which includes the “management of all the various renewable surface resources of the nationa...

Resource Inspection and Maintenance Requirements for HDVs

Report, Heavy-Duty Diesel Vehicle Modal Emission Model

EPA’s 2005 report proposed heavy-duty Diesel vehicle modal emission modeling framework (HDDV-MEMF) for heavy-duty diesel-powered trucks and buses.

Resource Nuclear Siting

Report, Siting Considerations Related to Population for Small Modular and Non-Light Water Reactors

The NRC published a draft document on Siting Considerations Related to Population for Small Modular and Non-Light Water Reactors, reviewing the state of advanced small modular nuclear technology and c...

Example Direct Loan, Grant, and Rebate Programs

USDA Environmental Quality Incentives Program

USDA’s Environmental Quality Incentives Program provides agricultural producers with direct financing to pay for energy efficiency improvements.

Resource Improving DOE’s Process for Issuing EE Regs Under Current Authority

Report, Next Generation Standards

The Appliance Standards Awareness Project and American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy wrote a 2016 report on next generation EE standards that identified new categories of products which DOE ...

Resource Protecting Forests through Local Land Use Regulations

Forest Stewardship Program

The US Forest Stewardship Program works in partnership with state forestry agencies, cooperative extension, and conservation districts to connect private landowners with information and tools to more ...

Example Patent Incentives

Pilot Program for Green Technologies Including Greenhouse Gas Reduction

The US Patent and Trademark Office’s commenced a Pilot Program for Green Technologies Including Greenhouse Gas Reduction in 2009, under which patent applications for green technologies received expedi...

Example Model New Source Performance Standards for Fossil Generators

Existing NSPS for New Coal Generation

In 2015, New Source Performance Standards were promulgated for new coal-fired plants at 80 Fed. Reg. 64510. These established partial CCS as the Best System of Emissions Reduction. In 2018, EPA propos...

Resource EPA Authority Over Sources of Black Carbon

Stationary Existing Source Standards

EPA has two statutory regimes under which to regulate particulate matter and black carbon, national emissions standards for hazardous air pollutants (NESHAPs) and §111(d) existing source standards. NE...

Resource Reducing Costs of NRC Review

Report, The Future of Nuclear Energy in a Carbon Constrained World

A 2015 MIT study, The Future of Nuclear Energy in a Carbon Constrained World, assessed that current regulatory systems are flexible enough to accommodate licensing of advanced reactor designs. It reco...

Resource CCS Technical and Economic Potential

NETL report, Carbon Capture and Sequestration Approaches for NGCC Systems

NETL’s 2010 report surveys case studies of carbon capture at NGCC plants, including post-, pre-, and oxy-combustion, and their performance factors.

Resource Reports on Hydropower Potential

DOE report, New Stream-reach Development: A Comprehensive Assessment of Hydropower Potential in the United States

DOE’s 2014 report identifies approximately 65 GW of new stream reach hydropower development at more than 3 million U.S. streams.

Resource Zero Net Energy Buildings

DOE’s Zero Energy Ready Home Standard

The Department of Energy’s Zero Energy Ready Home Standard lays out tools and benchmarks by which to build homes “so energy efficient, that a renewable energy system can offset all or most of [their] ...

Resource Incentives for EVs and Hydrogen Vehicles

DOE Database of EV Tax Credits and Incentives

The Department of Energy maintains an online database of electric vehicle tax credits and other incentives offered in different jurisdictions.

Example EPA Authority Over Sources of Black Carbon

CAA §202(a)(1) – On-road Vehicle Sources

Clean Air Act §202(a)(1) gives EPA authority to establish emissions standards for “any air pollutant from any class or classes of new motor vehicles or new motor vehicle engines.” This authority exten...

Resource Creating Pipeline Capacity for Biofuels

DOE report on ethanol pipelines

Congress directed DOE to study the feasibility of constructing and using pipelines dedicated to the transportation of ethanol. In a 2010 report to Congress, DOE considered dedicated pipelines for etha...

Resource Reports on Hydropower Potential

DOE report, An Assessment of Energy Potential at Non-Powered Dams in the United States

DOE’s report, An Assessment of Energy Potential at Non-Powered Dams in the United States, assesses the energy potential at the US’s 80,000+ non-powered dams, which provide a variety of services rangin...

Resource Federal Fossil Fuel Phaseouts

Report, Look Before You Lease

The Institute for Policy Integrity’s 2020 report, Look Before You Lease, argues that the federal government currently fails to account for option value in its public land management processes, resulti...

Resource Offsets

CFTC’s Guidance on Carbon Credit Derivatives

As carbon credits grow in popularity as a means for purchasers to claim they have offset their emissions, a growing market of derivatives based on carbon credits has emerged. These derivatives, even m...

Example Promoting Decarbonization through R&D

DOE’s Vehicle Technologies Office

The DOE’s Vehicle Technologies Office supports research in a variety of fields relating to electric and hybrid vehicles, including applied battery research.

Example Emerging Aviation Technologies

FAA CLEEN program

The FAA’s CLEEN (Continuous Lower Energy, Emissions, and Noise) program is the FAA’s principal environmental effort to accelerate the development of new aircraft and engine technologies and advance su...

Example Promoting Decarbonization through R&D

SunShot Initiative

The DOE’s SunShot Initiative was launched in 2011 with the goal of reducing the cost of solar energy 75% by 2020, which target was met three years early. The program has set a 2030 goal to halve that ...

Example Promoting Alternatives to Car Transport

FHA Regulations on Highway Design Standards

The Federal Highways Administration has revised its regulations to encourage agencies applying highway design standards to take into account the “constructed and natural environment of the area” and t...

Resource Eco-Labels

EPA Recommended Ecolabels for Federal Purchasing

EPA’s Recommended Ecolabels for Federal Purchasing are intended to help federal purchasers efficiently and effectively identify and procure environmentally sustainable products and services to meet th...

Resource Stranded Assets and Climate Disclosures

Federal Reserve Guidance on Climate Risks to Large Banking

In December, 2022, the Federal Reserve released draft guidance that could push major banks to manage the financial threats of a warming world. The proposed guidance would apply to lenders with more th...

Resource Model New Source Performance Standards for Fossil Generators

Model NSPS for New Natural Gas Generation

LPDD suggests that, in the near term, NSPS for new combined cycle natural gas plants require at least partial carbon capture, modifying 40 CFR pt. 60 subpt. TTTT tbl. 2 to reflect a 551 lb CO2/MWh gro...

Example Promoting Pumped Storage Hydro Facilities

HydroWIRES

DOE’s Water Power Technologies Office has launched a new grid research initiative—Hydropower and Water Innovation for a Resilient Electricity System (HydroWIRES)—to understand, enable, and improve hyd...

Example Sectoral Emissions Controls: Cement and Lime

Existing Standards for Cement and Lime

EPA regulates cement and lime production and related industries through New Source Performance Standards that cover, among other things, kilms, clinker coolers, raw and rinish mill systems, raw mill d...

Example Demand Response

FERC Order 745

FERC Order 745 ensured that cost-effective demand response resources in an RTO or ISO’s territory must be compensated at the locational marginal price.

Example Supporting Climate-Friendly Agriculture R&D

National Institute of Food and Agriculture research funding

Little NIFA funding currently goes to climate. E.g., of $375 million sought in President Obama’s 2016 Budget, only $15 million was related to climate, and none of that was to go towards mitigation eff...

Example CCS Subsidies

DOE Carbon Capture and Sequestration Technologies Funding

In 2017, DOE announced $36 million dollars in funding for advanced carbon capture technologies. The funding was divided between four awards totaling $30 million demonstrating the scaling of carbon cap...

Resource Accelerating Federal Permits

Coordinated Interagency Transmission Authorizations and Permits (CITAP) Rule

In April 2024, the Dept. of Energy finalized the Coordinated Interagency Transmission Authorizations and Permits (CITAP) rule, which gives transmission developers a new option for a streamlined federa...

Resource Reports on Carbon Price Mechanism DesignPricing Carbon into Energy Costs

Report, Enhancing the Social Benefits of Regulatory Review

The Institute for Policy Integrity’s 2020 report, Enhancing the Social Benefits of Regulatory Review, focuses on potential reforms through the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) at th...

Example Utilizing Disturbed Lands for Renewables Development

RE-Powering America’s Land Initiative

The US EPA has established the RE-Powering America’s Land Initiative to encourage and facilitate the development of renewable energy on disturbed lands. EPA has developed an online mapping tool that h...

Example Government Loan Guarantees

USDA Renewable Energy Systems and Energy Efficiency Improvement Loans and Grants Program

The USDA Renewable Energy Systems and Energy Efficiency Improvement Loans and Grants Program provides loan guarantees to rural businesses or agricultural producers for renewable energy systems or ener...

Resource Electric Cooperatives

CoBank

CoBank is a special purpose federal financial institution that provides financing to electric cooperatives.

Example Direct Loan, Grant, and Rebate Programs

FHA PowerSaver Loan Program

The FHA’s PowerSaver Loan Program is a pilot mortgage insurance/ home improvement loan program from the Federal Housing Administration that enables homeowners to finance cost-effective, energy-saving ...

Resource Reports on Materials Consumption and Solid Waste Generally

EPA report, Opportunities to Reduce Greenhouse Emissions Through Materials and Land Management Practices

EPA’s 2009 report, Opportunities to Reduce Greenhouse Emissions Through Materials and Land Management Practices, assesses materials management through resource conservation and recovery methods and an...

Example Utilities As Transactional Platforms

FERC demand response orders

FERC Order 745 ordered RTOS to open their markets to demand response. FERC Order 755 ordered RTOs to provide frequency regulation compensation to third parties. FERC Order 784 eases the barriers for t...

Resource Subsidies for Bioenergy Feedstock Development

Catalog of state and federal biofuels incentives

DOE maintains a catalog of state and federal biofuels incentives on its website.

Example Opening New Revenues to Hydro

FERC rule on pumped storage in RTO and ISO markets

In 2018, FERC issued a final rule to allow energy storage resources (including pumped storage) to more fully participate in organized electricity markets by removing barriers to these resources in the...

Resource Reducing Agricultural Emissions through Source RegulationState and Local Nitrous Oxide Management Plans

Potential Improvements to Clean Water Act NPDES Program

The Clean Water Act establishes a national pollution discharge elimination system to regulate operations that discharge pollutants directly into waters. Agricultural operations, including CAFOs, are c...

Example Opening New Revenues to Hydro

FERC policy statement on pumped storage in transmission markets

FERC issued a 2017 policy statement affirming that storage resources (including pumped storage) can serve as transmission assets, and therefore receive multiple revenue streams in organized markets.

Resource Transmission Planning ProcessesOvercoming Obstacles to State Authorization of Transmission

Report, Building a New Grid Without New Legislation: A Path to Revitalizing Federal Transmission Authorities

This 2020 report from the Institute for Policy Integrity holds that, in the absence of legislation, critical long-distance transmission can be developed by applying existing federal legal authorities....

Example EPA Authority Over Sources of Black Carbon

Residential Standards

EPA may regulate black carbon from residential sources through new source performance standards for residential heating stoves, education, or incentivizing the replacement of inefficient stoves. EPA p...

Model Law Opportunities for EPA to Regulate Nitrous Oxide

LPDD Model Regulation: Controlling N2O Emissions from Large Commercial Farms

This model regulation is designed to control emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O) from large commercial crop farms to reduce impacts of N2O pollution to the stratospheric ozone layer. The regulation estab...

Example Sectoral Emissions Controls: Pulp and Paper

Existing Standards for Pulp and Paper

EPA regulates pulp and paper production through New Source Performance Standards that cover digester, brown stock washer, and evaporator systems, recovery furnaces, smelt dissolving tanks, lime kilns,...

Example Opening New Revenues to Hydro

FERC Order 890

FERC Order 890, Preventing Undue Discrimination and Preference in Transmission Service, required that non-generation resources be evaluated on a comparable basis to services provided by generation res...

Example Supporting Climate-Friendly Agriculture R&D

Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research

The Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research was established by the 2014 Farm Bill and has environmental concerns within its mandate. Its “Healthy Soils, Thriving Farms” Initiative is likely to be...

Resource Efficiency Trading for Shipping

US 2009 Ship Efficiency and Credit Trading Proposal

In 2009, the US made an IMO proposal calling to group ships of similar size together, then establish goals of specific improvement in the average efficiency of the world’s fleet for each class and siz...

Example Direct Loan, Grant, and Rebate Programs

Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program

The Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing (ATVM) direct loan program was established in Section 136 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 to support the production of fuel-efficient...

Example Utilizing Federal Land for Solar Development

Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan

The Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan designated multiple uses and protections for a 22.5-million acre portion of the California desert, including 388,000 acres for renewable energy developmen...

Resource Divesting from Fossil FuelsStranded Assets and Climate Disclosures

Report, Managing Climate Risk in the Financial System

In 2020, a report commissioned by the Commodity Future Trading Commission, the federal regulators overseeing the nation’s commodities markets, concluded that climate change threatens U.S. financial ma...

Resource Tax Incentives for CCS

Congressional Research Service Brief on Clean Coal Tax Incentives

A 2014 Congressional Research Service brief provides a survey of clean coal loan guarantees and tax incentives.

Example Emerging Aviation Technologies

NASA advanced aviation research

NASA’s Advanced Air Vehicles Program and Integrated Aviation System Research Program both conduct research on new vehicle technologies that will have a significant impact on reducing emissions. For si...

Example Financial Incentives for Renewable Gas ProductionControlling Methane from Manure

Rural Energy for America Program

The REAP program provides grants up to $500,000 and loans to agricultural producers and rural small businesses for energy systems. While REAP funding is available for renewable gas systems, numerous r...

Example Promoting Efficiency in the Hydropower Licensing Process

Vermont’s Small Hydropower Assistance Program

Vermont’s Act 165 (S.148) directs the state to enter into a MOU with FERC to simplify the regulatory review process for small hydropower projects. After consulting with Colorado on their experience co...

Example Federal Land Management Strategies for Bioenergy

National Forest Management Act

The National Forest Management Act implements a multiple-use, sustained-yield mandate on federal forestlands. This Act could be interpreted to grant the US Forest Service the regulatory authority to r...

Example Highway Renewables SitingHighway Transmission Corridors

FHWA Guidance on Rights of Way for Renewable Projects and Transmission

While states must coordinate their use of federal interstate rights of way with the Federal Highway Administration, that agency has already instructed states to put that land to use for “clean energy ...

Example Regulatory Approaches to Reducing Fluorinated Gases

EPA’s Emissions Reduction and Reclamation Program

In September, 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced a final rule to establish the Emissions Reduction and Reclamation (ER&R) Program, which will help to better manage, recycle, and ...

Example Technological Development and Information Sharing

EPA’s SmartWay program

EPA’s voluntary SmartWay program is a partnership between the Agency, shippers, freight carriers, and freight logistics companies to benchmark and track CO2 emissions and disseminate information on fu...

Resource Access to ISO/RTO Markets

FERC Order 2222

In September 2020, FERC issued Order 2222, paving the way for aggregated distributed energy resources (DERs) to compete alongside traditional power plants and other grid resources in wholesale markets...

Resource Clarifying Regulatory Authority Over Trailers and Gliders

EPA Rules Regulating Gliders

In 2016, EPA and NHTSA claimed broad authority to regulate gliders in the same way as they would regulate any new HDV released in the year the glider was constructed. See 81 Fed. Reg. 73478, at 73513-...

Resource Accelerating Federal Permits

White House Action Plan and Guidance Memo on Permitting

In May 2022, the White House released the Biden-Harris Permitting Action Plan, aiming to accelerate federal permitting of infrastructure projects. The Action Plan outlined five approaches, including c...

Example Federal and State Forest Management Programs

Forest Stewardship Program

The US Forest Stewardship Program works in partnership with state forestry agencies, cooperative extension, and conservation districts to connect private landowners with information and tools to more ...

Example Using Crop Insurance Regimes to Incentivize Lower Agriculture EmissionsUsing Crop Insurance to Incentivize Better Farming Practices

Good Farming Practice Determination Standards Handbook

The 2016 Good Farming Practice Determination Standards Handbook, for the first time, stated that practices promoted by the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service would generally be recognized a...

Example Opportunities for EPA to Regulate Nitrous Oxide

Clean Air Act §202

CAA §202(a) allows EPA to prescribe standards for air pollutants from mobile sources that may cause or contribute to air pollution that endangers public health or welfare. EPA has used this authority ...

Resource CCS Technical and Economic Potential

DOE report, Siting and Regulating Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage Infrastructure Workshop Report

DOE’s 2017 report surveys existing and potential CCS infrastructure, state and federal incentives, and state and federal policy regarding pipelines and storage.

Resource Stranded Assets and Climate Disclosures

SEC Rules on Climate Disclosure (Updated March 2024)

In March, 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission adopted new rules requiring publicly traded companies to disclose financial risks to their investors caused by climate change and efforts to addr...

Resource Technological Development and Information SharingEmerging Aviation TechnologiesReports on Reducing Emissions from Shipping

Report, The Challenge of Decarbonizing Heavy Transport

This 2020 report from the Brookings Institute outlines the technical challenges to decarbonizing heavy duty transport, including aviation and shipping. The report notes the differences between the rel...

Example Promoting Pumped Storage Hydro Facilities

FERC Order 890

FERC Order 890, Preventing Undue Discrimination and Preference in Transmission Service, required that non-generation resources be evaluated on a comparable basis to services provided by generation res...

Resource Green BanksGreen Banks and Related SFOs

DOE report, Energy Investment Partnerships

DOE’s 2015 report, Energy Investment Partnerships: How State and Local Governments Are Engaging Private Capital to Drive Clean Energy Investment, provides a national survey of state and local Energy I...

Example Pursuing Aviation Demand Reductions

DOD Memorandum: Track Four Efficiency Initiatives Decisions

Through a 2010 Memorandum, DOD required that DOD travel requests explain why alternate means such as web-based communications are not sufficiently able to accomplish the travel objective.

Example Impacting Power Plant Economics Through Cooling Water Restrictions

NPDES Regulations To Establish Requirements for Cooling Water Intake Structures

In rules adopted in 2014, EPA identified seven different ways for existing facilities to comply with cooling water restrictions, while finding that closed-cycle cooling towers provide the most efficie...

Example Agricultural Land Conservation

Conservation Resource Program

The USDA’s Conservation Resource Program accounts for approximately 37% of conservation spending. It pays farmers to take environmentally sensitive land out of agricultural production for 10-15 years....

Resource Using CHP at Biofuel Production Facilities

CHP Policies and Incentives Database

The CHP Policies and Incentives Database is an online database that allows users to search for CHP policies and incentives by state or at the federal level.

Example Federal and State Forest Management Programs

USDA’s Proposed Old Growth Forest Protections

In a notice published in the Federal Register in December 2023, the Agriculture Department said it will direct all land management plans for units of the National Forest System to adopt an “adaptive s...

Resource Carbon Adders in Rates and Utility Planning

Report, Markets, Externalities, and the Federal Power Act

NYU’s Environmental Law Journal published a 2019 article on FERC’s authority to price carbon dioxide emissions.

Example Light-Duty Vehicle Emissions Standards

EPA’s Light Duty Vehicle Emissions Standards for MY 2023-2026

In December 2021, EPA finalized revised national GHG emissions standards for passenger cars and light trucks for Model Years 2023- 2026. The final standards would achieve significant GHG emissions red...

Resource Supporting Climate-Friendly Agriculture R&D

Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program

The Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program provides funding for on-farm research and efforts to increase knowledge about sustainable agricultural practices among farmers and agricultur...

Example Pursuing Aviation Demand Reductions

Executive Order 13693

EO 13693 (2015) called on federal agencies to “consider the development of policies to promote sustainable commuting and work-related travel practices for Federal employees that foster workplace vehic...

Resource Utilizing Federal Land for Solar Development

Western Solar Plan

The Bureau of Land Management’s Western Solar Plan categorized lands that are excluded from utility-scale solar energy development (about 79 million acres) and identified specific locations that are w...

Example Restricting Fossil Fuel Pollution in Frontline Communities

EO 14096 on Environmental Justice

In April 2023, President Biden signed an executive order creating a new Office of Environmental Justice (OEJ) within the White House Council on Environmental Quality, which will coordinate initiatives...

Resource EPA Authority Over Sources of Black Carbon

CAA §213 – Nonroad Vehicle Sources

Clean Air Act §213 grants EPA the power to regulate nonroad vehicle sources, which includes any type of mobile source that was not designed primarily for highway travel. EPA must regulate emissions of...

Example EPA Authority Over Sources of Black Carbon

EPA 2023 Proposed Soot Exposure Regulation

In January 2023, EPA proposed a reduction of the allowable annual exposure to industrial soot pollution, and will solicit public comment before making a final decision in 2023. EPA’s proposal would lo...

Example Financing Deep Retrofits

General Services Administration ESPCs

US General Services Administration issued a report on government efforts to undertake deep energy retrofits using energy services performance contracts with outside contractors. The report highlights ...

Resource Methane in Waste Management

Report, Turning down the Heat: How the EPA Can Fight Climate Change by Cutting Landfill Emissions

Industrious Labs’ October 2024 report, Turning Down the Heat, estimated the emissions reductions that would occur if the United States put in place more aggressive policies to capture methane emitted ...

Resource State and Local Fossil Phaseout Legislation GenerallyFederal Fossil Fuel Phaseouts

Evergreen Report on 100% Clean Power Post-IRA

In January 2023, the Evergreen Collaborative and NRDC published a paper outlining the roadmap towards 80 percent clean power by 2030 and 100 percent clean electricity by 2035, building on the passage ...

Resource Energy Use Benchmarking and AuditingRequiring Energy Audits and Benchmarking

EPA’s Energy Star Portfolio Manager tool

EPA’s Energy Star Portfolio Manager tool is designed to measure and track energy and water consumption, as well as greenhouse gas emissions, for either one or a whole portfolio of buildings. This leve...

Resource Crypto Mining

White House Report, Climate and Energy Implications of Crypto-Assets in the United States

In September 2022, the White House published a report on climate and energy implications of crypto-mining in the US. The report concluded crypto-asset activity is estimated to result in approximately ...

Resource Regional Transmission Planning

Report, Regional Transmission Planning

Lawrence Berkeley National Lab published a 2017 survey, Regional Transmission Planning, of practices across independent system operators in response to FERC’s Order 1000. The report, among other thing...

Example Green Bonds

Fannie Mae Multifamily Green Financing Program

Fannie Mae’s Multifamily Green Financing Program provides mortgage financing to apartment buildings and cooperative for the retrofitting of U.S. rental housing stock to become more energy- and water-e...

Resource Coal Mine Methane

EPA Coalbed Methane Outreach Program

EPA’s Coalbed Methane Outreach Program works cooperatively with coal companies to reduce methane emissions through recovery and utilization programs. CMOP provides mine-specific information and techni...

Resource Regulation of Oil and Gas Sector Methane Emissions

EPA Technical Reports on Methane Emissions Reduction from Oil and Gas Sector

In 2014, EPA released five technical reports outlining strategies to reduce methane emissions from the oil and natural gas sector. They included volumes on compressors, fracking wells, leaks, liquids ...

Example Using CHP at Biofuel Production Facilities

EO 13624

A 2012 Executive Order tasked the Depts. of Energy, Commerce, Agriculture, and the EPA, in coordination with other agencies, with developing policies to encourage investment in industrial efficiency. ...

Resource Investing in Rail Efficiency

DOT’s Positive Train Control Resources

The Department of Transportation and Federal Railroad Administration maintain resources on positive train control, including relevant regulations, technical standards, grants, and implementation statu...

Example Regulatory Approaches to Reducing Fluorinated Gases

California’s Sulfur Hexafluoride Regulations

California’s SF6 reduction program applies to all retailers and users of SF6 except for those using it for electric utility or semiconductor manufacture.

Resource Natural Gas Bans in New BuildingsBuilding Energy Performance Standards

Federal Building Performance Standards and Proposed New Building Rules

In December 2020, the CEQ and DOE announced complementary policies applying to new and existing federal buildings. For new or newly renovated federal buildings, DOE announced a new proposed rule to he...

Example Biofuel Research and Development

DOE Bioenergy Research and Development Portfolio

The DOE has funded several bioenergy R&D projects, including a 2018 announcement of 36 projects totaling $80 million of support to develop drop-in renewable hydrocarbon fuels, bio-based products, and ...

Example Reducing Fluorinated Gases through Purchasing Policies

Federal Acquisitions Regulation HFC policy

The Federal Acquisitions Regulation governs the acquisitions process for federal agencies and contractors. In 2016, a final rule amended FAR to require procurement of alternatives to high global warmi...

Resource Low Carbon Dietary GuidelinesDietary Guidelines

Report, Statutory Authority for Sustainability in the Dietary Guidelines of Americans

Simon’s 2015 report provides a legal analysis of statutory authority for sustainability in the dietary guidelines of Americans. It argues that the National Nutrition Monitoring and Related Research Ac...

Resource Fuel Economy ProgramsAdvancing Fuel Economy Regulatory Programs

EPA’s Finalized Tailpipe Regulations (2024)

In March 2024, EPA finalized new rules on vehicle emissions for both light- and heavy-duty vehicles that will push the auto industry to accelerate its transition to electric vehicles. For light- and m...

Resource Reports on Bioenergy and Sequestration Potential

DOE’s Billion-Ton Report

DOE’s 2016 Billion-Ton Report on Advancing Domestic Resources for a Thriving Bioeconomy identifies potential biomass resources of one billion tons or more per year in the United States. For more than ...

Resource Regulation of Oil and Gas Sector Methane Emissions

BLM’s Proposed Methane Rules from Oil and Gas Sites

In November 2022, the Bureau of Land Management released draft rules to stem the release of methane from oil and gas drilling on public lands. The proposed rules would mandate that operators maintain ...

Resource Restricting Fossil Fuel Pollution in Frontline Communities

Frontlines Climate Justice Executive Action Platform

This platform proposes a set of actions the executive branch can take to equitably address the climate crisis without new legislation, major new appropriations, or other Congressional authority.

Resource Model New Source Performance Standards for Fossil Generators

Model NSPS for New Coal Generation

The LPDD report proposes that NSPS standards for coal can be enhanced beyond the 2015 level. LPDD suggests that NSPS for new coal-fired units require full carbon dioxide capture (i.e., 90%), modifying...

Resource Promoting Pumped Storage Hydro Facilities

DOE report, Energy Storage Technology and Cost Characterization Report

DOE’s 2019 report, Energy Storage Technology and Cost Characterization, defines and evaluates cost and performance parameters of six battery energy storage technologies and four non-BESS storage techn...

Resource Emerging Aviation Technologies

US Aviation GHG Emission Reduction Plan

The United States Aviation Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction Plan (2015) submitted to ICAO summarizes federal research efforts at the FAA, NASA, and DOD to pursue lower emissions aviation technology.

Resource CCS Technical and Economic Potential

NETL Studies on the Economic Feasibility of CO2 Capture

Through 2015, DOE’s National Energy Technology Laboratory published reports on carbon capture systems analysis. NETL conducted various energy analyses that provide input to decisions on issues such as...

Example Funding Nuclear Innovation

FOA, US Industry Opportunities for Advanced Nuclear Technology Development

Throughout 2018-19, DOE announced funding selectees for multiple domestic advanced nuclear technology projects under the FOA, U.S. Industry Opportunities for Advanced Nuclear Technology Development, t...

Resource Improving DOE’s Process for Issuing EE Regs Under Current Authority

Report, Clothes Dryer Testing

ACEEE has written a study in the best practices of clothes dryer energy efficiency testing, focusing on improvements in DOE’s testing methodology.

Resource Reducing Interconnection Costs and Burdens

FERC Proposed Rules to Speed Up Project Interconnections

In June 2022, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking outlining a plan to speed up and streamline what’s become a slow and expensive process of connecting new s...

Example Accelerating Federal Permits

DOE’s Proposal to Exempt Solar, Storage, Transmission from Environmental Review

In November, 2023, the Department of Energy proposed to offer “categorical exclusions” from otherwise required environmental reviews for certain energy storage, solar and rebuilt or upgraded transmiss...

Resource US Decarbonization ResourcesFederal and State Forest Management ProgramsImproving DOE’s Process for Issuing EE Regs Under Current AuthorityLight-Duty Vehicle Emissions StandardsProhibiting Oil and Gas ExtractionRegulation of Oil and Gas Sector Methane EmissionsRegulatory Approaches to Reducing Fluorinated GasesRestricting Fossil-Fuel Powered Electric Plants

Report, Climate Reregulation in a Biden Administration

This August 2020 report from the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law charts a course for executive action that, under a new presidential administration, would reverse the deregulatory agenda of the Tr...

Resource Minimizing Pipeline LeaksPipeline Leaks

EPA Report, Improvements Needed in EPA Efforts to Address Methane Emissions from Natural Gas Distribution Pipelines

EPA’s 2014 report focusing on its own regulatory power over pipeline leaks recommends that the EPA work with the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, develop a strategy to address t...

Resource Low Carbon Gas Technical PotentialMinimizing Pipeline Leaks

Report, Investing in the US Natural Gas Pipeline System to Support Net-Zero Targets

This April 2021 paper, part of the work by Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy on natural gas and the energy transition, examines projections of continued natural gas use and the zero...

Example Agricultural Land Conservation

Environmental Quality Incentives Program

The Environmental Quality Incentives Program provides financial assistance to farmers who adopt or install conservation practices on land in agricultural production. Common practices include nutrient ...

Example Financial Incentives for Renewable Gas Production

Advanced Biofuel Payment Program

The federal Advanced Biofuel Payment Program provides incentives for anaerobic digestion projects, including those targeted for pipeline injection, a use often excluded from state programs. The ABPP d...

Example Funding Innovation in Transmission Distribution and Storage

DOE’s Joint Center for Energy Storage Research

In September 2018, the Department of Energy committed $120 million over five years to support the Joint Center for Energy Storage Research, which devoted to advancing battery science and technology.

Example US Decarbonization ResourcesFederal Fossil Fuel PhaseoutsLow Carbon ConcretePurchasing Electric FleetsZero Net Energy Buildings

EO 14057

In December 2021, President Biden signed EO 14057, which orders the U.S. government to be “net-zero” by 2050. EO 14057 directs the federal government to leverage its 300,000 buildings, 600,000 cars an...

Resource Proposed Carbon Pricing Schemes (US)

Report: Markets, Externalities, and the Federal Power Act

NYU’s Environmental Law Journal published a 2019 article on FERC’s authority to price carbon dioxide emissions.

Example Utilities As Transactional Platforms

FERC Order 841

FERC Order 841 (2018) directed regional grid operators to remove barriers to the participation of electric storage in wholesale markets. By directing the regional grid operators to establish rules tha...

Example Promoting Efficiency in the Hydropower Licensing Process

Colorado’s Streamlined Federal Permitting Assistance Service for Small Hydropower

In 2010, Colorado and FERC entered into an MOU to encourage the development of small hydropower. The MOU required the state to prescreen proposed hydropower projects and submit the exemption applicati...

Example Funding Innovation in Low Emission Light Vehicles

DOE Electric Vehicle Innovation Funding

In 2017, DOE made a collective $5.7M award to Battery500, a consortium of battery companies, to fund 15 projects geared towards developing a battery that costs less than $100/kWh. In 2018, DOE followe...

Resource Reports on Bioenergy and Sequestration Potential

United States Mid-Century Strategy for Deep Decarbonization

The US’s Mid-Century Strategy for Deep Decarbonization (2016), which aims for emissions reductions of at least 80 percent below 2005 levels by 2050, projects a prominent role for bioenergy feedstocks ...

Example Reorienting Transportation Planning to Minimize GHGs

Repealed Rules Requiring Planning Agencies to Track CO2 Emissions

Although it was swiftly repealed by the Trump Administration, in January 2017 the Federal Highway Administration briefly published a final rule (82 Fed. Reg. 5970) requiring state and regional plannin...

Example Promoting Pumped Storage Hydro Facilities

FERC rule on pumped storage in RTO and ISO markets

In 2018, FERC issued a final rule to allow energy storage resources (including pumped storage) to more fully participate in organized electricity markets by removing barriers to these resources in the...

Example Programs Offering Funding for Diesel Reduction

LIHEAP

The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, among other financial assistance, funds woodstove replacement for low-income households.

Resource EPA Authority Over Sources of Black Carbon

Report, Domestic Mitigation of Black Carbon from Diesel Emissions

Chang’s 2011 report examines how black carbon emissions are controlled under the CAA and what EPA, states, and municipalities can do to mitigate black carbon emissions further.

Resource Regulatory Cost-Benefit AnalysisPricing Carbon into Energy CostsProposed Carbon Pricing Schemes (US)

Report, The Social Cost of Greenhouse Gases: An Overview

In December 2023, EPA finalized updated values for the social cost of greenhouse gases (SC-GHG), following public comment and expert peer review. The agency derived these estimates using the best avai...

Example Government Loan Guarantees

DOE’s Innovation Energy Loan Guarantee Program

DOE’s Innovation Energy Loan Guarantee Program has nearly $22 billion available for loan guarantees to accelerate the commercial deployment of innovative energy technology. The U.S. Department of Ener...

Example Sectoral Emissions Controls: Primary Metals

Existing Standards for Primary Metals

At present, EPA regulates iron and steel and primary metals production through New Source Performance Standards that cover, among other things, basic oxygen furnaces and electric arc furnaces at steel...

Example Protecting Forests through Conservation Easements

Forest Legacy Program

The Forest Legacy Program, a voluntary federal program in partnership with states, which encourages and supports conservation easements and the acquisition of partial interests in privately owned fore...

Resource Eco-Labels

FTC Ecolabeling Green Guides

The Federal Trade Commission’s Green Guides are intended to help ensure that marketing claims regarding the environmental attributes of products are truthful and substantiated. These guides largely ad...

Example Federal Fossil Fuel Phaseouts

Secretary’s Order 3338

The Obama Administration’s Secretary’s Order 3338 prohibited new coal exploration on public lands for a period. This type of EO could be seen as a model for a future president to apply to all fossil f...

Resource Proposed Carbon Pricing Schemes (US)

EIA carbon tax modeling

The Energy Information Administration, in its Annual Energy Outlook 2014 report, modeled a carbon price of $25 per metric ton, increasing 5% per year. The model showed a very small change in retail en...

Example Supporting Electric HDVs through Grants, Taxes, and Rebates

EPA’s National Clean Diesel Grants Program

EPA’s National Clean Diesel Grants Program provides grants to government entities and nonprofits to assist owners in financing the retrofit, repowering, or replacement of certain HDVs.

Resource Clarifying Regulatory Authority Over Trailers and Gliders

EPA Rule on Aerodynamics of Heavy-Duty Vehicle Trailers

In 2016, EPA and NHTSA planned to regulate the aerodynamics of HDV trailers, a rule that was projected to save 9% in per-vehicle fuel savings by 2027. See 81 Fed. Reg. 73478, at 73521. That rule was c...

Resource Promoting Conduit Hydro Facilities

DOI report, Site Inventory and Hydropower Assessment of Reclamation Owned Conduits

The Bureau of Reclamation’s 2012 report, Site Inventory and Hydropower Assessment of Reclamation Owned Conduits, found that more than 373 canals and conduits under its authority have the potential for...

Resource Building Energy Audits

EPA’s Energy Star Portfolio Manager tool

EPA’s Energy Star Portfolio Manager tool is designed to measure and track energy and water consumption, as well as greenhouse gas emissions, for either one or a whole portfolio of buildings. This leve...

Resource Proposed Carbon Pricing Schemes (US)Accelerated Transmission ConstructionTransmission Planning Processes

Report, A Path Forward for FERC

The Institute for Policy Integrity’s 2020 report, A Path Forward for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, advises that FERC should take an active role in better aligning regulatory practices with...

Example Funding Innovation in Low Emission Light Vehicles

DOE’s Vehicle Technologies Office

The DOE’s Vehicle Technologies Office supports research in a variety of fields relating to electric and hybrid vehicles, including applied battery research.

Example Methane in Waste Management

Obama-Era Methane Rules

The Obama Administration promulgated methane rules that the Trump Administration has sought to roll back. Those rules, Standards of Performance for Municipal Solid Waste Landfills and Emissions Guidel...

Example Emerging Aviation Technologies

FAA Next Generation Air Transportation System

A research collaborative, the NextGen portfolio encompasses the planning and implementation of innovative new technologies and airspace procedures.

Resource Opportunities for EPA to Regulate Nitrous Oxide

EPA’s Good Neighbor Rule

In March 2023, EPA finalized it’s “Good Neighbor” Rule, under which power plant owners in 22 states will face tighter nitrogen oxides emissions requirements. Power plants without NOx emissions reducti...

Resource Utilizing Disturbed Lands for Renewables Development

CERCLA Liability Reference Guide for Renewables Development

CERCLA makes anyone who assumes ownership or operation of a contaminated site potentially liable for its cleanup (42 USC 9607). EPA insists that it will ordinarily not take enforcement action against ...

Resource Light-Duty Vehicle Emissions Standards

Report, Fixing Market Failures to Cut Fuel Costs and Pollution from Cars and Trucks

This report analyzes a key issue in U.S. transportation policy: the energy efficiency gap. Economists have long observed that while more fuel-efficient cars and trucks save consumers the most money ov...

Resource Improving DOE’s Process for Issuing EE Regs Under Current Authority

Report, Making Smart Products and Systems Efficient

ACEEE has written a study on the efficiency of smart products, providing an overview of current policy measures worldwide, and noting drivers for the development and implementation of low power enabli...

Resource Prizes and Competitions To Encourage Innovation

OMB Guidance to Federal Agencies on Use of Prizes

In 2010, OMB issued guidance to federal agencies on the use of challenges and prizes to spur technological innovation. It explained that many federal agencies have sufficient statutory authority to cr...

Resource Nuclear Siting

Report, Managing Siting Activities for Nuclear Power Plants

The IAEA’s 2012 report, Managing Siting Activities for Nuclear Power Plants, highlights the criteria for assessment of nuclear sites, including health, safety, security, engineering, and socioeconomic...

Example Promoting Efficiency in the Hydropower Licensing Process

Army Corps of Engineers and FERC MOU on reducing red tape

The Memorandum of Understanding Between United States Army Corps of Engineers and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Non-Federal Hydropower Projects (2016) was adopted in order to spur change...

Resource Efficient Appliance Incentive ProgramsState Financing and Tax Incentives for Efficiency InvestmentsFinancial Incentives for Installation of Distributed Energy Resources

Green Tax Incentive Compendium

Robinson and Cole, a large law firm with offices across the United States, maintains and annually updated Green Tax Incentive Compendium, which collects federal and state tax incentives for renewable ...

Example Supporting Climate-Friendly Agriculture R&D

Agricultural Research Service funding

About 20% of ARS’ FY 2017 research budget was allocated to environmental research, which includes research on climate change. LPDD recommends the agency increase its support for research that advances...

Resource Protecting Forests through Conservation Easements

National Conservation Easement Database

The NCED contains records for more than 130,000 conservation easements encumbering more than 24 million acres of land.

Example Minimizing Pipeline LeaksPipeline Leaks

FERC’s Cost Recovery Mechanism for Modernization of Natural Gas Pipelines

FERC’s 2015 rule allowed pipeline operators to recover repair and replacement costs annually, rather than waiting for the next rate case. This addressed an incentive problem in pipeline maintenance, w...

Resource Energy Storage

Energy Environ. Sci. Article, Assigning Value to Energy Storage Systems at Multiple Points in an Electrical Grid

Balducci et al., in their article, Assigning Value to Energy Storage Systems at Multiple Points in an Electrical Grid, offer one of the most recent, holistic approaches in valuing the multiple service...

Resource Offshore Wind Development

BOEM’s National Offshore Wind Strategy

BOEM’s 2016 National Offshore Wind Strategy assesses the economic, technological, and administrative environment for offshore wind development, and makes 35 different recommendations to different exec...

Resource Community Renewables and Other DER Ownership Structures

DOE’s National Community Solar Partnership

The National Community Solar Partnership is a DOE-convened coalition of community solar stakeholders — state, local, and tribal governments, utilities, businesses, nonprofit organizations, and others ...

Example Federal Land Management Strategies for Bioenergy

Healthy Forests Restoration Act and Applications

The Healthy Forests Restoration Act outlines the federal government’s policy guiding wildfire management on federal forests. Under the HFRA’s Hazardous Fuel Reduction on Federal Lands provisions (16 U...

Model Law CCS on Federal LandsCO2 Injection and Pore Space Regulations

LPDD Model Instruction Memorandum: Geologic Carbon Sequestration on Federal Lands

This model document proposes an update to the Bureau of Land Management’s Instruction Memorandum (IM) for geologic carbon sequestration (GS) on federal lands, which had been limited to information gat...

Example Funding Innovation in Low Emission Light Vehicles

Advanced Technologies Vehicle Manufacturing Program

The Advanced Technologies Vehicle Manufacturing Program provides direct loans to automotive or component manufacturers for reequipping, expanding, or establishing manufacturing facilities in the U.S. ...

Example Methane in Waste Management

EPA’s Landfill Methane Outreach Program

LMOP is a voluntary program that works cooperatively with industry stakeholders and waste officials to reduce or avoid methane emissions from landfills. LMOP encourages the recovery and beneficial use...

Resource Improving Aviation Efficiency

MIT’s Report 318: A Win-Win Solution to Abate Aviation CO2 (2017)

MIT’s Report 318: A Win-Win Solution to Abate Aviation CO2 (2017) proposed how EPA could establish a benchmark intensity system with tradeable permits for aviation CO2, which might exist concurrently ...

Resource Existing CCS Projects

Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnerships

Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnerships cover 43 US states and four Canadian provinces. Their goal since 2008 has been to implement eight large-scale (defined as sequestering one million metric ton...

Resource Reports on Hydropower Potential

DOE report, Hydropower Vision

DOE’s 2016 report, Hydropower Vision, estimates that hydropower in the US could grow by 50% by 2050, driven by a significant increase in pumped storage, as well as existing project upgrades and poweri...

Resource Investments to Extend Nuclear Plant Life

Virtual Environment for Reactor Applications

The Consortium for Advanced Simulation of Light Water Reactors at DOE has been building and refining a reactor modeling program called VERA (Virtual Environment for Reactor Applications), which offers...

Resource Multi-Sectoral Strategies to Reduce Methane Emissions

White House Climate Action Plan: Strategy to Reduce Methane Emissions

The Obama Administration’s 2014 plan proposed to cut methane emissions from landfills, coal mining, and agriculture, and oil and gas systems through voluntary actions and standards.

Resource Low Carbon Dietary GuidelinesDietary Guidelines

USDA report, Scientific Report of the 2015 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee

The Dietary Guidelines Committee at USDA and HHS recommended that guidelines incorporate sustainability in their dietary recommendations. It noted that the Healthy U.S.-style Pattern, the Healthy Medi...

Resource CCS Technical and Economic Potential

NETL Carbon Storage Atlas

The NETL Carbon Storage Atlas is intended to provide a coordinated update of CCS potential across the United States and other portions of North America. DOE has released five versions of the atlas wit...

Example Subsidy Support for Industrial Process Improvements

ARPA-E

The Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy provides funding for advanced research in the metals and petrochemical industry. The performance milestone criteria used by the APRA-E program could be a...

Resource Energy Storage

DOE’s Energy Storage Grand Challenge Draft Roadmap

DOE’s Energy Storage Grand Challenge Draft Roadmap outlines a Department-wide strategy to accelerate innovation across a range of storage technologies based on three concepts: Innovate Here, Make Here...

Example Promoting Marine Hydrokinetic Development

MHK pilot project licensing at FERC

In 2007, FERC introduced a new pilot licensing process for small-scale hydrokinetic projects to allow developers to test new hydrokinetic technologies, including connection with the interstate grid, o...

Resource Reports on Industrial Efficiency Generally

Report, How to Decarbonize Industrial Process Heat While Building American Manufacturing Competitiveness

This ACEEE report addresses decarbonizing industrial process heat, long considered the “hard to decarbonize” sector. The report estimates that 40% of current industrial emissions can be addressed by d...

Example Regulation of Oil and Gas Sector Methane Emissions

EPA’s Regulation for Oil and Gas Sector Methane Emissions

In December, 2023, EPA issued a final rule to reduce emissions of methane and other harmful air pollution from oil and natural gas operations — including, for the first time, from existing sources nat...

Resource Agricultural Land Conservation

USDA Conservation Programs Background

The USDA Economic Research Service provides a primer on existing USDA conservation programs, including the CRP, ACEP, EQIP, CSP, and more.

Resource Regulatory Approaches to Reducing Fluorinated Gases

NRDC Report, US States Take the Lead in HFC Phasedown

NRDC’s 2019 report summarizes federal efforts to phase out HFCs, their shortcomings, and state efforts to fill the gap.

Example Using Government Procurement to Support Innovation

EO 13693

In 2015, Executive Order 13693 put in place specific sustainability and energy efficiency goals in federal purchasing decisions. It was revoked in 2018 by EO 13834.

Example Future Multilateral AgreementsOpportunities for EPA to Regulate Nitrous Oxide

Clean Air Act §115

Clean Air Act §115 allows EPA to regulate any air pollutant on which there have been studies from an duly constituted international agency; for which US emissions endanger public health or welfare in ...

Resource Low Carbon Dietary GuidelinesDietary Guidelines

Systematic Review of Dietary Patterns and Sustainability in the United States

Reinhardt et al.’s 2020 report contends that the healthy diet recommended by the USDA/HHS _Dietary Guidelines_may actually result in similar or increased heat-trapping emissions, energy use, and water...

Example Funding Nuclear Innovation

DOE’s Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear program

DOE’s Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear program seeks to provide the nuclear community with access to the technical, regulatory, and financial support necessary to move innovative nuclear ...

Resource Access to ISO/RTO MarketsEnergy Storage

FERC Order 841

FERC Order 841 required RTOs and ISOs to revise their tariffs to establish market rules that facilitate the participation of electric storage resources in the capacity, energy, and ancillary service m...

Example Corporate Partnerships to Reduce Fluorinated Gas Emissions

Responsible Appliance Disposal Program

The RAD Program is a voluntary program to recover emissions from appliance foams. EPA provides technical expertise to its partner utility companies, retailers, and manufacturers to help ensure that be...

Example Corporate Partnerships to Reduce Fluorinated Gas Emissions

SF6 Emission Reduction Partnership for Electric Power Systems

EPA’s SF6 Emission Reduction Partnership works with utilities to voluntarily commit to reduce sulfur hexafluoride emissions. The Partnership published a 2018 report detailing technical lessons learned...

Resource Stranded Assets and Climate Disclosures

Proposed Federal Supplier Climate Risks and Resilience Rule

In November, 2022, the Dept. of Defense, General Services Administration, and NASA jointly proposed a Federal Supplier Climate Risks and Resilience Rule, which will require major Federal contractors p...

Example Agricultural Land Conservation

Agricultural Conservation Easement Program

The Agricultural Conservation Easement Program is designed to protect wetlands, grasslands, and productive farmland. The National Resource Conservation service, which oversees the ACEP program, pays f...

Example Phasing Out the Use of Fossil Fuels for the Generation of Electricity

EPA’s Proposed Emission Guidelines for Electric Utility Generating Units (2023)

In May 2023, EPA proposed new regulations to cut carbon pollution from around 3,400 methane gas and coal-fired power plants across the country. Initial requirements would begin in 2030 for coal-fired ...