SEC. 746. SOCIOECONOMIC IMPACTS OF INCREASED COAL PRODUCTION AND OTHER ENERGY DEVELOPMENT.

(a) COMMITTEE.-There is hereby established an interagency committee composed of the heads of the Departments of Energy, Commerce, Interior, Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Health, Education, and Welfare, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Appalachian Regional Commission, the Fariners' Home Administration, the Office of Management and Budget, and such other Federal agencies as the Secretary shall designate. In carrying out its functions the committee shall consult with the National Governors' Conference and interested persons, organizations, and entities. The chairman of the committee shall be designated by the President. The committee shall terminate 90 days after the submission of its report under subsection (c).

(b) FUNCTIONS OF COMMITTEE.-It is the function of the committee to conduct a study of the socioeconomic impacts of expanded coal production and rapid energy development in general, on States, including local communities, and on the public, including the adequacy of housing and public, recreational, and cultural facilities for coal miners and their families and the effect of any Federal or State laws or regulations on providing such housing and facilities. The committee shall gather data and information on

(1) the level of assistance provided under this Act and any other programs related to impact assistance,

(2) the timeliness of assistance in meeting impacts caused by Federal decisions on energy policy as well as private sector decisions, and

(3) the obstacles to effective assistance contained in regulations of existing programs related to impact assistance.

(c) REPORT. Within 1 year after the effective date of this Act, the committee shall submit a detailed report on the results of such study to the Congress, together with any recommendations for additional legislation it may consider appropriate.

SEC. 747. USE OF PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS IN COMBUSTORS. The Secretary shall conduct a detailed study of the uses of petroleum and natural gas as a primary energy source for combustors and installations not subject to the prohibitions of this Act. In conducting such study, the Secretary shall

(1) identify those categories of major fuel-burning installations in which the substitution of coal or other alternate fuels for petroleum and natural gas is economically and technically feasible, and

(2) determine the estimated savings of natural gas and petroleum expected from such substitution.

Within 1 year after the effective date of this Act, the Secretary shall submit a detailed report on the results of such study to the Congress, together with any recommendations for legislation he may consider appropriate.

Subtitle F-Appropriations Authorization

SEC. 751. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

There is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary for fiscal year 1979 $11,900,000, to carry out the provisions of this Act (other than provisions for which an appropriations authorization is otherwise expressly provided in this Act) and section 2 of the Energy Supply and Environmental Coordination Act of 1974.

Subtitle G-Coordination with other
Provisions of Law

SEC. 761. EFFECT ON ENVIRONMENTAL REQUIREMENTS.

(a) COMPLIANCE WITH APPLICABLE ENVIRONMENTAL REQUIREMENTS.-Except as provided in section 404, nothing in this Act shall be construed as permitting any existing or new electric powerplant or major fuel-burning installation to delay or avoid compliance with applicable environmental requirements.

(b) LOCAL ENVIRONMENTAL REQUIREMENTS.-In the case of any new or existing facility

(1) which is subject to any prohibition under this Act, and (2) which is also subject to any requirement of any local environmental requirement which may be stricter than any Federal or State environmental requirement,

the existence of such local requirement shall not be construed to affect the validity or applicability of such prohibition to such facility, except to the extent provided under section 212(b) or section 312(b); and the existence of such prohibition shall not be construed to preempt such local requirement with respect to that facility.

SEC. 762. EFFECT OF ORDERS UNDER SECTION 2 OF ESECA; AMENDMENTS TO ESECA.

(a) EFFECT OF CONSTRUCTION ORDERS.-Any electric powerplant or major fuel-burning installation issued an order pursuant to section 2(c) of the Energy Supply and Environmental Coordination Act of 1974 that is pending on the effective date of this Act shall, notwithstanding the provisions of such section 2(c) or any other provision of this Act, be subject to the provisions of this Act as if it were a new electric powerplant or new major fuel-burning installation, as the case may be, except that if such order became final before such date, the provisions of title II of this Act shall not apply to such powerplant or installation.

(b) EFFECT OF PROHIBITION ORDERS.-The provisions of titles II and III shall not apply to any powerplant or installation for which an order issued pursuant to section 2(a) of the Energy Supply and Environmental Coordination Act of 1974 before the effective date of this Act is pending or final or which, on review, was held unlawful and set aside on the merits; except that any installation issued such an order under such section 2(a) which is pending on the effective date of this Act may elect to be covered by title II or III (as the case may be) rather than such section 2. Such an election shall be irrevocable and shall be made in such form and manner as the Secretary shall, within 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, prescribe. Such an election shall be made not later than 60 days after the date on which the Secretary prescribes the form and manner of making such election.

(c) VALIDITY OF ORDERS.-The preceding provisions of this Act shall not affect the validity of any order issued under subsection (a), or any final order under subsection (c), of section 2 of the Energy Supply and Environmental Coordination Act of 1974, and the authority of the Secretary to amend, repeal, rescind, modify, or enforce any such order, or rules applicable thereto, shall remain in effect notwithstanding any limitation of time otherwise applicable to such

authority. Except as provided in this section, the authority of the Secretary under section 2 of such Act shall terminate on the effective date of this Act.

(d) AMENDMENTS TO ESECA.-(1) Section 11(g) of the Energy Supply and Environmental Coordination Act of 1974 is amended— (1) by striking out paragraph (2), and

(2) in paragraph (1), by striking out "(g) (1)" and inserting in lieu thereof "(g)".

SEC. 763. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENTS UNDER NEPA.

The following actions are not deemed to be major Federal actions for purposes of section 102 (2) (C) of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969:

(1) the grant or denial of any temporary exemption under this Act for any electric powerplant or major fuel-burning installation;

(2) the grant or denial of any permanent exemption under this Act for any existing electric powerplant or major fuel-burning installation, other than an exemption

(A) under section 312(c), relating to cogeneration;

(B) under section 312(1), relating to scheduled equipment outages;

(C) under section 312(b), relating to certain State or local requirements;

(D) under section 312(g), relating to certain intermediate load powerplants; and

(3) the grant or denial of any exemption under this Act for any powerplant or major fuel-burning installation for which the Secretary finds, in consultation with the appropriate Federal agency, and publishes such finding that an environmental impact statement is required in connection with another Federal action and such statement will be prepared by such agency and will reflect the exemption adequately.

Except as provided in the preceding provisions of this section, any determination of what constitutes or does not constitute a major Federal action shall be made under section 102 of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969.

TITLE VIII-MISCELLANEOUS

PROVISIONS

SEC. 801. COAL RESERVES DISCLOSURE.

(a) DISCLOSURE.-Within 2 years after the effective date of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Secretary shall require the disclosure, pursuant to section 11 of the Energy Supply and Environmental Coordination Act of 1974, of the extent, characteristics, and productive capacity of coal reserves, or interest therein, within the United States held by any person or governmental entity, as necessary, and shall publish a summary of such information.

(b) EXEMPTION FOR SMALL RESERVES.-The Secretary may exempt small reserves from the requirements of this section if the Secretary finds that the imposition of the requirements of this section would impose an unreasonable economic burden on such person (or entity) or would not be of significant aid to achievement of the purposes of this Act, and publishes such findings in the Federal Register.

SEC. 802. COAL PREPARATION FACILITIES.

Section 102(c) (4) of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act is amended by adding at the end thereof (42 U.S.C. 6211 (c) (4)) the following new sentence: "Such term also includes construction of a coal preparation plant which is designed to reduce the sulfur content of coal produced from any coal mine.".

SEC. 803. RAILROAD REHABILITATION FOR CARRIAGE OF COAL.

(a) STATEMENT OF PURPOSE.-It is the purpose of this section to facilitate and encourage the use of and conversion to coal as an energy resource in regions and States which can use coal in greater quantity as a substitute for imported petroleum.

(b) AUTHORIZATION.-There is authorized to be appropriated, for deposit in the Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Fund established under section 502 of the Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act of 1976 (45 U.S.C. 822), not more than $100,000,000. The money appropriated to the Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Fund pursuant to this subsection shall be expended by the Secretary of Transportation, in the same manner as other money in such Fund, to provide financial assistance to railroads for maintenance, rehabilitation, improvement, and acquisition of equipment and facilities which will be used for the rail transportaton of coal to regions or States which can use coal in greater quantities (whether or not such equipment or facilities were designed specifically for such purpose). (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.-(1) Section 501(2) of the Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act of 1976 (45 U.S.C. 821(2)) is amended by inserting "(except as provided in section 803 (a) and (b) of the Powerplant and Industrial Fuel Use Act of 1978)" immediately after "or other features".

(2) Section 502(b) of such Act (45 U.S.C. 822(b)) is amended by inserting at the end thereof the following: "Money appropriated to the Fund under section 803 (a) and (b) of the Powerplant and Industrial Fuel Use Act of 1978 shall be used to provide financial assistance to railroads for maintenance, rehabilitation, improvement, and acquisition of equipment and facilities which will be used for the rail transportation of coal to regions or States which can use coal in greater quantities as a substitute for imported petroleum.". (3) Section 502(f) of such Act (45 U.S.Č. 822(f) is amended(A) by striking out "and" at the end of paragraph (5) thereof; (B) by inserting between paragraphs (5) and (6) the following new paragraph:

'(6) funds as may hereafter be appropriated to the Fund as authorized under section 803 (a) and (b) of the Powerplant and Industrial Fuel Use Act of 1978; and"; and

(C) by redesignating paragraph (6) as paragraph (7). (4) Section 502(i) of such Act (45 U.S.C. 822(i)) is amended— (A) by striking out "and" at the end of paragraph (4) thereof; (B) by striking out "Treasury." at the end of paragraph (5) and inserting in lieu thereof "Treasury, and"; and

(C) by adding at the end thereof the following new paragraph: (6) to carry out the purposes of section 803 (a) and (b) of the Powerplant and Industrial Fuel Use Act of 1978".

(5) Section 505(b) (2) of such Act (45 U.S.C. 825) is amended by inserting between the fourth and fifth sentences thereof the following new sentence: "With respect to funds appropriated for financial assistance under this section which were authorized pursuant to section

803 (a) and (b) of the Powerplant and Industrial Fuel Use Act of 1978, applications for such funds for the purpose of coal transportation shall be deemed to be for the provision of essential freight services.".

(6) Section 505(d) (3) of such Act (45 U.S.C. 825) is amended(A) by striking out in the first sentence "$600,000,000" and inserting in lieu thereof "$700,000,000", and

(B) by striking out in the second sentence "$100,000,000” and inserting in lieu thereof "$150,000,000".

SEC. 804. OFFICE OF RAIL PUBLIC COUNSEL.

Section 27 of the Interstate Commerce Act is amended

(1) by striking out "and" at the end of paragraph (4) (d), (2) by striking out the period at the end of paragraph (4) (e) and inserting in lieu thereof "and", and

(3) by inserting after paragraph (4) (e) the following:

"(f) shall present the views of users, as well as the views of the general public and affected communities, and, where appropriate, providers of rail services in proceedings of Federal agencies concerning"(1) the impact of energy proposals and actions on rail transportation, and

"(2) whether transportation policies are consistent with National energy policies.".

SEC. 805. RETROACTIVE APPLICATION OF CERTAIN REMEDIAL ORDERS.

(a) GENERAL RULE.-Section 503 of the Department of Energy Organization Act (42 U.S.C. 7193) is amended by adding at the end thereof the following new subsection;

"(g) With respect to any person whose sole petroleum industry operation relates to the marketing of petroleum products, the Secretary or any person acting on his behalf may not exercise discretion to maintain a civil action (other than an action for injunctive relief) or issue a remedial order against such person for any violation of any rule or regulation if—

"(1) such civil action or order is based on a retroactive application of such rule or regulation or is based upon a retroactive interpretation of such rule or regulation; and

"(2) such person relied in good faith upon rules, regulations, or ruling in effect on the date of the violation interpreting such rules or regulations.".

(b) TECHNICAL CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—In subsections (e) and (f) of such section 503, insert "preceding provisions of" before "this section".

SEC. 806. ANNUAL REPORT.

The Secretary shall submit to the Congress on March 1 of each year a detailed report prepared by him in conjunction with the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency of the actions taken under this Act and under section 2 of the Energy Supply and Environmental Coordination Act of 1974 during the preceding calendar year, and the actions to be taken. Each such report shall include data on the effectiveness of this Act in achieving the purposes of this Act.

SEC. 807. SUBMISSION OF REPORTS.

Copies of any report required by this Act to be submitted to the Congress shall be separately submitted to the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate.