Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA) of 1975
The Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA) of 1975 was a significant legislative response to the energy crisis experienced in the early 1970s, notably triggered by an oil embargo from OPEC. This act established the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), designed to store petroleum for emergency use, with a goal of holding up to 1 billion barrels. The SPR’s operational capacity is 727 million barrels, and it can only be accessed by presidential order. In addition to creating the SPR, the EPCA aimed to enhance energy efficiency and conservation across various sectors. It mandated the Department of Energy to set efficiency standards for household and commercial appliances and introduced the first Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards, which required improvements in fuel efficiency for vehicles. Additionally, the act encouraged a shift from oil and natural gas to coal for power generation and set up initiatives for recycling and proper disposal of oil products. Overall, the EPCA marked a pivotal effort by the U.S. government to secure energy resources and promote conservation strategies in response to an energy-dependent economy.
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Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA) of 1975
The Law: U.S. federal law intended to address American demands for energy while simultaneously promoting conservation of energy resources
Date: Enacted on December 22, 1975
The Energy Policy and Conservation Act was the first serious attempt by the federal government to address energy independence. Many of the programs the act established, including the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, corporate average fuel economy standards for automobiles, and efficiency standards for appliances, remain focal points for debate in the twenty-first century.
The first call for the United States to set aside a supply of petroleum for emergencies came in 1944, from Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes. Over the next three decades, the need was reconsidered, but no action was taken until an embargo by members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries(OPEC) limited the supply of oil coming to the United States in 1973. The result was a dramatic increase in the prices of oil and of gasoline, long lines and rationing at gas stations, declining stock prices, calls to reduce energy consumption immediately, and even, in some cities, bans on outdoor Christmas lights. This energy crisis spurred the federal government to take action to ensure that the United States could face future embargoes, or other emergencies, without panic.
The most important part of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 (EPCA) was the establishment of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), a supply of petroleum stored in salt domes in the Gulf of Mexico. Planned eventually to be a supply of 1 billion barrels (42 billion gallons), the full capacity of the SPR is 727 million barrels (30.5 billion gallons), roughly the amount in the SPR inventory as of 2010. Oil can be removed from the SPR only by order of the president of the United States. Because of limits imposed by the technology that draws the petroleum from the reserve, only about 4.4 million barrels (184.8 million gallons) can be drawn each day in an emergency—about one-fourth of the average daily petroleum consumption of the United States. The SPR has been tapped only rarely since its founding, including during the first Gulf War in 1991-1992 and after Hurricanes Rita and Katrina, when oil processing was slowed.
The far-reaching EPCA addressed energy use and conservation in other ways as well. It called on the Department of Energy to create efficiency standards for home and commercial appliances such as air conditioners, refrigerators, dishwashers, water heaters, and clothes washers and dryers. It created the first Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards for auto manufacturers, calling for a doubling in the fuel efficiency of cars and light trucks to 27.5 miles per gallon by 1985. To move the country away from reliance on oil and natural gas, the act encouraged power-generating plants to shift to burning coal. It directed the Federal Trade Commission to encourage the recycling of oil and the safe disposal of used oil and oil products, and it created a complex set of price and import controls for petroleum. Finally, the EPCA included requirements for increased energy conservation in federal buildings and established the State Energy Conservation Program, which helped to fund energy offices and energy management plans for individual states.
Bibliography
Bamberger, Robert, and Robert L. Pirog. Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Hauppauge, N.Y.: Nova Science, 2006.
Gerrard, Michael. Global Climate Change and U.S. Law. Chicago: American Bar Association, 2007.
Sandalow, David. Freedom from Oil: How the Next President Can End the United States’ Oil Addiction. Columbus, Ohio: McGraw-Hill Professional, 2008.