How Is This Bill Enforced
Verbatim statutory text on the left; plain-language analysis and a per-section checklist on the right. Numbered markers cross-link to the matching checklist row.
This Act may be cited as the ''Artificial IntelligenceArtificial intelligenceThe term "artificial intelligence" has the meaning given such term in section 5002 of the National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act of 2020 (15 U.S.C. 9401).Sec. 3(1) Environmental Impacts Act of 2024''.
Establishes the short title of the Act as the Artificial Intelligence Environmental Impacts Act of 2024.
(1)–(10) Congress finds the following: (1) Multiple estimates indicate that the amount of computational power being used for artificial intelligenceArtificial intelligenceThe term "artificial intelligence" has the meaning given such term in section 5002 of the National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act of 2020 (15 U.S.C. 9401).Sec. 3(1) applications has increased rapidly over the last decade. A 2022 estimate suggested that the number of computational operations being used to create each of the largest artificial intelligence modelsArtificial intelligence modelThe term "artificial intelligence model" means a component of an information system that implements artificial intelligence technology and uses computational, statistical, or machine-learning techniques to produce outputs from a given set of inputs.Sec. 3(2) is currently doubling every 10 months. (2) Accelerating use of artificial intelligenceArtificial intelligenceThe term "artificial intelligence" has the meaning given such term in section 5002 of the National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act of 2020 (15 U.S.C. 9401).Sec. 3(1) has the potential to greatly increase energy consumption due to the power utilization of computer hardware required for training and operating artificial intelligence modelsArtificial intelligence modelThe term "artificial intelligence model" means a component of an information system that implements artificial intelligence technology and uses computational, statistical, or machine-learning techniques to produce outputs from a given set of inputs.Sec. 3(2), despite ongoing efficiency gains in both artificial intelligence modelsArtificial intelligence modelThe term "artificial intelligence model" means a component of an information system that implements artificial intelligence technology and uses computational, statistical, or machine-learning techniques to produce outputs from a given set of inputs.Sec. 3(2) and hardware. (3) Rapid growth in data center infrastructure, including cooling systems and backup power equipment, supporting artificial intelligenceArtificial intelligenceThe term "artificial intelligence" has the meaning given such term in section 5002 of the National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act of 2020 (15 U.S.C. 9401).Sec. 3(1) and other computing-intensive technologies contributes to pollution, water consumption, and land-use changes. (4) Resource and energy-intensive manufacturing processes are required for the hardware that runs artificial intelligenceArtificial intelligenceThe term "artificial intelligence" has the meaning given such term in section 5002 of the National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act of 2020 (15 U.S.C. 9401).Sec. 3(1) and other computing-intensive technologies, leading to significant environmental impacts. (5) Yearly increases in electronic waste (known as ''e-waste'') pose increasing environmental and health risks, and will likely be exacerbated by outdated and discarded hardware used for artificial intelligenceArtificial intelligenceThe term "artificial intelligence" has the meaning given such term in section 5002 of the National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act of 2020 (15 U.S.C. 9401).Sec. 3(1) and other computing-intensive technologies. (6) Many applications of artificial intelligenceArtificial intelligenceThe term "artificial intelligence" has the meaning given such term in section 5002 of the National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act of 2020 (15 U.S.C. 9401).Sec. 3(1) can have direct and indirect positive environmental impacts. Positive environmental impacts may include optimizing systems for energy efficiency, developing renewable energy, advancing planetary systems research, enabling discovery of new materials, and automatically monitoring environmental changes. However, artificial intelligenceArtificial intelligenceThe term "artificial intelligence" has the meaning given such term in section 5002 of the National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act of 2020 (15 U.S.C. 9401).Sec. 3(1) applications may also have direct and indirect negative environmental impacts, including rebound effects, behavioral impacts, and accelerating high-pollution activities. (7) Estimates of the current and future environmental impacts of artificial intelligenceArtificial intelligenceThe term "artificial intelligence" has the meaning given such term in section 5002 of the National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act of 2020 (15 U.S.C. 9401).Sec. 3(1) are currently uncertain. (8) Negative environmental effects may have a disparate impact across different regions and communities. (9) Various options exist to reduce the negative environmental impacts of artificial intelligenceArtificial intelligenceThe term "artificial intelligence" has the meaning given such term in section 5002 of the National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act of 2020 (15 U.S.C. 9401).Sec. 3(1), including using more efficient models, hardware, and data centers, using renewable energy, and examining the impacts of artificial intelligenceArtificial intelligenceThe term "artificial intelligence" has the meaning given such term in section 5002 of the National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act of 2020 (15 U.S.C. 9401).Sec. 3(1) applications. (10) Promoting transparency and environmental protection measures may help mitigate negative environmental impacts of the rapid growth in artificial intelligenceArtificial intelligenceThe term "artificial intelligence" has the meaning given such term in section 5002 of the National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act of 2020 (15 U.S.C. 9401).Sec. 3(1) use, while promoting artificial intelligenceArtificial intelligenceThe term "artificial intelligence" has the meaning given such term in section 5002 of the National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act of 2020 (15 U.S.C. 9401).Sec. 3(1) uses with net positive environmental impacts.
Sets out ten congressional findings documenting the rapid growth in AI computational power, the associated increases in energy consumption, water use, pollution, e-waste, and data center infrastructure demands, and the potential for both positive and negative environmental impacts. The findings also note disparate regional impacts and the current uncertainty surrounding environmental estimates.
(1) ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCEArtificial intelligenceThe term "artificial intelligence" has the meaning given such term in section 5002 of the National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act of 2020 (15 U.S.C. 9401).Sec. 3(1).—The term ''artificial intelligenceArtificial intelligenceThe term "artificial intelligence" has the meaning given such term in section 5002 of the National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act of 2020 (15 U.S.C. 9401).Sec. 3(1)'' has the meaning given such term in section 5002 of the National Artificial IntelligenceArtificial intelligenceThe term "artificial intelligence" has the meaning given such term in section 5002 of the National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act of 2020 (15 U.S.C. 9401).Sec. 3(1) Initiative Act of 2020 (15 U.S.C. 9401).
(2) ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE MODELArtificial intelligence modelThe term "artificial intelligence model" means a component of an information system that implements artificial intelligence technology and uses computational, statistical, or machine-learning techniques to produce outputs from a given set of inputs.Sec. 3(2).—The term ''artificial intelligence modelArtificial intelligence modelThe term "artificial intelligence model" means a component of an information system that implements artificial intelligence technology and uses computational, statistical, or machine-learning techniques to produce outputs from a given set of inputs.Sec. 3(2)'' means a component of an information system that implements artificial intelligenceArtificial intelligenceThe term "artificial intelligence" has the meaning given such term in section 5002 of the National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act of 2020 (15 U.S.C. 9401).Sec. 3(1) technology and uses computational, statistical, or machine-learning techniques to produce outputs from a given set of inputs.
(3) ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE SYSTEMArtificial intelligence systemThe term "artificial intelligence system" means any data system, software, hardware, application, tool, or utility that operates in whole or in part using artificial intelligence.Sec. 3(3).—The term ''artificial intelligence systemArtificial intelligence systemThe term "artificial intelligence system" means any data system, software, hardware, application, tool, or utility that operates in whole or in part using artificial intelligence.Sec. 3(3)'' means any data system, software, hardware, application, tool, or utility that operates in whole or in part using artificial intelligenceArtificial intelligenceThe term "artificial intelligence" has the meaning given such term in section 5002 of the National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act of 2020 (15 U.S.C. 9401).Sec. 3(1).
(4) VOLUNTARY REPORTING ENTITYVoluntary reporting entityThe term "voluntary reporting entity" means any company, organization, or other entity that— (A) develops or operates an artificial intelligence system; and (B) chooses to participate in the reporting system developed under section 6.Sec. 3(4).—The term ''voluntary reporting entityVoluntary reporting entityThe term "voluntary reporting entity" means any company, organization, or other entity that— (A) develops or operates an artificial intelligence system; and (B) chooses to participate in the reporting system developed under section 6.Sec. 3(4)'' means any company, organization, or other entity that— (A) develops or operates an artificial intelligence systemArtificial intelligence systemThe term "artificial intelligence system" means any data system, software, hardware, application, tool, or utility that operates in whole or in part using artificial intelligence.Sec. 3(3); and (B) chooses to participate in the reporting system developed under section 6.
Defines four key terms used throughout the Act: artificial intelligence (by cross-reference to the National AI Initiative Act of 2020), artificial intelligence model, artificial intelligence system, and voluntary reporting entity. The voluntary reporting entity definition makes clear that private-sector participation in the reporting system created by section 6 is entirely voluntary — an entity must both develop or operate an AI system and affirmatively choose to participate.
(a) 1 IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, in collaboration with the Secretary of Energy, the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, shall carry out, and submit to Congress and make publicly available a report describing the results of, a comprehensive study on the environmental impacts of artificial intelligenceArtificial intelligenceThe term "artificial intelligence" has the meaning given such term in section 5002 of the National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act of 2020 (15 U.S.C. 9401).Sec. 3(1).
(b)(1)–(10) 1 REQUIREMENTS.—The study required under subsection (a) shall include an examination of— (1) the energy consumption and pollution associated with the full lifecycle of artificial intelligence modelsArtificial intelligence modelThe term "artificial intelligence model" means a component of an information system that implements artificial intelligence technology and uses computational, statistical, or machine-learning techniques to produce outputs from a given set of inputs.Sec. 3(2), including the design, development, deployment, and use of those artificial intelligence modelsArtificial intelligence modelThe term "artificial intelligence model" means a component of an information system that implements artificial intelligence technology and uses computational, statistical, or machine-learning techniques to produce outputs from a given set of inputs.Sec. 3(2); (2) the energy consumption and pollution associated with the full lifecycle of artificial intelligenceArtificial intelligenceThe term "artificial intelligence" has the meaning given such term in section 5002 of the National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act of 2020 (15 U.S.C. 9401).Sec. 3(1) hardware, including the extraction of raw materials, manufacturing, and electronic waste associated with that hardware; (3) the energy and water consumption for the cooling of the data centers used in the design, development, deployment, and use of artificial intelligence modelsArtificial intelligence modelThe term "artificial intelligence model" means a component of an information system that implements artificial intelligence technology and uses computational, statistical, or machine-learning techniques to produce outputs from a given set of inputs.Sec. 3(2); (4) how choices made during the design, development, deployment, and use of artificial intelligence modelsArtificial intelligence modelThe term "artificial intelligence model" means a component of an information system that implements artificial intelligence technology and uses computational, statistical, or machine-learning techniques to produce outputs from a given set of inputs.Sec. 3(2), including the efficiency of the artificial intelligence modelsArtificial intelligence modelThe term "artificial intelligence model" means a component of an information system that implements artificial intelligence technology and uses computational, statistical, or machine-learning techniques to produce outputs from a given set of inputs.Sec. 3(2) used, the location, power source, and design of data centers used, and the type of hardware used, impact the resulting environmental impacts; (5) potential environmental impacts that could be acute at local scales, which may include added power loads that create grid stress, water withdrawals that create water stress, or local noise impacts; (6) the positive environmental impacts associated with applications of artificial intelligenceArtificial intelligenceThe term "artificial intelligence" has the meaning given such term in section 5002 of the National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act of 2020 (15 U.S.C. 9401).Sec. 3(1), which may include optimizing systems for energy efficiency, developing renewable energy, advancing planetary systems research, enabling discovery of new materials, and automatically monitoring environmental changes; (7) the negative environmental impacts associated with applications of artificial intelligenceArtificial intelligenceThe term "artificial intelligence" has the meaning given such term in section 5002 of the National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act of 2020 (15 U.S.C. 9401).Sec. 3(1), which may include rebound effects, behavioral impacts, and accelerating high-pollution activities; (8) disparate impacts in the negative environmental impacts of artificial intelligenceArtificial intelligenceThe term "artificial intelligence" has the meaning given such term in section 5002 of the National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act of 2020 (15 U.S.C. 9401).Sec. 3(1); (9) other environmental impacts, as determined by the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency; and (10) the results of the updated data center study carried out under section 453(e)(2) of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 17112(e)(2)).
(c) 1 PUBLIC COMMENT REQUIRED.—In conducting the study required under subsection (a), the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency shall solicit and consider public comments.
Directs the EPA Administrator, in collaboration with the Secretary of Energy, the NIST Director, and the OSTP Director, to conduct and submit to Congress within two years of enactment a comprehensive study on the environmental impacts of AI. The study must cover a broad range of topics including energy consumption, pollution, water consumption, hardware lifecycle impacts, local-scale acute impacts (grid stress, water stress, noise), both positive and negative AI applications, disparate impacts, and data center study results. The EPA must also solicit public comments during the study.
(a) 2 IN GENERAL.—The Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology shall, in consultation with the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Secretary of Energy, and such others as the Director considers appropriate, convene a consortium of stakeholders, including members from academia, civil society, and industry, to identify the future measurements, methodologies, standards, and other appropriate needs, in order to measure and report the full range of environmental impacts of artificial intelligenceArtificial intelligenceThe term "artificial intelligence" has the meaning given such term in section 5002 of the National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act of 2020 (15 U.S.C. 9401).Sec. 3(1).
(b) LOCATION.—The Director may determine the location of the consortium within the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
(c)(1)–(3) 2 GOALS.—The goals of the consortium shall include the following: (1) Facilitating consistent, comparable reporting on the environmental impacts of the full lifecycle of artificial intelligence modelsArtificial intelligence modelThe term "artificial intelligence model" means a component of an information system that implements artificial intelligence technology and uses computational, statistical, or machine-learning techniques to produce outputs from a given set of inputs.Sec. 3(2), systems, and hardware. (2) According to technical feasibility, the development or cataloging of open source software and hardware tools and other resources designed to facilitate the measurement of environmental impacts of artificial intelligence modelsArtificial intelligence modelThe term "artificial intelligence model" means a component of an information system that implements artificial intelligence technology and uses computational, statistical, or machine-learning techniques to produce outputs from a given set of inputs.Sec. 3(2), systems, and hardware. (3) Providing recommendations on how to mitigate the negative, and promote the positive, environmental impacts of artificial intelligenceArtificial intelligenceThe term "artificial intelligence" has the meaning given such term in section 5002 of the National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act of 2020 (15 U.S.C. 9401).Sec. 3(1).
Directs the NIST Director to convene a multi-stakeholder consortium — including members from academia, civil society, and industry — to develop the measurements, methodologies, standards, and tools needed to measure and report on the full range of AI environmental impacts. The consortium's goals include facilitating consistent lifecycle reporting, developing or cataloging open-source measurement tools, and providing recommendations for mitigating negative and promoting positive environmental impacts of AI.
(a) 3 VOLUNTARY REPORTING SYSTEM.—The Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology shall, in consultation with the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Secretary of Energy, the consortium convened under section 5, and such others as the Director considers appropriate, develop a system for voluntary reporting by voluntary reporting entities of the full range of environmental impacts of artificial intelligenceArtificial intelligenceThe term "artificial intelligence" has the meaning given such term in section 5002 of the National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act of 2020 (15 U.S.C. 9401).Sec. 3(1).
(b)(1)–(2) 3 GUIDELINES.— (1) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall develop guidelines for voluntary reporting entities on how to participate in the voluntary reporting system developed under subsection (a). Such guidelines may include guidelines on how to calculate and report energy consumption, water consumption, pollution, and electronic-waste associated with the full lifecycle of artificial intelligence modelsArtificial intelligence modelThe term "artificial intelligence model" means a component of an information system that implements artificial intelligence technology and uses computational, statistical, or machine-learning techniques to produce outputs from a given set of inputs.Sec. 3(2) and hardware, as well as other positive and negative impacts of artificial intelligenceArtificial intelligenceThe term "artificial intelligence" has the meaning given such term in section 5002 of the National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act of 2020 (15 U.S.C. 9401).Sec. 3(1) use, as determined by the Director. (2) PUBLIC COMMENTS.—Before finalizing the guidelines under paragraph (1), the Director shall solicit comments from the public on a draft version of the guidelines.
(c) 3 AVAILABILITY.—The Director shall, to the maximum extent practicable and with consideration to privileged business information, make submissions to the voluntary reporting system under subsection (a) available on a public website.
Directs the NIST Director to develop a voluntary reporting system through which entities that develop or operate AI systems may report environmental impacts including energy consumption, water use, pollution, and e-waste across the full AI lifecycle. NIST must develop guidelines for voluntary reporting entities on how to participate and must solicit public comments before finalizing those guidelines. Submissions to the voluntary reporting system must be made publicly available to the maximum extent practicable, with consideration for privileged business information.
4 Not later than 4 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Secretary of Energy, and the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology shall jointly submit to Congress a report detailing the following: (1) The main findings of the consortium convened under section 5. (2) A description of the reporting system created under section 6. (3) Recommendations for legislative or administrative action to mitigate the negative and promote the positive environmental impacts of artificial intelligenceArtificial intelligenceThe term "artificial intelligence" has the meaning given such term in section 5002 of the National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act of 2020 (15 U.S.C. 9401).Sec. 3(1).
Requires the EPA Administrator, Secretary of Energy, and NIST Director to jointly submit a report to Congress within four years of enactment covering the consortium's main findings, a description of the voluntary reporting system, and recommendations for legislative or administrative action to mitigate negative and promote positive environmental impacts of AI.