Consumer Protection and Fuel Transparency Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1024 To require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to revise labeling requirements for fuel pumps that dispense E15, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 6, 2019 Mr. AUSTIN SCOTT of Georgia (for himself, Ms. FRANKEL, Mr. WITTMAN, and Mr. CRIST) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To require the Administrator of the Environmental Protec- tion Agency to revise labeling requirements for fuel pumps that dispense E15, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Consumer Protection 4 and Fuel Transparency Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. E15 FUEL DISPENSER LABELING. 6 (a) E15 FUEL DISPENSER LABELING RULE.— 7 (1) REVISION OF RULE.—Not later than 180 8 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Ad- 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:34 Feb 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1024.IH H1024 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 1024 IH ministrator shall revise the labeling requirements for 1 fuel pumps that dispense E15, including by revising 2 the rule described in paragraph (3) with respect to 3 such requirements. 4 (2) INPUT AND REQUIREMENTS FOR LABEL.— 5 In revising the labeling requirements for fuel pumps 6 that dispense E15 under paragraph (1), the Admin- 7 istrator shall— 8 (A) solicit input from— 9 (i) industries that manufacture vehi- 10 cles, engines, and equipment that are pro- 11 hibited from using E15, including boats, 12 lawnmowers, chainsaws, motorcycles, snow- 13 mobiles, and pre-2001 model year vehicles; 14 (ii) consumer groups that represent 15 users of such vehicles, engines, and equip- 16 ment; and 17 (iii) any other party that the Adminis- 18 trator determines may be impacted by such 19 labeling requirements; 20 (B) require that the label for fuel pumps 21 that dispense E15— 22 (i) include the word ‘‘WARNING’’; 23 (ii) include the words ‘‘Check your 24 owner’s manual’’; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:34 Feb 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1024.IH H1024 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 1024 IH (iii) be 5 × 7 inches or larger; 1 (iv) include— 2 (I) indicators with respect to ve- 3 hicles, engines, and equipment that 4 are prohibited from using E15, in- 5 cluding— 6 (aa) pictograms depicting a 7 boat, lawnmower, chainsaw, mo- 8 torcycle, and snowmobile; and 9 (bb) warnings with respect 10 to pre-2001 model year vehicles; 11 and 12 (II) other indicators developed by 13 the Administrator, in consultation 14 with the American National Stand- 15 ards Institute and the Federal Trade 16 Commission; and 17 (v) be focus group tested to ensure ef- 18 fectiveness; and 19 (C) with respect to blender pumps, in addi- 20 tion to the requirements under subparagraph 21 (B), with input from industries, the Federal 22 Trade Commission, and the American National 23 Standards Institute, require an additional warn- 24 ing label on each such blender pump to warn 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:34 Feb 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1024.IH H1024 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 1024 IH consumers of the residual gasoline left in gaso- 1 line pump hoses from the previous individual 2 dispensing. 3 (3) RULE DESCRIBED.—The rule described in 4 this paragraph is the final rule titled ‘‘Regulation To 5 Mitigate the Misfueling of Vehicles and Engines 6 With Gasoline Containing Greater Than Ten Volume 7 Percent Ethanol and Modifications to the Reformu- 8 lated and Conventional Gasoline Programs’’ pub- 9 lished in the Federal Register on July 25, 2011 (76 10 Fed. Reg. 44406 et seq.). 11 (b) PUBLIC EDUCATION.—Not later than 180 days 12 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator, 13 in consultation with affected industries, shall develop and 14 commence a public education campaign— 15 (1) to inform the public regarding— 16 (A) the risks associated with the improper 17 use of E15; and 18 (B) the vehicles, engines, and equipment 19 that are prohibited from using E15, including 20 boats, lawnmowers, chainsaws, motorcycles, 21 snowmobiles, and pre-2001 model year vehicles; 22 and 23 (2) that includes, with respect to an existing 24 fuel pump that displays electronic messages, develop- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:34 Feb 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1024.IH H1024 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 1024 IH ment of an electronic message inquiring if a con- 1 sumer is aware that E15 is so prohibited, to be dis- 2 played on such fuel pump prior to E15 dispensing 3 from such fuel pump. 4 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 5 of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall submit 6 to Congress a report on the public education campaign 7 commenced under subsection (b), including data and 8 metrics on consumer awareness of E15. 9 (d) REGISTRATION ENTITIES EDUCATION.—The Ad- 10 ministrator, in collaboration with State entities responsible 11 for boat registration, shall distribute, at the time of initial 12 registration of a boat and at the time of the renewal of 13 a registration for such boat, educational materials on E15 14 and its impact on marine engines. 15 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 16 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis- 17 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ- 18 mental Protection Agency. 19 (2) BLENDER PUMP.—The term ‘‘blender 20 pump’’ means a fuel pump that may dispense mul- 21 tiple blends of fuel, including E15. 22 (3) E15.—The term ‘‘E15’’ means gasoline 23 containing 15 percent ethanol by volume. 24 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:34 Feb 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1024.IH H1024 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS