Fuel Choice and Deregulation Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 581 To provide regulatory relief to alternative fuel producers and consumers, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 27, 2019 Mr. PAUL (for himself and Mr. GRASSLEY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works A BILL To provide regulatory relief to alternative fuel producers and consumers, 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 ‘‘Fuel Choice and De- 4 regulation Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. ALTERNATIVE FUELS. 6 (a) AFTERMARKET CONVERSIONS OF MOTOR VEHI- 7 CLES TO ALTERNATIVE FUEL.—Section 203 of the Clean 8 Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7522) is amended by adding at the 9 end the following: 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:36 Mar 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S581.IS S581 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 581 IS ‘‘(c) OLDER VEHICLES.— 1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The aftermarket conversion 2 of a motor vehicle to alternative fuel operation shall 3 not— 4 ‘‘(A) be considered tampering under this 5 section if the aftermarket conversion system 6 manufacturer or the person performing the con- 7 version demonstrates that the development and 8 engineering sophistication of the conversion 9 technology is— 10 ‘‘(i) matched to an appropriate motor 11 vehicle or group of motor vehicles; and 12 ‘‘(ii) well-designed and installed in ac- 13 cordance with good engineering judgment 14 so that the aftermarket conversion system 15 does not degrade emission performance, as 16 compared to the performance of the motor 17 vehicle or motor vehicles before the conver- 18 sion; or 19 ‘‘(B) require the Administrator to issue a 20 certificate of conformity. 21 ‘‘(2) LABEL.—The person performing a conver- 22 sion described in paragraph (1) shall affix a label to 23 the motor vehicle stating that— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:36 Mar 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S581.IS S581 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 581 IS ‘‘(A) the motor vehicle has been equipped 1 with an aftermarket conversion system; and 2 ‘‘(B) the installation of that system oc- 3 curred after the initial sale of the motor vehicle. 4 ‘‘(3) NO PRECLUSION OF ORDERS.—Nothing in 5 this subsection precludes the Administrator from 6 issuing an order to prohibit the manufacture, sale, 7 distribution, or installation of an aftermarket con- 8 version system if the Administrator has evidence 9 that the installation of the aftermarket conversion 10 system on a motor vehicle degrades emission per- 11 formance.’’. 12 (b) BIOMASS FUELS.—Section 211 of the Clean Air 13 Act (42 U.S.C. 7545) is amended by adding at the end 14 the following: 15 ‘‘(w) BIOMASS FUELS.—Notwithstanding any other 16 provision of this Act, the Administrator may not prohibit 17 or control biomass fuel (as defined in section 203 of the 18 Biomass Energy and Alcohol Fuels Act of 1980 (42 19 U.S.C. 8802)) under this Act.’’. 20 SEC. 3. CALCULATION OF AVERAGE FUEL ECONOMY. 21 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 32901(a) of title 49, 22 United States Code, is amended— 23 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (7) through 24 (19) as paragraphs (8), (9), (10), (13), (16), (17), 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:36 Mar 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S581.IS S581 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 581 IS (19), (20), (21), (22), (23), (24), and (26), respec- 1 tively; 2 (2) by inserting after paragraph (6) the fol- 3 lowing: 4 ‘‘(7) ‘biodiesel’— 5 ‘‘(A) means liquid fuel derived from bio- 6 mass that meets— 7 ‘‘(i) the registration requirements for 8 fuels and fuel additives established by the 9 Environmental Protection Agency under 10 section 211 of the Clean Air Act (42 11 U.S.C. 7545); and 12 ‘‘(ii) the requirements of the Amer- 13 ican Society of Testing Materials Standard 14 D6751; and 15 ‘‘(B) does not include any liquid with re- 16 spect to which a credit may be determined 17 under section 40 of the Internal Revenue Code 18 of 1986.’’; 19 (3) by inserting after paragraph (10) (as so re- 20 designated) the following: 21 ‘‘(11) ‘E85’ means a fuel mixture that— 22 ‘‘(A) contains between 51 and 83 percent 23 ethanol; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:36 Mar 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S581.IS S581 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 581 IS ‘‘(B) meets the specifications of the Amer- 1 ican Society of Testing Materials Standard 2 D5798. 3 ‘‘(12) ‘flexible fuel vehicle’ means a vehicle that 4 has been warranted to operate on gasoline, E85, and 5 M85.’’; 6 (4) by inserting after paragraph (13) (as so re- 7 designated) the following: 8 ‘‘(14) ‘fuel choice enabling manufacturer’ 9 means a manufacturer whose total fleet of auto- 10 mobiles manufactured for the most recent model 11 year for sale in the United States contains not less 12 than 50 percent fuel choice enabling vehicles. 13 ‘‘(15) ‘fuel choice enabling vehicle’ means an 14 automobile that— 15 ‘‘(A) has been warranted to operate on 16 natural gas, hydrogen, propane, or at least 20 17 percent biodiesel; 18 ‘‘(B) is a flexible fuel vehicle; 19 ‘‘(C) is a plug-in electric drive vehicle; 20 ‘‘(D) is propelled by a fuel cell that can 21 produce power without the use of petroleum or 22 a petroleum-based fuel; or 23 ‘‘(E)(i) is propelled by something other 24 than an internal combustion engine; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:36 Mar 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S581.IS S581 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 581 IS ‘‘(ii) is warranted to operate on something 1 other than petroleum-based fuel.’’; 2 (5) by inserting after paragraph (17) (as so re- 3 designated) the following: 4 ‘‘(18) ‘M85’ means a fuel mixture that— 5 ‘‘(A) contains up to 85 percent methanol; 6 and 7 ‘‘(B) meets the specifications of the Amer- 8 ican Society of Testing Materials International 9 Standard D5797.’’; and 10 (6) by inserting after paragraph (24) (as so re- 11 designated) the following: 12 ‘‘(25) ‘plug-in electric drive vehicle’ has the 13 meaning given the term in section 508(a) of the En- 14 ergy Policy Act of 1992 (42 U.S.C. 13258(a)).’’. 15 (b) FUEL CHOICE ENABLING MANUFACTURERS.— 16 (1) COMPLIANCE WITH THE CLEAN AIR ACT.— 17 Section 32902 of title 49, United States Code, is 18 amended by adding at the end the following: 19 ‘‘(l) DEEMED COMPLIANCE WITH THE CLEAN AIR 20 ACT.—If a fuel choice enabling manufacturer is in compli- 21 ance with all applicable standards prescribed under this 22 section for model year 2020 or any subsequent model year, 23 the automobiles manufactured by that manufacturer in 24 that model year are deemed to be in compliance with all 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:36 Mar 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S581.IS S581 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •S 581 IS applicable greenhouse gas regulations established by the 1 Environmental Protection Agency pursuant to section 202 2 of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7521).’’. 3 (2) CREDITS FOR EXCEEDING STANDARDS.— 4 Section 32903(a) of title 49, United States Code, is 5 amended by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the 6 following: 7 ‘‘(2) any of the 5 consecutive model years im- 8 mediately after the model year for which the credits 9 are earned, to the extent that those credits are not 10 used under paragraph (1).’’. 11 (3) AVERAGE FUEL ECONOMY BONUS FOR FUEL 12 CHOICE ENABLING MANUFACTURERS.—Section 13 32904 of title 49, United States Code, is amended— 14 (A) by redesignating subsections (d) and 15 (e) as subsections (e) and (f), respectively; and 16 (B) by inserting after subsection (c) the 17 following: 18 ‘‘(d) AVERAGE FUEL ECONOMY BONUS FOR FUEL 19 CHOICE ENABLING MANUFACTURERS.—The average fuel 20 economy of a fuel choice enabling manufacturer for a 21 model year is the sum of— 22 ‘‘(1) the average fuel economy of the fuel choice 23 enabling manufacturer for that model year, as other- 24 wise calculated under this section; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:36 Mar 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S581.IS S581 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •S 581 IS ‘‘(2) 8 miles per gallon.’’. 1 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 2 this section shall apply with respect to automobiles manu- 3 factured for model year 2020 or for any subsequent model 4 year. 5 SEC. 4. ETHANOL WAIVER. 6 Section 211(h)(4) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7 7545(h)(4)) is amended— 8 (1) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), 9 by inserting ‘‘or more of’’ after ‘‘10 percent’’; and 10 (2) in subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘additional 11 alcohol or’’. 12 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:36 Mar 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S581.IS S581 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS