GREENER Fuels Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 5113 To amend the Clean Air Act to reform the renewable fuel program under that Act, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES NOVEMBER 14, 2019 Mr. WELCH introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Natural Resources, and Science, Space, and Technology, for a period to be subse- quently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To amend the Clean Air Act to reform the renewable fuel program under that Act, 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 ‘‘Growing Renewable 4 Energy through Existing and New Environmentally Re- 5 sponsible Fuels Act’’ or the ‘‘GREENER Fuels Act’’. 6 SEC. 2. DEFINITION OF ADMINISTRATOR. 7 In this Act, the term ‘‘Administrator’’ means the Ad- 8 ministrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:01 Nov 25, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5113.IH H5113 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 5113 IH SEC. 3. LIMITATION ON FUELS DERIVED FROM CORN KER- 1 NELS. 2 (a) ADVANCED BIOFUEL.—Section 211(o)(1)(B) of 3 the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7545(o)(1)(B)) is amend- 4 ed— 5 (1) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘, other than eth- 6 anol derived from corn starch,’’; and 7 (2) by adding at the end the following: 8 ‘‘(iii) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘ad- 9 vanced biofuel’ does not include any fuel 10 derived from a corn kernel-based feed- 11 stock.’’. 12 (b) CELLULOSIC BIOFUEL.—Section 211(o)(1)(E) of 13 the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7545(o)(1)(E)) is amend- 14 ed— 15 (1) by striking ‘‘The term’’ and inserting the 16 following: 17 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The term’’; and 18 (2) by adding at the end the following: 19 ‘‘(ii) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘cellu- 20 losic biofuel’ does not include any renew- 21 able fuel derived from a corn kernel-based 22 feedstock.’’. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:01 Nov 25, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5113.IH H5113 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 5113 IH SEC. 4. RENEWABLE BIOMASS. 1 (a) PROHIBITION ON INVASIVE SPECIES.—Section 2 211(o)(1)(I) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 3 7545(o)(1)(I)) is amended— 4 (1) by redesignating clauses (i) through (vii) as 5 subclauses (I) through (VII), respectively, and in- 6 denting the subclauses appropriately; 7 (2) in the matter preceding subclause (I) (as so 8 redesignated), by striking ‘‘The term’’ and inserting 9 the following: 10 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The term’’; and 11 (3) by adding at the end the following: 12 ‘‘(ii) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘renew- 13 able biomass’ does not include any species 14 or variety of plant that, as determined by 15 the Secretary of Agriculture, in consulta- 16 tion with other appropriate Federal and 17 State agencies, is— 18 ‘‘(I) invasive; 19 ‘‘(II) noxious; or 20 ‘‘(III) potentially invasive, as de- 21 termined using— 22 ‘‘(aa) a credible risk assess- 23 ment tool; or 24 ‘‘(bb) any other credible 25 source.’’. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:01 Nov 25, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5113.IH H5113 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 5113 IH (b) ENSURING COMPLIANCE.— 1 (1) RECORDS.—The Administrator shall revise 2 the regulations promulgated pursuant to section 3 211(o) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7545(o)) to 4 require that a domestic producer of a crop-based re- 5 newable fuel shall meet the reporting and records re- 6 quirements specified in subsections (c) and (d) of 7 section 80.1454 of title 40, Code of Federal Regula- 8 tions (or successor regulations), to verify that feed- 9 stocks used by the producer are renewable biomass. 10 (2) ANNUAL ANALYSIS.—Section 211(o)(11) of 11 the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7545(o)(11)) is 12 amended— 13 (A) in the paragraph heading, by inserting 14 ‘‘AND ANALYSES’’ after ‘‘REVIEWS’’; 15 (B) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) 16 through (C) as clauses (i) through (iii), respec- 17 tively, and indenting the clauses appropriately; 18 (C) in the matter preceding clause (i) (as 19 so redesignated), by striking ‘‘To allow’’ and in- 20 serting the following: 21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—To allow’’; and 22 (D) by adding at the end the following: 23 ‘‘(B) ANNUAL ANALYSIS OF FEEDSTOCKS 24 AND LAND.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:01 Nov 25, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5113.IH H5113 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 5113 IH ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 April 1 of each year, the Administrator, in 2 conjunction with the Secretary of Agri- 3 culture, shall publish an analysis of the 4 feedstocks and land used during the pre- 5 ceding calendar year to ensure compliance 6 with this subsection, including an analysis 7 of, with respect to that preceding calendar 8 year— 9 ‘‘(I) the total domestic land area 10 used for commercial agricultural pro- 11 duction; 12 ‘‘(II) the total area planted to 13 produce renewable biomass crops (in- 14 cluding corn and soy) used to gen- 15 erate credits under this subsection; 16 ‘‘(III) the total area reported to 17 the Department of Agriculture to be 18 ‘new breakings’, including a descrip- 19 tion of— 20 ‘‘(aa) the number of acres 21 that were previously— 22 ‘‘(AA) wetlands, pas- 23 ture, rangeland, or grass- 24 lands enrolled in the con- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:01 Nov 25, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5113.IH H5113 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 5113 IH servation reserve program 1 established under subchapter 2 B of chapter 1 of subtitle D 3 of title XII of the Food Se- 4 curity Act of 1985 (16 5 U.S.C. 3831 et seq.); or 6 ‘‘(BB) other sensitive 7 land; and 8 ‘‘(bb) the crops planted on 9 those acres; 10 ‘‘(IV) the likelihood that renew- 11 able fuels were produced from feed- 12 stocks that do not qualify as renew- 13 able biomass; 14 ‘‘(V) the number, scope, and out- 15 comes of any enforcement actions car- 16 ried out by the Administrator in re- 17 sponse to noncompliance with the re- 18 porting and recordkeeping require- 19 ments of this subsection; and 20 ‘‘(VI) any documented case in 21 which a credit was generated pursu- 22 ant to this subsection for a fuel that 23 is not considered to be renewable bio- 24 mass. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:01 Nov 25, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5113.IH H5113 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 5113 IH ‘‘(ii) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA- 1 TIONS.—There are authorized to be appro- 2 priated to the Administrator and the Sec- 3 retary of Agriculture such sums as are 4 necessary for each fiscal year to carry out 5 this subparagraph.’’. 6 SEC. 5. STRENGTHENING ENVIRONMENTAL STANDARDS. 7 (a) ELIMINATION OF GRANDFATHER CLAUSE.— 8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 211(o)(2)(A)(i) of 9 the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7545(o)(2)(A)(i)) is 10 amended, in the second sentence, by striking ‘‘, in 11 the case of any such renewable fuel produced from 12 new facilities that commence construction after the 13 date of enactment of this sentence,’’. 14 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made 15 by paragraph (1) takes effect on January 1, 2021. 16 (b) ELIMINATION OF MODIFICATIONS TO GREEN- 17 HOUSE GAS REDUCTION PERCENTAGES.— 18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 211(o) of the Clean 19 Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7545(o)) is amended— 20 (A) by striking paragraph (4); and 21 (B) by redesignating paragraphs (5) 22 through (12) as paragraphs (4) through (11), 23 respectively. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:01 Nov 25, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5113.IH H5113 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 5113 IH (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 1 211(o) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7545(o)) is 2 amended— 3 (A) in paragraph (2)(A)(ii)(II)(cc), by 4 striking ‘‘paragraph (5)’’ and inserting ‘‘para- 5 graph (4)’’; 6 (B) in paragraph (3)(C)(ii), by striking 7 ‘‘paragraph (9)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph 8 (8)’’; 9 (C) in subparagraph (A)(iii) of paragraph 10 (4) (as redesignated by paragraph (1)(B)), by 11 striking ‘‘paragraph (9)(C)’’ and inserting 12 ‘‘paragraph (8)(C)’’; 13 (D) in subparagraph (D)(ii) of paragraph 14 (7) (as redesignated by paragraph (1)(B)), by 15 striking ‘‘paragraph (7)’’ and inserting ‘‘para- 16 graph (6)’’; and 17 (E) in subparagraph (C) of paragraph (8) 18 (as redesignated by paragraph (1)(B)), by strik- 19 ing ‘‘paragraph (5)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph 20 (4)’’. 21 SEC. 6. APPLICABLE VOLUMES; SUNSET. 22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 211(o)(2) of the Clean 23 Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7545(o)(2)) is amended by striking 24 subparagraph (B) and inserting the following: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:01 Nov 25, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5113.IH H5113 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 5113 IH ‘‘(B) APPLICABLE VOLUMES; SUNSET.— 1 ‘‘(i) CONVENTIONAL BIOFUEL.—For 2 purposes of subparagraph (A), the applica- 3 ble volume of renewable fuel that is not 4 cellulosic biofuel, biomass-based diesel, or 5 any other advanced biofuel shall be— 6 ‘‘(I) for calendar year 2020, 7 15,000,000,000 gallons; 8 ‘‘(II) for calendar year 2021, 9 15,000,000,000 gallons; 10 ‘‘(III) for calendar year 2022, 11 15,000,000,000 gallons; 12 ‘‘(IV) for calendar year 2023, 13 15,000,000,000 gallons; 14 ‘‘(V) for calendar year 2024, 15 13,000,000,000 gallons; 16 ‘‘(VI) for calendar year 2025, 17 11,000,000,000 gallons; 18 ‘‘(VII) for calendar year 2026, 19 9,000,000,000 gallons; 20 ‘‘(VIII) for calendar year 2027, 21 7,000,000,000 gallons; 22 ‘‘(IX) for calendar year 2028, 23 5,000,000,000 gallons; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:01 Nov 25, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5113.IH H5113 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 5113 IH ‘‘(X) for calendar year 2029, 1 3,000,000,000 gallons; and 2 ‘‘(XI) for calendar year 2030, 3 1,000,000,000 gallons. 4 ‘‘(ii) CELLULOSIC BIOFUEL, BIOMASS- 5 BASED DIESEL, AND OTHER ADVANCED 6 BIOFUEL.— 7 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Subject to 8 subclause (III), not later than March 9 1 of each calendar year, the Adminis- 10 trator shall establish for the calendar 11 year that the applicable volume of cel- 12 lulosic biofuel, biomass-based diesel, 13 and advanced biofuel (other than cel- 14 lulosic biofuel and biomass-based die- 15 sel) for purposes of subparagraph (A) 16 shall be equal to the actual volume of 17 cellulosic biofuel, biomass-based diesel, 18 or advanced biofuel (other than cellu- 19 losic biofuel and biomass-based die- 20 sel), respectively, produced during the 21 preceding calendar year, as deter- 22 mined under subclause (II). 23 ‘‘(II) DETERMINATION OF AC- 24 TUAL PRODUCTION.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:01 Nov 25, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5113.IH H5113 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 5113 IH ‘‘(aa) IN GENERAL.—Not 1 later than February 28 of each 2 calendar year, the Administrator 3 shall determine the actual volume 4 of cellulosic biofuel, biomass- 5 based diesel, and advanced 6 biofuel (other than cellulosic 7 biofuel and biomass-based diesel) 8 produced during the preceding 9 calendar year, based on informa- 10 tion from the Moderated Trans- 11 action System of the Environ- 12 mental Protection Agency. 13 ‘‘(bb) MID-YEAR REVIEW.— 14 Not later than September 1 of 15 each calendar year, the Adminis- 16 trator shall adjust the applicable 17 volume requirement under sub- 18 clause (I) for the calendar year 19 for cellulosic biofuel, biomass- 20 based diesel, or other advanced 21 biofuel to reflect any increase in 22 production during that calendar 23 year, based on information from 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:01 Nov 25, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5113.IH H5113 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 5113 IH the Moderated Transaction Sys- 1 tem. 2 ‘‘(III) LIMITATION.—Notwith- 3 standing any other provision of this 4 clause, the applicable volume of bio- 5 mass-based diesel or advanced biofuel 6 (other than biomass-based diesel and 7 cellulosic biofuel) established pursuant 8 to subclause (I) for any calendar year 9 shall not exceed 2,000,000,000 gal- 10 lons. 11 ‘‘(iii) LIMITATION ON VIRGIN VEGE- 12 TABLE OILS.— 13 ‘‘(I) DEFINITION OF VIRGIN VEG- 14 ETABLE OIL.— 15 ‘‘(aa) IN GENERAL.—In this 16 clause, the term ‘virgin vegetable 17 oil’ means any oil pressed directly 18 from a harvested crop, including 19 soybean, canola, peanut, and 20 palm crops. 21 ‘‘(bb) EXCLUSION.—In this 22 clause, the term ‘virgin vegetable 23 oil’ does not include any recycled 24 or waste oil, such as— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:01 Nov 25, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5113.IH H5113 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 5113 IH ‘‘(AA) used cooking oil; 1 or 2 ‘‘(BB) any other waste 3 oil that is no longer usable 4 for human or animal con- 5 sumption. 6 ‘‘(II) LIMITATION.—For each 7 calendar year, not more than 8 1,000,000,000 gallons of biomass- 9 based diesel derived from a virgin veg- 10 etable oil or a bioenergy production 11 byproduct that is suitable as animal 12 feed may be used to satisfy the appli- 13 cable volume of biomass-based diesel 14 required under this paragraph. 15 ‘‘(iv) SUNSET.— 16 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—The require- 17 ment under this paragraph that trans- 18 portation fuel sold or introduced into 19 commerce in the United States (ex- 20 cept in noncontiguous States or terri- 21 tories), on an annual average basis, 22 shall contain at least an applicable 23 volume of any renewable fuel that is 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:01 Nov 25, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5113.IH H5113 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 14 •HR 5113 IH not cellulosic biofuel shall cease to 1 apply on January 1, 2031. 2 ‘‘(II) CELLULOSIC BIOFUEL.— 3 The requirement under this para- 4 graph that transportation fuel sold or 5 introduced into commerce in the 6 United States (except in noncontig- 7 uous States or territories), on an an- 8 nual average basis, shall contain at 9 least an applicable volume of renew- 10 able fuel that is cellulosic biofuel shall 11 cease to apply beginning on the earlier 12 of— 13 ‘‘(aa) January 1, 2037; and 14 ‘‘(bb) January 1 of the cal- 15 endar year beginning after the 16 first calendar year during which 17 a total of not less than 18 2,000,000,000 gallons of cellu- 19 losic biofuel is produced.’’. 20 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 211(o)(3) 21 of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 75 [Text truncated for display. 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