Clean Fuels Deployment Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6671 To amend title 23, United States Code, to aid States in the deployment of fueling infrastructure to increase the use of higher blends of biofuels, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 1, 2020 Ms. FINKENAUER (for herself, Ms. CRAIG, Mr. MARSHALL, and Mr. BACON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure A BILL To amend title 23, United States Code, to aid States in the deployment of fueling infrastructure to increase the use of higher blends of biofuels, 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 ‘‘Clean Fuels Deploy- 4 ment Act of 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. GRANTS FOR DEPLOYMENT OF FUELING INFRA- 6 STRUCTURE TO INCREASE THE USE OF HIGH- 7 ER BLENDS OF BIOFUELS. 8 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:26 May 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6671.IH H6671 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6671 IH (1) According to the Energy Information Ad- 1 ministration, United States fuel consumption 2 reached a new record high in 2018, breaking the 3 previous record from 2007. 4 (2) Biofuels are an immediately available path 5 toward decarbonizing the transportation sector while 6 lowering fuel prices, driving economic growth, and 7 creating jobs. 8 (3) Ninety-eight percent of the gasoline sold in 9 the United States already uses a 10 percent ethanol 10 blend, E10. 11 (4) E15 has been approved since 2011 for any 12 car or light truck model year 2001 or later, and as 13 of January 2020, it is sold at 2,081 locations in 30 14 States primarily at independently owned gas sta- 15 tions. 16 (5) On May 30, 2019, the Environmental Pro- 17 tection Agency issued a final rule titled ‘‘Modifica- 18 tions to Fuel Regulations to Provide Flexibility for 19 E15 and to Elements of the Renewable Identifica- 20 tion Number Compliance System’’ to permit year- 21 round sale of E15. 22 (6) E15 is dispensed using blender pumps or 23 dedicated E15 pumps. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:26 May 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6671.IH H6671 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6671 IH (7) In addition to flex-fuel infrastructure to dis- 1 pense E85, all major United States pump manufac- 2 turers offer pumps certified for blends up to 25 per- 3 cent ethanol. 4 (8) Pilot programs have demonstrated that pub- 5 lic-private partnerships increase the installation rate 6 of fueling infrastructure for higher blends of eth- 7 anol, with the USDA Biofuel Infrastructure Part- 8 nership delivering $100,000,000 to 21 States to as- 9 sist 1,486 stations install 4,880 pumps and 515 10 tanks. 11 (9) The United States has used more than 2.6 12 billion gallons of biomass-based diesel each year 13 since 2016 for on-road transport, heating applica- 14 tions, and jet fuel. 15 (10) Nearly all United States diesel engine 16 original equipment manufacturers approve the use of 17 biodiesel blends up to B20 and renewable diesel up 18 to 100 percent. 19 (11) Multiple States have enacted or are poised 20 to adopt requirements and incentives for blending 21 biodiesel and renewable diesel into distillate fuels for 22 transportation and heating. 23 (12) The greatest barriers to biodiesel distribu- 24 tion are at the terminal and pipeline terminal level, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:26 May 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6671.IH H6671 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 6671 IH as well as rail to reach distribution centers. 1 Incentivizing terminals would make fuel widely avail- 2 able and would be helpful for a larger penetration of 3 biodiesel. 4 (13) Investment will accelerate the increased 5 use of higher blends of biofuels and quickly cut 6 greenhouse gas emissions while lowering gas prices 7 and driving economic growth. 8 SEC. 3. CLEAN FUELS GRANT PROGRAM. 9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 2 of title 23, United 10 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol- 11 lowing: 12 ‘‘§ 219. Clean fuels grant program 13 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 1 year after 14 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Trans- 15 portation shall establish a grant program to award grants 16 to eligible entities to carry out the activities described in 17 subsection (d). 18 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—An entity eligible to re- 19 ceive a grant under this subsection is— 20 ‘‘(1) a State, locality, or territory; 21 ‘‘(2) a Tribal government; 22 ‘‘(3) an authority, agency, partnership, or in- 23 strumentality of an entity described in paragraph 24 (1) or (2); or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:26 May 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6671.IH H6671 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 6671 IH ‘‘(4) a group of entities described in paragraphs 1 (1) through (3). 2 ‘‘(c) ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA.—In selecting entities to 3 receive a grant under this section, the Secretary shall con- 4 sider the extent to which the application of the entity pro- 5 poses to— 6 ‘‘(1) convert existing pump infrastructure to de- 7 liver ethanol blends with greater than 10 percent 8 ethanol; 9 ‘‘(2) diversify the geographic area selling eth- 10 anol blends with greater than 10 percent ethanol; 11 ‘‘(3) support existing or emerging biodiesel, 12 bioheat and sustainable aviation fuel markets that 13 have existing incentives; 14 ‘‘(4) increase the use of existing fuel delivery 15 infrastructure; 16 ‘‘(5) enable or accelerate the deployment of 17 fueling infrastructure that would be unlikely to be 18 completed without Federal assistance; and 19 ‘‘(6) build and retrofit traditional and pipeline 20 terminals to blend biodiesel and pipelines to carry 21 ethanol and biodiesel. 22 ‘‘(d) ELIGIBLE USE.—An entity receiving a grant 23 under this section may use the grant funds— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:26 May 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6671.IH H6671 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 6671 IH ‘‘(1) to distribute to private or public entities 1 for costs related to incentivizing deployment of fuel- 2 ing infrastructure; 3 ‘‘(2) for the conversion of existing pump infra- 4 structure to deliver ethanol blends greater than 10 5 percent and biodiesel blends greater than 20 per- 6 cent; 7 ‘‘(3) for installation of fuel pumps and related 8 infrastructure dedicated to the distribution of higher 9 ethanol blends (including E15 and E85) and higher 10 biodiesel blends up to B100 at fueling locations, in- 11 cluding local fueling stations, convenience stores, 12 hypermarket fueling stations, and fleet facilities; and 13 ‘‘(4) to build and retrofit traditional and pipe- 14 line terminals (including rail lines) to blend biodiesel 15 and pipelines to carry ethanol and biodiesel. 16 ‘‘(e) CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENT.—Any infra- 17 structure used or installed with funds provided under this 18 section shall be certified by the Underwriters Laboratory 19 to distribute blends with an ethanol content of 25 percent 20 or greater. 21 ‘‘(f) FUNDING.— 22 ‘‘(1) FEDERAL PROJECT SHARE.—The Federal 23 share of the total cost of carrying out a project 24 under this section shall not exceed 80 percent. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:26 May 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6671.IH H6671 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 6671 IH ‘‘(2) MAXIMUM PERCENTAGE FOR CERTAIN AC- 1 TIVITIES.—An entity receiving a grant under this 2 section shall ensure that Federal funds do not ex- 3 ceed— 4 ‘‘(A) 75 percent of the per pump cost 5 for— 6 ‘‘(i) pumps that can dispense a range 7 of ethanol blends up to and including E85 8 (new pumps or retrofit of existing pumps); 9 and 10 ‘‘(ii) dedicated E15 or E85 pumps 11 (new pumps or retrofit of existing pumps); 12 ‘‘(B) 50 percent of the terminal cost for 13 terminals with B100 capabilities; and 14 ‘‘(C) 25 percent of the per tank cost for 15 new storage tanks and related equipment asso- 16 ciated with new facilities or additional capacity 17 other than replacement. 18 ‘‘(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 19 are authorized to be appropriated $100,000,000 for each 20 of the fiscal years 2021 through 2026 to carry out this 21 Act.’’. 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:26 May 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6671.IH H6671 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 6671 IH (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The analysis for chap- 1 ter 2 of title 23, United States Code, is amended by add- 2 ing at the end the following: 3 ‘‘219. Clean fuels grant program.’’. Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:26 May 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H6671.IH H6671 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS