A bill to require the Secretary of Energy to award funds to study the feasibility of constructing 1 or more dedicated ethanol pipelines to increase the energy, economic, and environmental security of the United States, and for other purposes.

Summary: Ethanol Infrastructure Expansion Act of 2006 - Directs the Secretary of Energy, in coordination with the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of Transportation, to award up to $1 million to one or more eligible firms to conduct feasibility studies for the construction of one or more dedicated ethanol pipelines.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Ethanol Infrastructure Expansion Act 
of 2006''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) it is in the national interest to make greater use of 
        ethanol in transportation fuels;
            (2) ethanol is a clean, renewable fuel that provides public 
        health benefits in the form of reduced emissions, including 
        reduced greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change;
            (3) ethanol use provides economic gains to agricultural 
        producers, biofuels producers, and rural areas;
            (4) ethanol use benefits the national security of the 
        United States by displacing the use of petroleum, much of which 
        is imported from foreign countries that are hostile to the 
        United States;
            (5) ethanol can reduce prices at the pump for motoring 
        consumers by extending fuel supplies and due to the competitive 
        cost of ethanol relative to conventional gasoline;
            (6) ethanol faces shipping challenges in pipelines that 
        transport other liquid transportation fuels;
            (7) currently ethanol is efficiently shipped by rail tanker 
        cars, barges, and trucks, all of which could, as ethanol 
        production expands, encounter capacity limits due to competing 
        use demands for the rail tanker cars, barges, and trucks;
            (8) as the United States ethanol market expands in the 
        coming years there is likely to be a need for dedicated ethanol 
        pipelines to transport ethanol from the Midwest, where ethanol 
        generally is produced, to the Eastern and Western United 
        States;
            (9) as of the date of enactment of this Act, dedicated 
        ethanol pipelines do not exist in the United States and will be 
        challenging to construct, at least initially;
            (10) Brazil has already shown that ethanol can be shipped 
        effectively via pipeline; and
            (11) having an ethanol pipeline study completed in the very 
        near term is important because the construction of 1 or more 
        dedicated ethanol pipelines would take at least several years 
        to complete.

SEC. 3. DEFINITION OF SECRETARY.

    In this Act, the term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of Energy.

SEC. 4. FEASIBILITY STUDIES.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary, in coordination with the Secretary 
of Agriculture and the Secretary of Transportation, shall spend up to 
$1,000,000 to fund feasibility studies for the construction of 
dedicated ethanol pipelines.
    (b) Conduct of Studies.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary shall--
                    (A) through a competitive solicitation process, 
                select 1 or more firms having capabilities in the 
                planning, development, and construction of dedicated 
                ethanol pipelines to carry out the feasibility studies 
                described in subsection (a); or
                    (B) carry out the feasibility studies in 
                conjunction with such firms.
            (2) Timing.--
                    (A) In general.--If the Secretary elects to select 
                1 or more firms under paragraph (1)(A), the Secretary 
                shall award funding under this section not later than 
                120 days after the date of enactment of this Act.
                    (B) Studies.--As a condition of receiving funds 
                under this section, a recipient of funding shall agree 
                to submit to the Secretary a completed feasibility 
                study not later than 360 days after the date of 
                enactment of this Act.
    (c) Study Factors.--Feasibility studies funded under this Act shall 
include consideration of--
            (1) existing or potential barriers to dedicated ethanol 
        pipelines, including technical, siting, financing, and 
        regulatory barriers;
            (2) market risk, including throughput risk, and ways of 
        mitigating the risk;
            (3) regulatory, financing, and siting options that would 
        mitigate risk in these areas and help ensure the construction 
        of 1 or more dedicated ethanol pipelines;
            (4) financial incentives that may be necessary for the 
        construction of dedicated ethanol pipelines, including the 
        return on equity that sponsors of the first dedicated ethanol 
        pipelines will require to invest in the pipelines;
            (5) ethanol production of 20,000,000,000, 30,000,000,000, 
        and 40,000,000,000 gallons per year by 2020; and
            (6) such other factors that the Secretary considers to be 
        appropriate.
    (d) Confidentiality.--If a recipient of funding under this section 
requests confidential treatment for critical energy infrastructure 
information or commercially-sensitive data contained in a feasibility 
study submitted by the recipient under subsection (b)(2)(B), the 
Secretary shall offer to enter into a confidentiality agreement with 
the recipient to maintain the confidentiality of the submitted 
information.
    (e) Review; Report.--The Secretary shall--
            (1) review the feasibility studies submitted under 
        subsection (b)(2)(B) or carried out under subsection (b)(1)(B); 
        and
            (2) not later than 15 months after the date of enactment of 
        this Act, submit to Congress a report that includes--
                    (A) information about the potential benefits of 
                constructing 1 or more dedicated ethanol pipelines; and
                    (B) recommendations for legislation that could help 
                provide for the construction of dedicated ethanol 
                pipelines.

SEC. 5. FUNDING.

    There is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry 
out this Act $1,000,000 for fiscal year 2008, to remain available until 
expended.