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. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fuel Choice and De5 regulation Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ALTERNATIVE FUELS. 

7 (a) AFTERMARKET CONVERSIONS OF MOTOR VEHI8 CLES TO ALTERNATIVE FUEL.—Section 203 of the Clean 

9 Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7522) is amended by adding at the 

10 end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(c) OLDER VEHICLES.— 

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The aftermarket conversion 

3 of a motor vehicle to alternative fuel operation shall 

4 not— 

5 ‘‘(A) be considered tampering under this 

6 section if the aftermarket conversion system 

7 manufacturer or the person performing the con8 version demonstrates that the development and 

9 engineering sophistication of the conversion 

10 technology is— 

11 ‘‘(i) matched to an appropriate motor 

12 vehicle or group of motor vehicles; and 

13 ‘‘(ii) well-designed and installed in ac14 cordance with good engineering judgment 

15 so that the aftermarket conversion system 

16 does not degrade emission performance, as 

17 compared to the performance of the motor 

18 vehicle or motor vehicles before the conver19 sion; or 

20 ‘‘(B) require the Administrator to issue a 

21 certificate of conformity. 

22 ‘‘(2) LABEL.—The person performing a conver23 sion described in paragraph (1) shall affix a label to 

24 the motor vehicle stating that— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the motor vehicle has been equipped 

2 with an aftermarket conversion system; and 

3 ‘‘(B) the installation of that system oc4 curred after the initial sale of the motor vehicle. 

5 ‘‘(3) NO PRECLUSION OF ORDERS.—Nothing in 

6 this subsection precludes the Administrator from 

7 issuing an order to prohibit the manufacture, sale, 

8 distribution, or installation of an aftermarket con9 version system if the Administrator has evidence 

10 that the installation of the aftermarket conversion 

11 system on a motor vehicle degrades emission per12 formance.’’. 

13 (b) BIOMASS FUELS.—Section 211 of the Clean Air 

14 Act (42 U.S.C. 7545) is amended by adding at the end 

15 the following: 

16 ‘‘(w) BIOMASS FUELS.—Notwithstanding any other 

17 provision of this Act, the Administrator may not prohibit 

18 or control biomass fuel (as defined in section 203 of the 

19 Biomass Energy and Alcohol Fuels Act of 1980 (42 

20 U.S.C. 8802)) under this Act.’’. 

21 SEC. 3. CALCULATION OF AVERAGE FUEL ECONOMY. 

22 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 32901(a) of title 49, 

23 United States Code, is amended— 

24 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (7) through 

25 (19) as paragraphs (8), (9), (10), (13), (16), (17), 


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1 (19), (20), (21), (22), (23), (24), and (26), respec2 tively; 

3 (2) by inserting after paragraph (6) the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(7) ‘biodiesel’— 

6 ‘‘(A) means liquid fuel derived from bio7 mass that meets— 

8 ‘‘(i) the registration requirements for 

9 fuels and fuel additives established by the 

10 Environmental Protection Agency under 

11 section 211 of the Clean Air Act (42 

12 U.S.C. 7545); and 

13 ‘‘(ii) the requirements of the Amer14 ican Society of Testing Materials Standard 

15 D6751; and 

16 ‘‘(B) does not include any liquid with re17 spect to which a credit may be determined 

18 under section 40 of the Internal Revenue Code 

19 of 1986.’’; 

20 (3) by inserting after paragraph (10) (as so re21 designated) the following: 

22 ‘‘(11) ‘E85’ means a fuel mixture that— 

23 ‘‘(A) contains between 51 and 83 percent 

24 ethanol; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) meets the specifications of the Amer2 ican Society of Testing Materials Standard 

3 D5798. 

4 ‘‘(12) ‘flexible fuel vehicle’ means a vehicle that 

5 has been warranted to operate on gasoline, E85, and 

6 M85.’’; 

7 (4) by inserting after paragraph (13) (as so re8 designated) the following: 

9 ‘‘(14) ‘fuel choice enabling manufacturer’ 

10 means a manufacturer whose total fleet of auto11 mobiles manufactured for the most recent model 

12 year for sale in the United States contains not less 

13 than 50 percent fuel choice enabling vehicles. 

14 ‘‘(15) ‘fuel choice enabling vehicle’ means an 

15 automobile that— 

16 ‘‘(A) has been warranted to operate on 

17 natural gas, hydrogen, propane, or at least 20 

18 percent biodiesel; 

19 ‘‘(B) is a flexible fuel vehicle; 

20 ‘‘(C) is a plug-in electric drive vehicle; 

21 ‘‘(D) is propelled by a fuel cell that can 

22 produce power without the use of petroleum or 

23 a petroleum-based fuel; or 

24 ‘‘(E)(i) is propelled by something other 

25 than an internal combustion engine; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) is warranted to operate on something 

2 other than petroleum-based fuel.’’; 

3 (5) by inserting after paragraph (17) (as so re4 designated) the following: 

5 ‘‘(18) ‘M85’ means a fuel mixture that— 

6 ‘‘(A) contains up to 85 percent methanol; 

7 and 

8 ‘‘(B) meets the specifications of the Amer9 ican Society of Testing Materials International 

10 Standard D5797.’’; and 

11 (6) by inserting after paragraph (24) (as so re12 designated) the following: 

13 ‘‘(25) ‘plug-in electric drive vehicle’ has the 

14 meaning given the term in section 508(a) of the En15 ergy Policy Act of 1992 (42 U.S.C. 13258(a)).’’. 

16 (b) FUEL CHOICE ENABLING MANUFACTURERS.— 

17 (1) COMPLIANCE WITH THE CLEAN AIR ACT.— 

18 Section 32902 of title 49, United States Code, is 

19 amended by adding at the end the following: 

20 ‘‘(l) DEEMED COMPLIANCE WITH THE CLEAN AIR

21 ACT.—If a fuel choice enabling manufacturer is in compli22 ance with all applicable standards prescribed under this 

23 section for model year 2020 or any subsequent model year, 

24 the automobiles manufactured by that manufacturer in 

25 that model year are deemed to be in compliance with all 


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1 applicable greenhouse gas regulations established by the 

2 Environmental Protection Agency pursuant to section 202 

3 of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7521).’’. 

4 (2) CREDITS FOR EXCEEDING STANDARDS.— 

5 Section 32903(a) of title 49, United States Code, is 

6 amended by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the 

7 following: 

8 ‘‘(2) any of the 5 consecutive model years im9 mediately after the model year for which the credits 

10 are earned, to the extent that those credits are not 

11 used under paragraph (1).’’. 

12 (3) AVERAGE FUEL ECONOMY BONUS FOR FUEL

13 CHOICE ENABLING MANUFACTURERS.—Section 

14 32904 of title 49, United States Code, is amended— 

15 (A) by redesignating subsections (d) and 

16 (e) as subsections (e) and (f), respectively; and 

17 (B) by inserting after subsection (c) the 

18 following: 

19 ‘‘(d) AVERAGE FUEL ECONOMY BONUS FOR FUEL

20 CHOICE ENABLING MANUFACTURERS.—The average fuel 

21 economy of a fuel choice enabling manufacturer for a 

22 model year is the sum of— 

23 ‘‘(1) the average fuel economy of the fuel choice 

24 enabling manufacturer for that model year, as other25 wise calculated under this section; and 


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1 ‘‘(2) 8 miles per gallon.’’. 

2 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

3 this section shall apply with respect to automobiles manu4 factured for model year 2020 or for any subsequent model 

5 year. 

6 SEC. 4. ETHANOL WAIVER. 

7 Section 211(h)(4) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 

8 7545(h)(4)) is amended— 

9 (1) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), 

10 by inserting ‘‘or more of’’ after ‘‘10 percent’’; and 

11 (2) in subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘additional 

12 alcohol or’’. 

Æ 


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