II 

Calendar No. 421 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2700 

To amend the Clean Air Act to provide for a Federal Fuels List, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 2, 2006 

Mr. BURR (for himself and Mr. ALLEN) introduced the following bill; which 

was read the first time 

MAY 3, 2006 

Read the second time and placed on the calendar 

A BILL 

To amend the Clean Air Act to provide for a Federal Fuels 

List, 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 ‘‘Affordable and Reli5 able Gas Act of 2006’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. LIST OF FUELS. 

2 (a) LIST OF FUELS.—Section 211(c)(4)(C) of the 

3 Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7545(c)(4)(C)) (as amended by 

4 the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (Public Law 109–58; 119 

5 Stat. 1106)) is amended by striking the second clause (v) 

6 and inserting the following: 

7 ‘‘(vi)(I) The Administrator shall have no authority, 

8 when considering a State implementation plan or a State 

9 implementation plan revision, to approve under this para10 graph any fuel included in such plan or revision if the ef11 fect of such approval would be to increase the total num12 ber of fuels approved under this paragraph as of Sep13 tember 1, 2004 in all State implementation plans. 

14 ‘‘(II) The Administrator, in consultation with the 

15 Secretary of Energy, shall determine the total number of 

16 fuels approved under this paragraph as of September 1, 

17 2004, in all State implementation plans and shall publish 

18 a list of such fuels, including the states and Petroleum 

19 Administration for Defense District in which they are 

20 used, in the Federal Register no later than 90 days after 

21 enactment. 

22 ‘‘(III) The Administrator shall remove a fuel from the 

23 list published under subclause (II) if a fuel ceases to be 

24 included in a State implementation plan or if a fuel in 

25 a State implementation plan is identical to a Federal fuel 

26 formulation implemented by the Administrator and shall 


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1 reduce the total number of fuels authorized under the list 

2 published under subclause (II) appropriately. 

3 ‘‘(IV) Subclause (I) shall not limit the Administra4 tor’s authority to approve a control or prohibition respect5 ing any new fuel under this paragraph in a State’s imple6 mentation plan or a revision to that State’s implementa7 tion plan after the date of enactment of this Act if such 

8 new fuel completely replaces a fuel on the list published 

9 under subclause (II). 

10 ‘‘(V) The Administrator shall have no authority 

11 under this paragraph, when considering any particular 

12 State’s implementation plan or a revision to that State’s 

13 implementation plan, to approve any fuel unless that fuel 

14 was, as of the date of such consideration, approved in at 

15 least one State implementation plan in the applicable Pe16 troleum Administrator for Defense District. However, the 

17 Administrator may approve as part of a State implementa18 tion plan or State implementation plan revision a fuel with 

19 a summertime Reid Vapor Pressure of 7.0 psi. In no event 

20 shall such approval by the Administrator cause an increase 

21 in the total number of fuels on the list published under 

22 subclause (II) as of the date of consideration. 

23 ‘‘(VI) Nothing in this clause shall be construed to 

24 have any effect regarding any available authority of States 

25 to require the use of any fuel additive registered in accordVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:20 May 04, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2700.PCS S2700

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1 ance with subsection (b), including any fuel additive reg2 istered in accordance with subsection (b) after the enact3 ment of this subclause. 

4 ‘‘(vii)(I) The provisions of clause (vi), including the 

5 limitations of the authority of the Administrator and the 

6 cap on the total number of fuels permitted, shall remain 

7 in effect until the harmonization of fuels under subclause 

8 V of this clause is accomplished. Once such harmonization 

9 has been accomplished, clause (v) shall sunset and the lim10 itations of the authority of the Administrator under sub11 clause (IV) of this clause shall apply. 

12 ‘‘(II) The Administrator, in coordination with the 

13 Secretary of Energy (hereinafter in this clause referred 

14 to as the ‘Secretary’), shall identify and publish in the 

15 Federal Register, within 12 months after the enactment 

16 of this subclause and after notice and opportunity for pub17 lic comment, a list of 5 gasolines and diesel fuels to be 

18 used in States that have not received a waiver under sec19 tion 209(b) of this Act. The list shall be referred to as 

20 the ‘Federal Fuels List’ and shall include one Federal on21 road diesel fuel (which shall grandfather the sulfur phase 

22 down in the Administrator’s ultra low sulfur diesel fuel 

23 regulations in effect as of the date of enactment and shall 

24 permit the implementation of one alternative diesel fuel, 

25 approved under this subparagraph before enactment of 


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1 this subclause for a State that has not received a section 

2 209(b) waiver, only in the State in which it was approved 

3 prior to enactment), one conventional gasoline for ozone 

4 attainment areas, one reformulated gasoline (RFG) meet5 ing the requirements of subsection (k), and 2 additional 

6 gasolines with Reid vapor pressure (RVP) controls for use 

7 in ozone attainment areas of varying degrees of severity. 

8 None of the fuels identified under this subclause shall con9 trol fuel sulfur or toxics levels beyond levels required by 

10 regulations of the Administrator. 

11 ‘‘(III) Gasolines and diesel fuels shall be included on 

12 the Federal Fuels List based on the Administrator’s anal13 ysis of their ability to reduce ozone emissions to assist 

14 States in attaining established ozone standards under this 

15 Act, and on an analysis by the Secretary that the adoption 

16 of the Federal Fuels List will not result in a reduction 

17 in supply or in producibility, including that caused by a 

18 reduction in domestic refining capacity as a result of the 

19 adoption of the Federal Fuels List. In the event the Sec20 retary concludes that adoption of the Federal Fuels List 

21 will result in a reduction in supply or in producibility, the 

22 Administrator and the Secretary shall report that conclu23 sion to Congress, and suspend implementation of this 

24 clause. The Administrator and the Secretary shall conduct 

25 the study required under section 1541(c) of the Energy 


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1 Policy Act of 2005 on the timetable required in that sec2 tion to provide Congress with legislative recommendations 

3 for modifications to the proposed Federal Fuels List only 

4 if the Secretary concludes that adoption of the Federal 

5 Fuels List will result in a reduction in supply or in 

6 producibility. 

7 ‘‘(IV) Upon publication of the Federal Fuels List, the 

8 Administrator shall have no authority, when considering 

9 a State implementation plan or State implementation plan 

10 revisions, to approve under this subparagraph any fuel in11 cluded in such plan or plan revision if the proposed fuel 

12 is not one of the fuels on the Federal Fuels List; or to 

13 approve a State’s plan or plan revision to move from one 

14 fuel on the Federal Fuels List to another unless, after con15 sultation with the Secretary, the Administrator publishes 

16 in the Federal Register, after notice and opportunity for 

17 public comment, a finding that, in the Administrator’s 

18 judgment, such plan or plan revision to adopt a different 

19 fuel on the Federal Fuels List will not cause fuel supply 

20 or distribution disruptions in the affected area or contig21 uous areas. The Administrator’s finding shall include an 

22 assessment of reasonably foreseeable supply or distribu23 tion emergencies that could occur in the affected area or 

24 contiguous area and how adoption of the particular fuel 


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1 revisions would effect alternative supply options during 

2 reasonably foreseeable supply or distribution emergencies. 

3 ‘‘(V) The Administrator, in consultation with the Sec4 retary, shall develop a plan to harmonize the currently ap5 proved fuels in State implementation plans with the fuels 

6 included on the Federal Fuels List and shall promulgate 

7 implementing regulations for this plan not later than 18 

8 months after enactment of this subclause. This harmoni9 zation shall be fully implemented by the States by Decem10 ber 31, 2008.’’. 

11 (b) BOUTIQUE FUELS.—Section 1541 of the Energy 

12 Policy Act of 2005 (Public Law 109–58; 119 Stat. 1106) 

13 is amended by striking subsection (c) and inserting the 

14 following: 

15 ‘‘(c) STUDY AND REPORT TO CONGRESS ON BOU16 TIQUE FUELS.— 

17 ‘‘(1) JOINT STUDY.—The Administrator of the 

18 Environmental Protection Agency and the Secretary 

19 of Energy shall undertake a study of the effects on 

20 air quality, on the number of fuel blends, on fuel 

21 availability, on fuel fungibility, and on fuel costs of 

22 the State plan provisions adopted pursuant to sec23 tion 211(c)(4)(C) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 

24 7545(c)(4)(C)). 


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1 ‘‘(2) FOCUS OF STUDY.—The primary focus of 

2 the study required under paragraph (1) shall be to 

3 determine how to develop a Federal fuels system 

4 that maximizes motor fuel fungibility and supply, 

5 preserves air quality standards, and reduces motor 

6 fuel price volatility that results from the prolifera7 tion of boutique fuels, and to recommend to Con8 gress such legislative changes as are necessary to 

9 implement such a system. The study should include 

10 the impacts on overall energy supply, distribution, 

11 and use as a result of the legislative changes rec12 ommended. The study should include an analysis of 

13 the impact on ozone emissions and supply of a man14 datory reduction in the number of fuel blends to 5, 

15 including one on-road Federal diesel fuel (which 

16 shall grandfather the sulfur phase down in the Ad17 ministrator’s ultra low sulfur diesel fuel regulations 

18 and shall permit the implementation of, one alter19 native diesel fuel, blend approved under this sub20 paragraph before enactment of this subclause for a 

21 State that has not received a section 209(b) waiver, 

22 only in the State in which it was approved prior to 

23 enactment), one conventional gasoline for ozone at24 tainment areas, one reformulated gasoline (RFG) 

25 meeting the requirements of subsection (k), and 2 


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1 additional gasolines blends with Reid vapor pressure 

2 (RVP) controls for use in ozone attainment areas of 

3 varying degrees of severity. 

4 ‘‘(3) CONDUCT OF STUDY.—In carrying out 

5 their joint duties under this section, the Adminis6 trator and the Secretary shall use sound science and 

7 objective science practices, shall consider the best 

8 available science, shall use data collected by accepted 

9 means and shall consider and include a description 

10 of the weight of the scientific evidence. The Adminis11 trator and the Secretary shall coordinate the study 

12 required by this section with other studies required 

13 by the act and shall endeavor to avoid duplication of 

14 effort with regard to such studies. 

15 ‘‘(4) RESPONSIBILITY OF ADMINISTRATOR.—In 

16 carrying out the study required by this section, the 

17 Administrator shall coordinate obtaining comments 

18 from affected parties interested in the air quality 

19 impact assessment portion of the study. The Admin20 istrator shall use sound and objective science prac21 tices, shall consider the best available science, and 

22 shall consider and include a description of the 

23 weight of the scientific evidence. 

24 ‘‘(5) RESPONSIBILITY OF SECRETARY.—In car25 rying out the study required by this section, the SecVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:20 May 04, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2700.PCS S2700

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1 retary shall coordinate obtaining comments from af2 fected parties interested in the fuel availability, 

3 number of fuel blends, fuel fungibility and fuel costs 

4 portion of the study. 

5 ‘‘(6) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Adminis6 trator and the Secretary jointly shall submit the re7 sults of the study required by this section in a report 

8 to the Congress not later than 12 months after the 

9 date of the enactment of this Act, together with any 

10 recommended regulatory and legislative changes. 

11 Such report shall be submitted to the Committee on 

12 Energy and Commerce of the House of Representa13 tives and the Committee on Environment and Public 

14 Works of the Senate. 

15 ‘‘(7) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

16 There is authorized to be appropriated jointly to the 

17 Administrator and the Secretary $500,000 for the 

18 completion of the study required under this sub19 section.’’. 


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Calendar No. 421 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2700 

A BILL 

Federal Fuels List, and for other purposes. 

To amend the Clean Air Act to provide for a 

MAY 3, 2006 

Read the second time and placed on the calendar 


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