II 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2680 

To facilitate the increased use of alternative fuels for motor vehicles, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 27, 2006 

Mr. COLEMAN (for himself, Mr. TALENT, and Mrs. LINCOLN) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To facilitate the increased use of alternative fuels for motor 

vehicles, 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 ‘‘Transforming Energy 

5 Now Act of 2006’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 

8 (1) the United States is dangerously dependent 

9 on foreign oil; 


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1 (2) as of April 2006, the United States im2 ported nearly 60 percent of the oil used in the 

3 United States, and that percentage is expected to in4 crease to almost 70 percent by 2025 unless the 

5 United States takes decisive action; 

6 (3) approximately 2,500,000 barrels of oil per 

7 day are imported from countries in the Persian Gulf 

8 region; 

9 (4) oil imports comprise nearly 30 percent of 

10 the dangerously high trade deficit of the United 

11 States; 

12 (5) it is feasible to dramatically reduce the de13 pendence of the United States on foreign oil by in14 creasing production and commercialization of alter15 native liquid fuels; 

16 (6) as of April 2006, only 4 percent of the total 

17 gasoline sold was derived from renewable fuel, in18 cluding 4,000,000,000 gallons of ethanol production; 

19 (7) at the current rate of renewable fuel pro20 duction growth, the United States will increase its 

21 production of ethanol by approximately 

22 1,000,000,000 gallons a year, resulting in the an23 nual production of 14,000,000,000 gallons of eth24 anol in the United States by 2016; 


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1 (8) at the current increase of renewable fuel 

2 production capacity, the United States will produce 

3 10,000,000,000 gallons of ethanol by 2012, easily 

4 surpassing the current renewable fuels mandate re5 quired by the Energy Policy Act of 2005; 

6 (9) an aggressive schedule of renewable fuels 

7 production will lessen the United States dependence 

8 on foreign oil; 

9 (10) 10 percent of the Nation’s motor vehicle 

10 fuel supply should be renewable by 2016; and 

11 (11) setting a goal of 19,000,000,000 gallons of 

12 ethanol by 2016 would require an aggressive in13 crease in renewable fuels production without requir14 ing significant ethanol imports. 

15 SEC. 3. ETHANOL AND BIODIESEL FUEL REQUIREMENTS. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 211(o)(2)(B) of the Clean 

17 Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7545 (o)(2)(B)) is amended to read 

18 as follows: 

19 ‘‘(B) MINIMUM PERCENTAGE.—Motor ve20 hicle fuel sold or introduced into commerce in 

21 the United States (except in noncontiguous 

22 States or territories) after December 31, 2015, 

23 shall contain, in the aggregate, not less than 10 

24 percent renewable fuel, by volume.’’. 


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1 (b) RULEMAKING.—Not later than 1 year after the 

2 date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall 

3 promulgate regulations to carry out the amendment made 

4 by subsection (a). 

5 SEC. 4. INCREASE IN ALTERNATIVE FUEL VEHICLE RE6 FUELING PROPERTY CREDIT. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 30C(a) of the Internal 

8 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking ‘‘30 per9 cent’’ and inserting ‘‘50 percent’’. 

10 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

11 subsection (a) shall apply to property placed in service 

12 after December 31, 2005, in taxable years ending after 

13 such date. 

14 SEC. 5. USE OF CAFE PENALTIES TO BUILD ALTERNATIVE 

15 FUELING INFRASTRUCTURE. 

16 Section 32912 of title 49, United States Code, is 

17 amended by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(e) ALTERNATIVE FUELING INFRASTRUCTURE

19 GRANT PROGRAM.— 

20 ‘‘(1) TRUST FUND.— 

21 ‘‘(A) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is estab22 lished in the Treasury of the United States a 

23 trust fund, to be known as the Alternative 

24 Fueling Infrastructure Trust Fund (referred to 

25 in this subsection as the ‘Trust Fund’), conVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:56 May 02, 2006 Jkt 049196 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2680.IS S2680

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1 sisting of such amounts as are deposited into 

2 the Trust Fund under subparagraph (B) and 

3 any interest earned on investment of amounts 

4 in the Trust Fund. 

5 ‘‘(B) TRANSFERS OF CIVIL PENALTIES.— 

6 The Secretary of Transportation shall remit 90 

7 percent of the amount collected in civil penalties 

8 under this section to the Trust Fund. 

9 ‘‘(2) ESTABLISHMENT OF GRANT PROGRAM.— 

10 The Secretary of Energy shall obligate such sums as 

11 are available in the Trust Fund to establish a grant 

12 program to increase the number of locations at 

13 which consumers may purchase alternative transpor14 tation fuels. 

15 ‘‘(3) GRANT RECIPIENTS.— 

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of En17 ergy may award grants under this paragraph, 

18 to— 

19 ‘‘(i) individual fueling stations in an 

20 amount not greater than $150,000 per site 

21 or $500,000 per entity; and 

22 ‘‘(ii) corporations (including nonprofit 

23 corporations) with demonstrated experience 

24 in the administration of grant funding for 


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1 the purpose of alternative fueling infra2 structure. 

3 ‘‘(B) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants 

4 under this paragraph, the Secretary of Energy 

5 shall— 

6 ‘‘(i) give priority to recognized non7 profit corporations that have proven expe8 rience and demonstrated technical exper9 tise in the establishment of alternative 

10 fueling infrastructure; 

11 ‘‘(ii) consider the number of vehicles 

12 produced for sale in the preceding produc13 tion year capable of using each specific 

14 type of alternative fuel; and 

15 ‘‘(iii) identify 1 primary group per al16 ternative fuel. 

17 ‘‘(4) USE OF FUNDS.— 

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Grant funds received 

19 under this subsection may be used to— 

20 ‘‘(i) construct new facilities to dis21 pense alternative fuels; 

22 ‘‘(ii) purchase equipment to upgrade, 

23 expand, or otherwise improve existing al24 ternative fuel facilities; or 


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1 ‘‘(iii) purchase equipment or pay for 

2 specific turnkey fueling services by alter3 native fuel providers. 

4 ‘‘(B) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—The 

5 Secretary of Energy may not award a grant 

6 under this paragraph unless the grant recipient 

7 agrees to provide $1 of non-Federal contribu8 tions for every $3 of grant funds received under 

9 this paragraph. In no case may administrative 

10 expenses exceed 10 percent of any total award 

11 that may be provided. 

12 ‘‘(5) SELECTION OF ALTERNATIVE FUEL STA13 TIONS.—Each grant recipient shall select the loca14 tions for each alternative fuel station to be con15 structed with grant funds received under this para16 graph on a formal, open, and competitive basis, 

17 based on— 

18 ‘‘(A) the public demand for each alter19 native fuel in a particular county based on state 

20 registration records showing the number of ve21 hicles that can be operated with alternative fuel; 

22 and 

23 ‘‘(B) the opportunity to create or expand 

24 corridors of alternative fuel stations along inter25 state or State highways. 


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1 ‘‘(6) OPERATION OF ALTERNATIVE FUEL STA2 TIONS.—Facilities constructed or upgraded with 

3 grant funds received under this subsection shall— 

4 ‘‘(A) provide alternative fuel available to 

5 the public for a period of not less than 4 years; 

6 ‘‘(B) establish a marketing plan to advance 

7 the sale and use of alternative fuels; 

8 ‘‘(C) prominently display the price of alter9 native fuel on the marquee and in the station; 

10 ‘‘(D) provide point of sale materials on al11 ternative fuel; 

12 ‘‘(E) clearly label the dispenser with con13 sistent materials; 

14 ‘‘(F) price the alternative fuel at the same 

15 margin that is received for unleaded gasoline; 

16 and 

17 ‘‘(G) support and use all available tax in18 centives to reduce the cost of the alternative 

19 fuel to the lowest possible retail price. 

20 ‘‘(7) NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS.— 

21 ‘‘(A) OPENING.—Not later than the date 

22 on which each alternative fuel station begins to 

23 offer alternative fuel to the public, the grant re24 cipient that used grant funds to construct such 

25 station shall notify the Secretary of Energy of 


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1 such opening. The Secretary of Energy shall 

2 add each new alternative fuel station to the al3 ternative fuel station locator on its Website 

4 when it receives notification under this subpara5 graph. 

6 ‘‘(B) SEMI-ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later 

7 than 6 months after the receipt of a grant 

8 award under this subsection, and every 6 

9 months thereafter, each grant recipient shall 

10 submit a report to the Secretary of Energy that 

11 describes— 

12 ‘‘(i) the status of each alternative fuel 

13 station constructed with grant funds re14 ceived under this subsection; 

15 ‘‘(ii) the amount of alternative fuel 

16 dispensed at each station during the pre17 ceding 6-month period; and 

18 ‘‘(iii) the average price per gallon of 

19 the alternative fuel sold at each station 

20 during the preceding 6-month period. 

21 ‘‘(8) ALTERNATIVE FUEL DEFINED.—For the 

22 purposes of this subsection, the term ‘alternative 

23 fuel’ means— 

24 ‘‘(A) any fuel of which at least 85 percent 

25 (or such percentage, but not less than 70 perVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:56 May 02, 2006 Jkt 049196 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2680.IS S2680

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1 cent, as determined by the Secretary, by rule, 

2 to provide for requirements relating to cold 

3 start, safety, or vehicle functions) of the volume 

4 consists of ethanol, natural gas, compressed 

5 natural gas, liquefied natural gas, liquefied pe6 troleum gas, or hydrogen; or 

7 ‘‘(B) any mixture of biodiesel and diesel 

8 fuel determined without regard to any use of 

9 kerosene that contains at least 20 percent bio10 diesel.’’. 

11 SEC. 6. LOW-INTEREST LOAN AND GRANT PROGRAM FOR 

12 RETAIL DELIVERY OF E–85 FUEL. 

13 (a) PURPOSES OF LOANS.—Section 312(a) of the 

14 Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 

15 1942(a)) is amended— 

16 (1) in paragraph (9)(B)(ii), by striking ‘‘or’’ at 

17 the end; 

18 (2) in paragraph (10), by striking the period at 

19 the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

20 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘(11) building infrastructure, including pump 

22 stations, for the retail delivery to consumers of any 

23 fuel that contains not less than 85 percent ethanol, 

24 by volume.’’. 


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1 (b) PROGRAM.—Subtitle B of the Consolidated Farm 

2 and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1941 et seq.) is 

3 amended by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘SEC. 320. LOW-INTEREST LOAN AND GRANT PROGRAM FOR 

5 RETAIL DELIVERY OF E–85 FUEL. 

6 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish a 

7 low-interest loan and grant program to assist farmer8 owned ethanol producers (including cooperatives and lim9 ited liability corporations) to develop and build infrastruc10 ture, including pump stations, that is directly related to 

11 the retail delivery to consumers of any fuel that contains 

12 not less than 85 percent ethanol, by volume. 

13 ‘‘(b) LOAN TERMS.— 

14 ‘‘(1) AMORTIZATION.—The repayment of a loan 

15 received under this section shall be amortized over 

16 the expected life of the infrastructure project that is 

17 being financed with the proceeds of the loan. 

18 ‘‘(2) INTEREST RATE.—The annual interest 

19 rate of a loan received under this section shall be 

20 fixed at not more than 5 percent. 

21 ‘‘(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

22 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are nec23 essary to carry out this section.’’. 

24 (c) REGULATIONS.—As soon as practicable after the 

25 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of AgriVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:56 May 02, 2006 Jkt 049196 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2680.IS S2680

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1 culture shall promulgate such regulations as are necessary 

2 to carry out the amendments made by this section. 

Æ 


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