I 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2426 

To require the Secretary of Energy to award funds to study the feasibility 

of constructing dedicated ethanol pipelines, to address technical factors 

that prevent transportation of ethanol in existing pipelines, and to increase the energy, economic, and environmental security of the United 

States, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 22, 2007 

Mr. BOSWELL (for himself, Mr. MORAN of Kansas, and Mr. SALAZAR) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Energy to award funds to study 

the feasibility of constructing dedicated ethanol pipelines, 

to address technical factors that prevent transportation 

of ethanol in existing pipelines, and to increase the energy, economic, and environmental security of the United 

States, 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 ‘‘Ethanol Infrastructure 

5 Expansion Act of 2007’’. 

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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds that— 

3 (1) it is in the national interest to make greater 

4 use of ethanol in transportation fuels; 

5 (2) ethanol is a clean, renewable fuel that pro6 vides public health benefits in the form of reduced 

7 emissions, including reduced greenhouse gas emis8 sions that cause climate change; 

9 (3) ethanol use provides economic gains to agri10 cultural producers, biofuels producers, and rural 

11 areas; 

12 (4) ethanol use benefits the national security of 

13 the United States by displacing the use of petro14 leum, much of which is imported from foreign coun15 tries that are hostile to the United States; 

16 (5) ethanol can reduce prices at the pump for 

17 motoring consumers by extending fuel supplies due 

18 to the competitive cost of ethanol relative to conven19 tional gasoline; 

20 (6) ethanol faces shipping challenges in pipe21 lines that transport other liquid transportation fuels; 

22 (7) additional research and development can 

23 provide solutions to overcome the barriers of ship24 ping ethanol in pipelines that transport other liquid 

25 transportation fuels; 

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1 (8) currently ethanol is shipped by rail tanker 

2 cars, barges, and trucks, all of which could, as eth3 anol production expands, encounter capacity limits 

4 due to competing use demands for the rail tanker 

5 cars, barges, and trucks; 

6 (9) as the United States ethanol market ex7 pands in the coming years there is a need to evalu8 ate the feasibility and value for new construction of 

9 dedicated ethanol pipelines to transport ethanol from 

10 the Midwest, where ethanol generally is produced, to 

11 the Eastern and Western United States; 

12 (10) as of the date of enactment of this Act, 

13 dedicated ethanol pipelines do not exist in the 

14 United States and will be challenging to construct, 

15 at least initially; 

16 (11) ascertaining solutions to the technical bar17 riers of transporting ethanol in the existing pipeline 

18 system is important because of the safety, reliability, 

19 and cost savings pipeline transportation provides to 

20 the public; and 

21 (12) having an ethanol pipeline study completed 

22 in the very near term is important because the con23 struction of 1 or more dedicated ethanol pipelines 

24 would take at least several years to complete. 

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1 SEC. 3. DEFINITION OF SECRETARY. 

2 In this Act, the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Sec3 retary of Energy. 

4 SEC. 4. FEASIBILITY STUDIES. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in coordination 

6 with the Secretary of Transportation, shall spend up to 

7 $1,000,000 to fund feasibility studies for the construction 

8 of dedicated ethanol pipelines. 

9 (b) CONDUCT OF STUDIES.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall— 

11 (A) through a competitive solicitation proc12 ess, select 1 or more firms having capabilities in 

13 the planning, development, and construction of 

14 dedicated ethanol pipelines to carry out the fea15 sibility studies described in subsection (a); or 

16 (B) carry out the feasibility studies in con17 junction with such firms. 

18 (2) TIMING.— 

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—If the Secretary elects 

20 to select 1 or more firms under paragraph 

21 (1)(A), the Secretary shall award funding under 

22 this section not later than 120 days after the 

23 date of enactment of this Act. 

24 (B) STUDIES.—As a condition of receiving 

25 funds under this section, a recipient of funding 

26 shall agree to submit to the Secretary a commstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

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1 pleted feasibility study not later than 360 days 

2 after the date of enactment of this Act. 

3 (c) STUDY FACTORS.—Feasibility studies funded 

4 under this Act shall include consideration of— 

5 (1) existing or potential barriers to dedicated 

6 ethanol pipelines, including technical, siting, financ7 ing, and regulatory barriers; 

8 (2) potential evolutionary pathways for the de9 velopment of an ethanol pipeline transport system, 

10 such as starting with localized gathering networks as 

11 compared to major interstate ethanol pipelines to 

12 carry larger volumes from the Midwest to the East 

13 or West coast; 

14 (3) market risk, including throughput risk, and 

15 ways of mitigating the risk; 

16 (4) regulatory, financing, and siting options 

17 that would mitigate risk in these areas and help en18 sure the construction of dedicated ethanol pipelines; 

19 (5) financial incentives that may be necessary 

20 for the construction of dedicated ethanol pipelines, 

21 including the return on equity that sponsors of the 

22 first dedicated ethanol pipelines will require to invest 

23 in the pipelines; 

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1 (6) the quantity of ethanol production that 

2 would make dedicated pipelines economically fea3 sible; 

4 (7) technical factors that may compromise the 

5 safe transportation of ethanol in pipelines; 

6 (8) identifying remedial and preventative meas7 ures to ensure pipeline integrity; and 

8 (9) such other factors as the Secretary con9 siders to be appropriate. 

10 (d) CONFIDENTIALITY.—If a recipient of funding 

11 under this section requests confidential treatment for crit12 ical energy infrastructure information or commercially13 sensitive data contained in a feasibility study submitted 

14 by the recipient under subsection (b)(2)(B), the Secretary 

15 shall offer to enter into a confidentiality agreement with 

16 the recipient to maintain the confidentiality of the sub17 mitted information. 

18 (e) REVIEW; REPORT.—The Secretary shall— 

19 (1) review the feasibility studies submitted 

20 under subsection (b)(2)(B) or carried out under sub21 section (b)(1)(B); and 

22 (2) not later than 15 months after the date of 

23 enactment of this Act, submit to Congress a report 

24 that includes— 

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1 (A) information about the potential bene2 fits of constructing dedicated ethanol pipelines; 

3 and 

4 (B) recommendations for legislation that 

5 could help provide for the construction of dedi6 cated ethanol pipelines. 

7 SEC. 5. EXISTING PIPELINE TECHNICAL AND SAFETY RE8 SEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in coordination 

10 with the Secretary of Transportation, shall expend up to 

11 $1,000,000 to carry out a program of research, develop12 ment, and demonstration to address technical factors that 

13 prevent the transportation of ethanol and biodiesel in ex14 isting hazardous liquid interstate transmission pipelines. 

15 (b) CONDUCT OF STUDIES.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall— 

17 (A) through a competitive solicitation proc18 ess, select 1 or more firms having capabilities in 

19 the planning, development, construction, and 

20 modification of existing hazardous liquids inter21 state pipelines to carry out the program de22 scribed in subsection (a); or 

23 (B) carry out the program in conjunction 

24 with such firms. 

25 (2) TIMING.— 

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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—If the Secretary elects 

2 to select 1 or more firms under paragraph 

3 (1)(A), the Secretary shall award funding under 

4 this section not later than 120 days after the 

5 date of enactment of this Act. 

6 (B) STUDIES.—As a condition of receiving 

7 funds under this section, a recipient of funding 

8 shall agree to submit to the Secretary a com9 pleted report on the recipient’s findings not 

10 later than 360 days after the date of enactment 

11 of this Act. 

12 (c) PROGRAM ELEMENTS.—The program shall in13 clude research, development, and demonstration activities 

14 related to— 

15 (1) identifying and preventing conditions that 

16 lead to stress corrosion cracking or that might oth17 erwise compromise the integrity of the pipeline sys18 tem; 

19 (2) product quality assurance during pipeline 

20 transportation; and 

21 (3) other technical factors for the transpor22 tation of ethanol and biodiesel that might com23 promise the integrity of the pipeline system. 

24 (d) CONFIDENTIALITY.—If a recipient of funding 

25 under this section requests confidential treatment for critmstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

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1 ical energy infrastructure information or commercially2 sensitive data contained in a report submitted by the re3 cipient under subsection (b)(2)(B), the Secretary shall 

4 offer to enter into a confidentiality agreement with the re5 cipient to maintain the confidentiality of the submitted in6 formation. 

7 (e) REVIEW; REPORT.—The Secretary shall— 

8 (1) review the report submitted under sub9 section (b)(2)(B) or carried out under subsection 

10 (b)(1)(B); and 

11 (2) not later than 15 months after the date of 

12 enactment of this Act, submit to Congress a report 

13 that includes— 

14 (A) information about the potential bene15 fits of modifying existing hazardous liquid 

16 interstate transmission pipelines to allow the 

17 transportation of ethanol and biodiesel; and 

18 (B) recommendations for legislation that 

19 could help provide for the modification of exist20 ing hazardous liquid interstate transmission 

21 pipelines to allow the transportation of ethanol 

22 and biodiesel. 

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1 SEC. 6. FUNDING. 

2 (a) There are authorized to be appropriated to the 

3 Secretary to carry out section 4 of this Act $1,000,000 

4 for fiscal year 2008, to remain available until expended. 

5 (b) There are authorized to be appropriated to the 

6 Secretary to carry out section 5 of this Act $1,000,000 

7 for fiscal year 2008, to remain available until expended. 

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