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[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4784 Introduced in House (IH)]

                           [DISCUSSION DRAFT]
[DOCID: f:h4784ih.txt]

                             June 29, 2000

                                    

106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. ____

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 M. introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
                   on ______________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
   To provide for the establishment of a Midwest Clean Air Gasoline 
     Reserve to ensure the availability of gasoline in the Midwest.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Midwest Clean Air Gasoline Reserve 
Act''.

SEC. 2. AUTHORITY TO ESTABLISH RESERVE.

    The Secretary of Energy may establish, maintain, and operate in the 
Midwest a Midwest Clean Air Gasoline Reserve. A Reserve established 
under this Act is not a component of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. A 
Reserve established under this Act shall contain no more than 1,000,000 
barrels of reformulated gasoline.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    For purposes of this Act--
            (1) the term ``Midwest'' means the States or parts of 
        States of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, 
        Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and 
        Wisconsin which are required by the Environmental Protection 
        Agency under section 211(k) of the Clear Air Act to use 
        reformulated gasoline; and
            (2) the term ``reformulated gasoline'' includes any of the 
        compositions of gasoline which are required by the 
        Environmental Protection Agency, under section 211(k) of the 
        Clean Air Act, to be used.

SEC. 4. SECRETARY'S AUTHORITY.

    To the extent necessary or appropriate to carry out this Act, the 
Secretary of Energy may--
            (1) purchase, contract for, lease, or otherwise acquire, in 
        whole or in part, storage and related facilities, and storage 
        services;
            (2) use, lease, maintain, sell, or otherwise dispose of 
        storage and related facilities required under this Act;
            (3) acquire by purchase, exchange (including exchange of 
        petroleum products from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve or 
        received as royalty from Federal lands), lease, or otherwise--
                    (A) reformulated gasoline; or
                    (B) petroleum products for refinement into 
                reformulated gasoline,
        for storage in the Midwest Clean Air Gasoline Reserve;
            (4) enter into contracts or other arrangements for the 
        storage of reformulated gasoline or other petroleum products in 
        facilities not owned by the United States; and
            (5) sell, exchange, or otherwise dispose of reformulated 
        gasoline or other petroleum products from the Reserve 
        established under this Act pursuant to section 5.

SEC. 5. CONDITIONS FOR RELEASE; PLAN.

    (a) Conditions for Release.--Except as provided in subsection (b), 
the Secretary of Energy may release reformulated gasoline only in the 
event of--
            (1) a severe energy supply disruption;
            (2) a severe price increase; or
            (3) another emergency affecting the Midwest,
which the President determines to merit a release from the Reserve.
    (b) Exception.--The Secretary of Energy may, on terms the Secretary 
considers reasonable, sell, exchange, or otherwise dispose of 
reformulated gasoline from the Reserve established under this Act in 
order to maintain the quality or quantity of the reformulated gasoline 
stocks in the Reserve or to maintain the operational capability of the 
Reserve.
    (c) Plan.--Within 45 days after the date of the enactment of this 
Act, the Secretary of Energy shall transmit to the Congress a report 
indicating whether the Secretary intends to establish a Reserve under 
this Act or not. If the Secretary intends to establish a Reserve, the 
report shall include--
            (1) a plan for the acquisition of storage and related 
        facilities or storage services for the Reserve;
            (2) a plan for the acquisition of reformulated gasoline or 
        other petroleum products for storage in the Reserve;
            (3) a description of the anticipated methods of disposition 
        of reformulated gasoline or other petroleum products from the 
        Reserve; and
            (4) a description of the estimated costs of establishment, 
        maintenance, and operation of the Reserve.
If the Secretary decides not to establish a Reserve, the report shall 
include an explanation of the reasons for such decision.
    (d) Storage.--The storage under this Act of reformulated gasoline 
or other petroleum products in a storage facility that meets all 
applicable Federal and State environmental requirements shall not be 
considered a ``major Federal action significantly affecting the quality 
of the human environment'' as that term is used in section 102(2)(C) of 
the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969.

SEC. 6. MIDWEST CLEAN AIR GASOLINE RESERVE ACCOUNT.

    (a) Establishment.--Upon a decision of the Secretary of Energy to 
establish a Reserve under this Act, the Secretary of the Treasury shall 
establish in the Treasury of the United States an account known as the 
Midwest Clean Air Gasoline Reserve Account (referred to in this section 
as the ``Account'').
    (b) Deposits.--The Secretary of the Treasury shall deposit in the 
Account any amounts appropriated to the Account and any receipts from 
the sale, exchange, or other disposition of reformulated gasoline from 
the Reserve.
    (c) Use of Funds.--The Secretary of Energy may obligate amounts in 
the Account to carry out activities under this Act without the need for 
further appropriation, and amounts available to the Secretary of Energy 
for obligation under this section shall remain available without fiscal 
year limitation.
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