II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1603 

To enable transportation fuel competition, consumer choice, and greater use 

of domestic energy sources in order to reduce our Nation’s dependence 

on foreign oil. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011 

Ms. CANTWELL (for herself and Mr. LUGAR) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 

Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To enable transportation fuel competition, consumer choice, 

and greater use of domestic energy sources in order 

to reduce our Nation’s dependence on foreign oil. 

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 ‘‘Open Fuels Standard 

5 Act of 2011’’. 

6 SEC. 2. OPEN FUELS STANDARD. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 329 of title 49, United 

8 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol9 lowing: 


jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 1603 IS

1 ‘‘§ 32920. Open fuels standard 

2 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

3 ‘‘(1) ADVANCED ALTERNATIVE FUEL BLEND.— 

4 The term ‘advanced alternative fuel blend’ means— 

5 ‘‘(A) a mixture containing— 

6 ‘‘(i) at least 85 percent denatured eth7 anol, by volume, or a lower percentage pre8 scribed by the Secretary pursuant to sec9 tion 32901(b); and 

10 ‘‘(ii) gasoline or drop-in fuel; 

11 ‘‘(B) a mixture containing— 

12 ‘‘(i) at least 70 percent methanol, by 

13 volume; and 

14 ‘‘(ii) gasoline or drop-in fuel; and 

15 ‘‘(C) any other mixture of alcohols or liq16 uid fuels certified by the Secretary pursuant to 

17 subsection (b)(2). 

18 ‘‘(2) ANNUAL COVERED INVENTORY.—The term 

19 ‘annual covered inventory’ means the number of 

20 automobiles (as defined in section 32901(a)(3)) that 

21 a manufacturer, during a given calendar year, man22 ufactures in the United States or imports from out23 side of the United States, for sale in the United 

24 States. 


jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 1603 IS

1 ‘‘(3) FUEL CHOICE-ENABLING VEHICLE.—The 

2 term ‘fuel choice-enabling vehicle’ means a auto3 mobile warranted by its manufacturer— 

4 ‘‘(A)(i) absent certification authorizing the 

5 use of an advanced alternative fuel blend under 

6 subsection (b)(2), to operate on a mixture con7 taining— 

8 ‘‘(I) at least 85 percent dena9 tured ethanol, by volume, or a lower 

10 percentage prescribed by the Sec11 retary pursuant to section 32901(b); 

12 and 

13 ‘‘(II) gasoline or drop-in fuel; 

14 and 

15 ‘‘(ii) after certification under sub16 section (b)(2), to operate on an advanced 

17 alternative fuel blend; or 

18 ‘‘(B) to operate on— 

19 ‘‘(i) natural gas; 

20 ‘‘(ii) hydrogen; 

21 ‘‘(iii) electricity; 

22 ‘‘(iv) a hybrid electric engine; 

23 ‘‘(v) a mixture of biodiesel and diesel 

24 fuel meeting the standard established by 

25 the American Society for Testing and MaVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:32 Sep 24, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1603.IS S1603

jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 1603 IS

1 terials or under section 211(u) of the 

2 Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7545(u)) for fuel 

3 containing 5 percent biodiesel; or 

4 ‘‘(vi) any other fuel or means of 

5 powering covered automobiles prescribed 

6 by the Secretary, by regulation, that con7 tains not more than 10 percent petroleum, 

8 by volume. 

9 ‘‘(b) OPEN FUELS STANDARD.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each automobile manufac11 turer’s annual covered inventory shall be comprised 

12 of— 

13 ‘‘(A) not less than 50 percent fuel choice14 enabling vehicles in model years 2015, 2016, 

15 and 2017; and 

16 ‘‘(B) not less than 80 percent fuel choice17 enabling vehicles in model year 2018 and each 

18 subsequent model year. 

19 ‘‘(2) CERTIFICATIONS.—Not later than 2 years 

20 after the date of the enactment of the Open Fuels 

21 Standard Act of 2011, the Secretary of Transpor22 tation, in consultation with the Administrator of the 

23 Environmental Protection Agency, shall certify— 

24 ‘‘(A) the use of advanced alternative fuel 

25 blends in fuel choice-enabling vehicles unless 


jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 1603 IS

1 the Secretary determines that such certifi2 cation— 

3 ‘‘(i) is not technologically feasible; 

4 ‘‘(ii) would result in burdensome con5 sumer costs; 

6 ‘‘(iii) negatively impacts automobile 

7 safety; 

8 ‘‘(iv) negatively impacts air quality; 

9 ‘‘(v) would not increase the use of do10 mestic feedstock sources; or 

11 ‘‘(vi) is unlikely to enable reductions 

12 in foreign oil imports; 

13 ‘‘(B) the type and blend of advanced alter14 native fuel blend that can be utilized by specific 

15 automobiles in use on such date of enactment; 

16 and 

17 ‘‘(C) the type and blend of advanced alter18 native fuel blend that can be utilized by new 

19 and existing components of the Nation’s trans20 portation fueling infrastructure for fuel choice21 enabled vehicles. 

22 ‘‘(3) SMALL MANUFACTURER EXEMPTION.—At 

23 the request of a manufacturer, the Secretary of 

24 Transportation shall exempt the manufacturer from 

25 the requirement described in paragraph (1) if the 


jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
6 

•S 1603 IS

1 manufacturer’s annual covered inventory is fewer 

2 than 10,000. 

3 ‘‘(4) CREDIT TRADING AMONG MANUFACTUR4 ERS.— 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may es6 tablish, by regulation, an open fuels standard 

7 credit trading program to allow manufacturers 

8 whose annual covered inventory exceeds the re9 quirement described in paragraph (1) to earn 

10 credits, which may be sold to manufacturers 

11 that are unable to achieve such requirement. 

12 ‘‘(B) DUAL FUEL CREDIT.—Beginning in 

13 model year 2018, any automobile used to qual14 ify for the open fuels standard under this sub15 section cannot be used to receive the dual fuel 

16 credit under section 32903. 

17 ‘‘(c) FUEL CHOICE COMPARISON TOOL.—The Sec18 retary of Transportation, in consultation with the Sec19 retary of Energy, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Admin20 istrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, and the 

21 Federal Trade Commission, shall— 

22 ‘‘(1) develop a model label for pumps in the 

23 United States dispensing advanced alternative fuels 

24 to consumers that— 


jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
7 

•S 1603 IS

1 ‘‘(A) identifies a single, readily comprehen2 sible metric that allows consumers to evaluate 

3 the relative value, energy density, and expected 

4 automobile performance of any particular ad5 vanced alternative fuel blend; and 

6 ‘‘(B) includes appropriate warnings against 

7 the use of such fuels in unwarranted engines, 

8 including nonautomobile engines; and 

9 ‘‘(2) make the label described in paragraph (1) 

10 available for voluntary reproduction and adoption. 

11 ‘‘(d) STUDY OF FUEL DISPENSING INFRASTRUCTURE

12 FOR ADVANCED ALTERNATIVE FUEL BLENDS.—Not later 

13 than 2 years after the date of the enactment of the Open 

14 Fuels Standard Act of 2011, the Secretary of Transpor15 tation shall submit a report to the Committee on Com16 merce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the 

17 Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of 

18 Representatives that evaluates the need for standardized 

19 fueling equipment that facilitates the dispensing of ad20 vanced alternative fuel blends to fuel choice-enabling vehi21 cles and prevents such fuel blends from being dispensed 

22 to incompatible automobiles.’’. 

23 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of section 

24 for chapter 329 of title 49, United States Code, is amend25 ed by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘32920. Open fuels standard.’’. 


jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
8 

•S 1603 IS

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

2 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall pro3 mulgate regulations to carry out the amendment made by 

4 subsection (a). 

Æ 


jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS