II 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2070 

To promote the domestic development and deployment of natural gas and 

clean energy technologies. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 6, 2012 

Mr. CASEY introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To promote the domestic development and deployment of 

natural gas and clean energy technologies. 

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 ‘‘Natural Gas Energy 

5 and Alternatives Rewards Act’’ or the ‘‘NGEAR Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

7 The purpose of this Act is to establish clean energy 

8 policies that— 


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1 (1) provide market certainty to drive private 

2 and commercial capital investment in clean energy 

3 options; 

4 (2) promote clean energy technologies that 

5 will— 

6 (A) lead to increased production, diversity, 

7 and dissemination of energy generation; and 

8 (B) enable the United States to bridge the 

9 gap from foreign energy imports to secure, do10 mestically produced energy; and 

11 (3) contain clean energy incentives that will— 

12 (A) provide for ongoing increases in energy 

13 demands; 

14 (B) support the growth of jobs and busi15 nesses in America; and 

16 (C) reduce vehicular petroleum use and 

17 emissions. 

18 SEC. 3. EXTENSION OF ALTERNATIVE FUELS EXCISE TAX 

19 CREDITS. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Sections 6426(d)(5) and 

21 6426(e)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 are each 

22 amended by striking ‘‘December 31, 2011 (September 30, 

23 2014, in the case of any sale or use involving liquefied 

24 hydrogen)’’ and inserting ‘‘December 31, 2016’’. 


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1 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS FOR DIRECT PAY2 MENTS.—Paragraph (6) of section 6427(e) of the Internal 

3 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended— 

4 (1) by adding ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara5 graph (B), and 

6 (2) by striking subparagraphs (C) and (D) and 

7 inserting the following new subparagraph: 

8 ‘‘(C) any alternative fuel or alternative fuel 

9 mixture (as defined in subsection (d)(2) or 

10 (e)(3) of section 6426) sold or used after De11 cember 31, 2016.’’. 

12 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

13 this section shall apply to fuel sold or used after December 

14 31, 2011. 

15 SEC. 4. EXTENSION AND MODIFICATION OF ALTERNATIVE 

16 FUEL VEHICLE REFUELING PROPERTY CRED17 IT. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (1) of section 30C(g) 

19 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended to read 

20 as follows: 

21 ‘‘(1) in the case of property of a character sub22 ject to an allowance for depreciation, after December 

23 31, 2016, and’’. 


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

2 this section shall apply to property placed in service after 

3 December 31, 2011. 

4 SEC. 5. NATURAL GAS ENERGY AND ALTERNATIVES RE5 BATES PROGRAM. 

6 Section 400CC of the Energy Policy and Conserva7 tion Act (42 U.S.C. 6374b) is amended to read as follows: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 400CC. ALTERNATIVE FUELS BUS PROGRAM. 

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

10 ‘‘(1) ALTERNATIVE FUEL.—The term ‘alter11 native fuel’ means natural gas, liquid petroleum gas, 

12 hydrogen, or fuel cell. 

13 ‘‘(2) ALTERNATIVELY FUELED BUS.—The term 

14 ‘alternatively fueled bus’ means— 

15 ‘‘(A) a school bus (as defined in section 

16 390.5 of title 49, Code of Federal Regulations) 

17 that operates on alternative fuel; 

18 ‘‘(B) a multifunction school activity bus 

19 (as defined in section 571.3 of title 49, Code of 

20 Federal Regulations) that operates on alter21 native fuel; or 

22 ‘‘(C) a motor vehicle that— 

23 ‘‘(i) provides public transportation (as 

24 defined in section 5302(a)(10) of title 49, 

25 United States Code); and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) operates on alternative fuel. 

2 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term eligible enti3 ty means— 

4 ‘‘(A) a public or private entity providing 

5 transportation exclusively for school students, 

6 personnel, and equipment; or 

7 ‘‘(B) a public entity providing mass transit 

8 services to the public. 

9 ‘‘(b) REBATE PROGRAM.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Transpor11 tation shall establish the Natural Gas Energy and 

12 Alternatives Rebates Program (referred to in this 

13 section as the ‘NGEAR Program’) to subsidize the 

14 purchase of alternatively fueled buses by eligible en15 tities. 

16 ‘‘(2) AMOUNTS.—An eligible entity that pur17 chases an alternatively fueled bus during the period 

18 beginning on the date of the enactment of the 

19 NGEAR Act and ending on December 31, 2016, is 

20 eligible to receive a rebate from the Department of 

21 Transportation in an amount equal to the lesser 

22 of— 

23 ‘‘(A) 30 percent of the purchase price of 

24 the alternatively fueled bus; or 

25 ‘‘(B) $15,000. 


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1 ‘‘(3) APPLICATION.—Eligible entities desiring a 

2 rebate under this subsection shall submit an applica3 tion to the Secretary of Transportation that contains 

4 copies of relevant sales invoices and any additional 

5 information that the Secretary of Transportation 

6 may require.’’. 

Æ 


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