II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1721 

To require the Secretary of Transportation to develop a national 

transportation low emissions energy plan. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 25, 2009 

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

to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Transportation to develop a 

national transportation low emissions energy plan. 

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 ‘‘Transportation Low 

5 Emissions Energy Plan 2020 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 

8 (1) President Obama has stated a goal of de9 ploying 1,000,000 plug-in hybrid and electric vehi10 cles by 2015; 


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1 (2) the United States needs to develop— 

2 (A) the electric recharging infrastructure 

3 to fuel those vehicles; and 

4 (B) uniform standards and protocols for 

5 deployment and integration of recharging infra6 structure to serve commercial vehicles as well as 

7 consumer vehicles; and 

8 (3) plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles offer a 

9 number of benefits, including emissions reductions, 

10 decreasing dependence on imported oil, and ad11 vanced energy storage for the electric grid. 

12 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

13 In this Act: 

14 (1) PLAN.—The term ‘‘Plan’’ means the na15 tional transportation low emissions energy plan de16 veloped under section 4. 

17 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

18 the Secretary of Transportation, acting in coordina19 tion with the Secretary of Energy and the Adminis20 trator of the Environmental Protection Agency. 

21 SEC. 4. NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION LOW EMISSIONS EN22 ERGY PLAN. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish a 

24 stakeholder-driven process to develop, not later than 18 


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1 months after the date of enactment of this Act, a national 

2 transportation low emissions energy plan. 

3 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—The Plan shall— 

4 (1) project the near- and long-term need for 

5 and location of electric drive vehicle refueling infra6 structure at strategic locations across all major na7 tional highways, roads, and corridors; 

8 (2) identify infrastructure and standardization 

9 needs for electricity providers, infrastructure pro10 viders, vehicle manufacturers, and electricity pur11 chasers; and 

12 (3) establish an aspirational goal of achieving 

13 strategic deployment of electric vehicle infrastructure 

14 by 2020. 

15 (c) STAKEHOLDERS.—In developing the Plan, the 

16 Secretary shall involve, on a voluntary basis, stakeholders 

17 that include— 

18 (1) the heads of other Federal agencies; 

19 (2) State and local officials; 

20 (3) representatives of— 

21 (A) energy utilities; 

22 (B) the vehicles industry; 

23 (C) the freight and shipping industry; 

24 (D) clean technology firms; 

25 (E) the hospitality industry; 


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1 (F) the restaurant industry; and 

2 (G) highway rest stop vendors; and 

3 (4) such other stakeholders as the Secretary 

4 may determine to be necessary. 

5 (d) PUBLIC CHARGE ACCESS PORTS.—The Plan 

6 shall— 

7 (1) prioritize the development of— 

8 (A) standardized public charge access 

9 ports with wireless or smart card billing capa10 bility; and 

11 (B) level I and level II charge port systems 

12 (that charge an electric vehicle over a period of 

13 8 to 14 hours and 4 to 8 hours, respectively) 

14 that will meet the energy requirements of the 

15 majority of plug-in hybrid and battery electric 

16 vehicles; 

17 (2) examine the feasibility of level III charge 

18 port systems that can charge an electric vehicle over 

19 a period of 10 to 20 minutes; and 

20 (3) focus on infrastructure that provides con21 sumers with the lowest cost while providing conven22 ient charge system access. 

23 (e) LEEP COORDINATOR.—The Secretary may des24 ignate 1 full-time position within the Department of 


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1 Transportation to be known as the ‘‘LEEP coordinator’’ 

2 with responsibility to oversee— 

3 (1) the development of the Plan; and 

4 (2) the implementation of the regional pilot 

5 projects under section 5. 

6 SEC. 5. PILOT PROJECTS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may establish 4 

8 pilot projects to demonstrate electric drive vehicles and in9 frastructure— 

10 (1) in rural locations; and 

11 (2) in commercial use. 

12 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary shall— 

13 (1) establish the pilot projects after the publica14 tion of the Plan; 

15 (2) use the Plan to determine which regions of 

16 the United States are most ready to demonstrate 

17 electric vehicle infrastructure; 

18 (3) carry out the pilot projects in different re19 gions of the United States; and 

20 (4) ensure that— 

21 (A) at least 1 pilot project is carried out 

22 in a rural region of the United States; and 

23 (B) at least 1 pilot project is focused on 

24 freight issues. 


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1 (c) FINANCIAL RESOURCES.—In carrying out the re2 gional pilot projects, the Secretary shall coordinate the use 

3 of appropriate financial incentives, grant programs, and 

4 other Federal financial resources to ensure that electric 

5 infrastructure delivery entities are able to participate in 

6 the regional pilot projects. 

7 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

8 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Sec9 retary such sums as are necessary— 

10 (1) to develop the Plan; 

11 (2) to pay the salary and expenses of the LEEP 

12 coordinator described in section 4(e); and 

13 (3) to carry out the regional pilot projects 

14 under section 5. 

Æ 


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