I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 523 

To make the United States exclusively liable for certain claims of liability 

to the extent such liability is a claim for damages resulting from, or 

aggravated by, the inclusion of ethanol in transportation fuel. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 8, 2011 

Mr. GONZALEZ introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To make the United States exclusively liable for certain 

claims of liability to the extent such liability is a claim 

for damages resulting from, or aggravated by, the inclusion of ethanol in transportation fuel. 

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 ‘‘American Fuel Protec5 tion Act of 2011’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds as follows: 


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1 (1) Ethanol is currently widely distributed in 

2 commerce for general use in all conventional gaso3 line-powered onroad and nonroad vehicles and 

4 nonroad engines in widespread use. 

5 (2) A decision to increase the current blending 

6 limit of ethanol into gasoline for motor vehicle and 

7 equipment engines requires an agency finding that 

8 the increased emission products will not cause or 

9 contribute to a failure of any emission control device 

10 or system (over the useful life of the motor vehicle, 

11 motor vehicle engine, nonroad engine or nonroad ve12 hicle in which such device or system is used). 

13 (3) Significant questions and concerns exist as 

14 to the effects of increasing the current blending limit 

15 of ethanol into gasoline for motor vehicle and equip16 ment engines on the performance of such engines. 

17 (4) Effects such as increased engine failures, 

18 decreased engine performance, increased consumer 

19 complaints, increased litigation, or other unforeseen 

20 effects could have a significant impact on interstate 

21 commerce. 

22 (5) The Federal Trade Commission has pro23 posed labeling requirements for all fuels distributed 

24 in commerce that exceed the current blending limit 

25 of ethanol into gasoline to disclose to consumers that 


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1 using such fuels may harm some conventional vehi2 cles. 

3 (6) A multi-faceted Federal testing regimen is 

4 currently underway on newer motor vehicles to de5 termine the effects on motor vehicle engines of in6 creasing the current blending limit of ethanol into 

7 gasoline. 

8 (7) There is insufficient data on the effects of 

9 increasing the current blending limit of ethanol into 

10 gasoline on older vehicles and nonroad engines. 

11 (8) Nonetheless, the executive branch— 

12 (A) has statutory authority to increase the 

13 current blending limit of ethanol into gasoline; 

14 and 

15 (B) is currently undertaking a process to 

16 reach a decision on this issue. 

17 (9) It is appropriate for Congress to mitigate 

18 undue effects on parties engaged in interstate com19 merce resulting from a Federal decision to allow an 

20 increase of the current blending limit of ethanol into 

21 gasoline. 


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1 SEC. 3. LIABILITY FOR CLAIMS BASED ON DAMAGES RE2 SULTING FROM, OR AGGRAVATED BY, THE IN3 CLUSION OF ETHANOL IN CERTAIN FUEL. 

4 (a) EXCLUSIVE REMEDY AGAINST UNITED

5 STATES.— 

6 (1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 

7 any claim of liability described in subsection (b) 

8 against a qualified entity is deemed to be a claim of 

9 liability against the United States, and any such 

10 claim shall lie exclusively against the United States. 

11 (2) Sovereign immunity is abrogated as to the 

12 United States to the extent set forth in this section. 

13 (b) CLAIM OF LIABILITY.—A claim of liability is de14 scribed in this subsection to the extent such liability is 

15 based upon damages resulting from, or aggravated by, the 

16 use of any transportation fuel (as defined in section 

17 211(o) of the Clean Air Act) containing ethanol in con18 centrations greater than 10 percent pursuant to a waiver 

19 under section 211(f)(4) of the Clean Air Act to operate 

20 an internal combustion engine. 

21 (c) LIMIT ON DAMAGES.—Damages awarded for such 

22 a claim shall not exceed the actual damages sustained by 

23 the claimant. 

24 (d) EXCLUSIVE JURISDICTION.—The district courts 

25 shall have exclusive jurisdiction of any civil action on a 

26 claim of liability described under subsection (b). 


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1 (e) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘qualified 

2 entity’’ means an entity engaged in the manufacture, use, 

3 sale, or distribution of— 

4 (1) transportation fuel or renewable fuel (as de5 fined in section 211(o) of the Clean Air Act); or 

6 (2) products which use transportation fuel. 

Æ 


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