I 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5124 

To amend the Clean Air Act to provide for a Federal Fuels List, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 6, 2006 

Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin (for himself and Mr. GREEN of Wisconsin) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and 

Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the Clean Air Act to provide for a Federal Fuels 

List, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Fuel Blend Reduction 

5 Act of 2006’’. 

6 SEC. 2. LIST OF FUELS. 

7 (a) LIST OF FUELS.—Section 211(c)(4)(C) of the 

8 Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7545(c)(4)(C)) (as amended by 

9 the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (Public Law 109–58; 119 


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1 Stat. 1106)) is amended by striking the second clause (v) 

2 and inserting the following: 

3 ‘‘(vi)(I) The Administrator shall have no authority, 

4 when considering a State implementation plan or a State 

5 implementation plan revision, to approve under this para6 graph any fuel included in such plan or revision if the ef7 fect of such approval would be to increase the total num8 ber of fuels approved under this paragraph as of Sep9 tember 1, 2004 in all State implementation plans. 

10 ‘‘(II) The Administrator, in consultation with the 

11 Secretary of Energy, shall determine the total number of 

12 fuels approved under this paragraph as of September 1, 

13 2004, in all State implementation plans and shall publish 

14 a list of such fuels, including the states and Petroleum 

15 Administration for Defense District in which they are 

16 used, in the Federal Register no later than 90 days after 

17 enactment. 

18 ‘‘(III) The Administrator shall remove a fuel from the 

19 list published under subclause (II) if a fuel ceases to be 

20 included in a State implementation plan or if a fuel in 

21 a State implementation plan is identical to a Federal fuel 

22 formulation implemented by the Administrator and shall 

23 reduce the total number of fuels authorized under the list 

24 published under subclause (II) appropriately. 


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1 ‘‘(IV) Subclause (I) shall not limit the Administra2 tor’s authority to approve a control or prohibition respect3 ing any new fuel under this paragraph in a State’s imple4 mentation plan or a revision to that State’s implementa5 tion plan after the date of enactment of the Fuel Blend 

6 Reduction Act of 2006 if such new fuel completely replaces 

7 a fuel on the list published under subclause (II). 

8 ‘‘(V) The Administrator shall have no authority 

9 under this paragraph, when considering any particular 

10 State’s implementation plan or a revision to that State’s 

11 implementation plan, to approve any fuel unless that fuel 

12 was, as of the date of such consideration, approved in at 

13 least one State implementation plan in the applicable Pe14 troleum Administrator for Defense District. However, the 

15 Administrator may approve as part of a State implementa16 tion plan or State implementation plan revision a fuel with 

17 a summertime Reid Vapor Pressure of 7.0 psi. In no event 

18 shall such approval by the Administrator cause an increase 

19 in the total number of fuels on the list published under 

20 subclause (II) as of the date of consideration. 

21 ‘‘(VI) Nothing in this clause shall be construed to 

22 have any effect regarding any available authority of States 

23 to require the use of any fuel additive registered in accord24 ance with subsection (b), including any fuel additive regVerDate Aug 31 2005 17:50 Apr 13, 2006 Jkt 049196 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5124.IH H5124

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1 istered in accordance with subsection (b) after the enact2 ment of this subclause. 

3 ‘‘(vii)(I) The provisions of clause (vi), including the 

4 limitations of the authority of the Administrator and the 

5 cap on the total number of fuels permitted, shall remain 

6 in effect until the harmonization of fuels under subclause 

7 (V) of this clause is accomplished. Once such harmoni8 zation has been accomplished, clause (v) shall cease to 

9 have any force and effect, and the limitations of the au10 thority of the Administrator under subclause (IV) of this 

11 clause shall apply. 

12 ‘‘(II) The Administrator, in coordination with the 

13 Secretary of Energy (hereinafter in this clause referred 

14 to as the ‘Secretary’), shall identify and publish in the 

15 Federal Register, within 12 months after the enactment 

16 of this subclause and after notice and opportunity for pub17 lic comment, a list of 5 gasolines and diesel fuels to be 

18 used in States that have not received a waiver under sec19 tion 209(b) of this Act. The list shall be referred to as 

20 the ‘Federal Fuels List’ and shall include one Federal on21 road diesel fuel (which shall grandfather the sulfur phase 

22 down in the Administrator’s ultra low sulfur diesel fuel 

23 regulations in effect as of the date of enactment of the 

24 Fuel Blend Reduction Act of 2006 and shall permit the 

25 implementation of one alternative diesel fuel, approved 


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1 under this subparagraph before enactment of this sub2 clause for a State that has not received a section 209(b) 

3 waiver, only in the State in which it was approved prior 

4 to enactment of the Fuel Blend Reduction Act of 2006), 

5 one conventional gasoline for ozone attainment areas, one 

6 reformulated gasoline (RFG) meeting the requirements of 

7 subsection (k), and 2 additional gasolines with Reid vapor 

8 pressure (RVP) controls for use in ozone attainment areas 

9 of varying degrees of severity. None of the fuels identified 

10 under this subclause shall control fuel sulfur or toxics lev11 els beyond levels required by regulations of the Adminis12 trator. 

13 ‘‘(III) Gasolines and diesel fuels shall be included on 

14 the Federal Fuels List based on the Administrator’s anal15 ysis of their ability to reduce ozone emissions to assist 

16 States in attaining established ozone standards under this 

17 Act, and on an analysis by the Secretary that the adoption 

18 of the Federal Fuels List will not result in a reduction 

19 in supply or in producibility, including that caused by a 

20 reduction in domestic refining capacity as a result of the 

21 adoption of the Federal Fuels List. In the event the Sec22 retary concludes that adopt of the Federal Fuels List will 

23 result in a reduction in supply or in producibility, the Ad24 ministrator and the Secretary shall report that conclusion 

25 to Congress, and suspend implementation of this clause. 


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1 The Administrator and the Secretary shall conduct the 

2 study required under section 1541(c) of the Energy Policy 

3 Act of 2005 on the timetable required in that section to 

4 provide Congress with legislative recommendations for 

5 modifications to the proposed Federal Fuels List only if 

6 the Secretary concludes that adoption of the Federal Fuels 

7 List will result in a reduction in supply or in producibility. 

8 ‘‘(IV) Upon publication of the Federal Fuels List, the 

9 Administrator shall have no authority, when considering 

10 a State implementation plan or State implementation plan 

11 revision, to approve under this subparagraph any fuel in12 cluded in such plan or plan revision if the proposed fuel 

13 is not one of the fuels on the Federal Fuels List; or to 

14 approve a State’s plan or plan revision to move from one 

15 fuel on the Federal Fuels List to another unless, after con16 sultation with the Secretary, the Administrator publishes 

17 in the Federal Register, after notice and opportunity for 

18 public comment, a finding that, in the Administrator’s 

19 judgment, such plan or plan revision to adopt a different 

20 fuel on the Federal Fuels List will not cause fuel supply 

21 or distribution disruptions in the affected area or contig22 uous areas. The Administrator’s finding shall include an 

23 assessment of reasonably foreseeable supply or distribu24 tion emergencies that could occur in the affected area or 

25 contiguous area and how adoption of the particular fuel 


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1 revisions would effect alternative supply options during 

2 reasonably foreseeable supply or distribution emergencies. 

3 ‘‘(V) The Administrator, in consultation with the Sec4 retary, shall develop a plan to harmonize the currently ap5 proved fuels in State implementation plans with the fuels 

6 included on the Federal Fuels List and shall promulgate 

7 implementing regulations for this plan not later than 18 

8 months after enactment of this subclause. This harmoni9 zation shall be fully implemented by the States by Decem10 ber 31, 2008.’’. 

11 (b) BOUTIQUE FUELS.—Section 1541 of the Energy 

12 Policy Act of 2005 (Public Law 109–58; 119 Stat. 1106) 

13 is amended by striking subsection (c) and inserting the 

14 following: 

15 ‘‘(c) STUDY AND REPORT TO CONGRESS ON BOU16 TIQUE FUELS.— 

17 ‘‘(1) JOINT STUDY.—The Administrator of the 

18 Environmental Protection Agency and the Secretary 

19 of Energy shall undertake a study of the effects on 

20 air quality, on the number of fuel blends, on fuel 

21 availability, on fuel fungibility, and on fuel costs of 

22 the State plan provisions adopted pursuant to sec23 tion 211(c)(4)(C) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 

24 7545(c)(4)(C)). 


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1 ‘‘(2) FOCUS OF STUDY.—The primary focus of 

2 the study required under paragraph (1) shall be to 

3 determine how to develop a Federal fuels system 

4 that maximizes motor fuel fungibility and supply, 

5 preserves air quality standards, and reduces motor 

6 fuel price volatility that results from the prolifera7 tion of boutique fuels, and to recommend to Con8 gress such legislative changes as are necessary to 

9 implement such a system. The study should include 

10 the impacts on overall energy supply, distribution, 

11 and use as a result of the legislative changes rec12 ommended. The study should include an analysis of 

13 the impact on ozone emissions and supply of a man14 datory reduction in the number of fuel blends to 5, 

15 including one on-road Federal diesel fuel (which 

16 shall grandfather the sulfur phase down in the Ad17 ministrator’s ultra low sulfur diesel fuel regulations 

18 and shall permit the implementation of, one alter19 native diesel fuel, blend approved by the Adminis20 trator under section 211(c)(4) of the Clean Air Act 

21 before enactment of the Fuel Blend Reduction Act 

22 of 2006 for a State that has not received a waiver 

23 under section 209(b) of the Clean Air Act, only in 

24 the State in which it was approved prior to enact25 ment of the Fuel Blend Reduction Act of 2006), one 


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1 conventional gasoline for ozone attainment areas, 

2 one reformulated gasoline (RFG) meeting the re3 quirements of subsection (k) of section 211 of the 

4 Clean Air Act, and 2 additional gasolines blends 

5 with Reid vapor pressure (RVP) controls for use in 

6 ozone attainment areas of varying degrees of sever7 ity. 

8 ‘‘(3) CONDUCT OF STUDY.—In carrying out 

9 their joint duties under this section, the Adminis10 trator and the Secretary shall use sound science and 

11 objective science practices, shall consider the best 

12 available science, shall use data collected by accepted 

13 means and shall consider and include a description 

14 of the weight of the scientific evidence. The Adminis15 trator and the Secretary shall coordinate the study 

16 required by this section with other studies required 

17 by other applicable provisions of law and shall en18 deavor to avoid duplication of effort with regard to 

19 such studies. 

20 ‘‘(4) RESPONSIBILITY OF ADMINISTRATOR.—In 

21 carrying out the study required by this section, the 

22 Administrator shall coordinate obtaining comments 

23 from affected parties interested in the air quality 

24 impact assessment portion of the study. The Admin25 istrator shall use sound and objective science pracVerDate Aug 31 2005 17:50 Apr 13, 2006 Jkt 049196 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5124.IH H5124

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1 tices, shall consider the best available science, and 

2 shall consider and include a description of the 

3 weight of the scientific evidence. 

4 ‘‘(5) RESPONSIBILITY OF SECRETARY.—In car5 rying out the study required by this section, the Sec6 retary shall coordinate obtaining comments from af7 fected parties interested in the fuel availability, 

8 number of fuel blends, fuel fungibility and fuel costs 

9 portion of the study. 

10 ‘‘(6) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Adminis11 trator and the Secretary jointly shall submit the re12 sults of the study required by this section in a report 

13 to the Congress not later than 12 months after the 

14 date of the enactment of the Fuel Blend Reduction 

15 Act of 2006 together with any recommended regu16 latory and legislative changes. Such report shall be 

17 submitted to the Committee on Energy and Com18 merce of the United States House of Representatives 

19 and the Committee on Environment and Public 

20 Works of the United States Senate. 

21 ‘‘(7) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

22 There is authorized to be appropriated jointly to the 

23 Administrator and the Secretary $500,000 for the 


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1 completion of the study required under this sub2 section.’’. 

Æ 


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