I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1493 

To amend the Clean Air Act to reduce the proliferation of boutique fuels, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 6, 2005 

Mr. BLUNT (for himself, Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin, Mr. GREEN of Wisconsin, 

Mr. ROGERS of Michigan, Mr. PETRI, Mr. SENSENBRENNER, Mr. KIRK, 

Mr. NEY, Mr. BRADY of Texas, Mr. ENGLISH of Pennsylvania, Mr. 

WICKER, Mr. BONILLA, Mr. SHADEGG, Mr. CANTOR, Mr. ISSA, Mr. SESSIONS, Mr. AKIN, and Mr. HERGER) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the Clean Air Act to reduce the proliferation 

of boutique fuels, 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 ‘‘Boutique Fuels Elimi5 nation Act of 2005’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. REDUCING THE PROLIFERATION OF BOUTIQUE 

2 FUELS. 

3 (a) TEMPORARY WAIVERS DURING SUPPLY EMER4 GENCIES.—Section 211(c)(4)(C) of the Clean Air Act (42 

5 U.S.C. 7545(c)(4)(C)) is amended by inserting ‘‘(i)’’ after 

6 ‘‘(C)’’ and by adding the following new clauses at the end 

7 thereof: 

8 ‘‘(ii) The Administrator may temporarily waive a con9 trol or prohibition respecting the use of a fuel or fuel addi10 tive required or regulated by the Administrator pursuant 

11 to subsection (c), (h), (i), (k), or (m) of this section or 

12 prescribed in an applicable implementation plan under sec13 tion 110 approved by the Administrator under clause (i) 

14 of this subparagraph if, after consultation with, and con15 currence by, the Secretary of Energy, the Administrator 

16 determines that— 

17 ‘‘(I) extreme and unusual fuel or fuel additive 

18 supply circumstances exist in a State or region of 

19 the Nation which prevent the distribution of an ade20 quate supply of the fuel or fuel additive to con21 sumers; 

22 ‘‘(II) such extreme and unusual fuel and fuel 

23 additive supply circumstances are the result of a 

24 natural disaster, an Act of God, a pipeline or refin25 ery equipment failure, or another event that could 

26 not reasonably have been foreseen or prevented and 
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1 not the lack of prudent planning on the part of the 

2 suppliers of the fuel or fuel additive to such State 

3 or region; and 

4 ‘‘(III) it is in the public interest to grant the 

5 waiver (for example, when a waiver is necessary to 

6 meet projected temporary shortfalls in the supply of 

7 the fuel or fuel additive in a State or region of the 

8 Nation which cannot otherwise be compensated for). 

9 ‘‘(iii) If the Administrator makes the determinations 

10 required under clause (ii), such a temporary extreme and 

11 unusual fuel and fuel additive supply circumstances waiver 

12 shall be permitted only if— 

13 ‘‘(I) the waiver applies to the smallest geo14 graphic area necessary to address the extreme and 

15 unusual fuel and fuel additive supply circumstances; 

16 ‘‘(II) the waiver is effective for a period of 20 

17 calendar days or, if the Administrator determines 

18 that a shorter waiver period is adequate, for the 

19 shortest practicable time period necessary to permit 

20 the correction of the extreme and unusual fuel and 

21 fuel additive supply circumstances and to mitigate 

22 impact on air quality; 

23 ‘‘(III) the waiver permits a transitional period, 

24 the exact duration of which shall be determined by 

25 the Administrator, after the termination of the tem-
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1 porary waiver to permit wholesalers and retailers to 

2 blend down their wholesale and retail inventory; 

3 ‘‘(IV) the waiver applies to all persons in the 

4 motor fuel distribution system; and 

5 ‘‘(V) the Administrator has given public notice 

6 to all parties in the motor fuel distribution system, 

7 local and State regulators, public interest groups, 

8 and consumers in the State or region to be covered 

9 by the waiver. 

10 The term ‘motor fuel distribution system’ as used in this 

11 clause shall be defined by the Administrator through rule12 making. 

13 ‘‘(iv) Within 180 days of the date of enactment of 

14 this clause, the Administrator shall promulgate regula15 tions to implement clauses (ii) and (iii). 

16 ‘‘(v) Nothing in this subparagraph shall— 

17 ‘‘(I) limit or otherwise affect the application of 

18 any other waiver authority of the Administrator pur19 suant to this section or pursuant to a regulation 

20 promulgated pursuant to this section; and 

21 ‘‘(II) subject any State or person to an enforce22 ment action, penalties, or liability solely arising from 

23 actions taken pursuant to the issuance of a waiver 

24 under this subparagraph.’’. 
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1 (b) LIMIT ON NUMBER OF BOUTIQUE FUELS.—Sec2 tion 211(c)(4)(C) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 

3 7545(c)(4)), as amended by subsection (a), is further 

4 amended by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(v)(I) The Administrator shall have 

6 no authority, when considering a State im7 plementation plan or a State implementa8 tion plan revision, to approve under this 

9 paragraph any fuel included in such plan 

10 or revision if the effect of such approval 

11 would be to increase the total number of 

12 fuels approved under this paragraph as of 

13 September 1, 2004 in all State implemen14 tation plans; 

15 ‘‘(II) The Administrator, in consulta16 tion with the Secretary of Energy, shall de17 termine the total number of fuels approved 

18 under this paragraph as of September 1, 

19 2004, in all State implementation plans 

20 and shall publish a list of such fuels, in21 cluding the states and Petroleum Adminis22 tration for Defense District in which they 

23 are used, in the Federal Register for public 

24 review and comment no later than 90 days 

25 after enactment. 
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1 ‘‘(III) The Administrator shall remove 

2 a fuel from the list published under sub3 clause (II) if a fuel ceases to be included 

4 in a State implementation plan or if a fuel 

5 in a State implementation plan is identical 

6 to a Federal fuel formulation implemented 

7 by the Administrator, but the Adminis8 trator shall not reduce the total number of 

9 fuels authorized under the list published 

10 under subclause (II). 

11 ‘‘(IV) Subclause (I) shall not limit the 

12 Administrator’s authority to approve a 

13 control or prohibition respecting any new 

14 fuel under this paragraph in a State imple15 mentation plan or revision to a State im16 plementation plan if such new fuel: 

17 ‘‘(aa) completely replaces a fuel 

18 on the list published under subclause 

19 (II); or 

20 ‘‘(bb) does not increase the total 

21 number of fuels on the list published 

22 under paragraph (II) as of September 

23 1, 2004. 

24 In the event that the total number of fuels 

25 on the list published under subclause (II) 
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1 at the time of the Administrator’s consid2 eration of a control or prohibition respect3 ing a new fuel is lower than the total num4 ber of fuels on such list as of September 

5 1, 2004, the Administrator may approve a 

6 control or prohibition respecting a new fuel 

7 under this subclause if the Administrator, 

8 after consultation with the Secretary of 

9 Energy, publishes in the Federal Register, 

10 after notice and comment, a finding that, 

11 in the Administrator’s judgment, such con12 trol or prohibition respecting a new fuel 

13 will not cause fuel supply or distribution 

14 interruptions or have a significant adverse 

15 impact on fuel producibility in the affected 

16 area or contiguous areas. 

17 ‘‘(V) Except for a fuel with a sum18 mertime Reid Vapor Pressure of 7.0 

19 pounds per square inch, the Administrator 

20 shall have no authority under this para21 graph, when considering any particular 

22 State’s implementation plan or a revision 

23 to that State’s implementation plan, to ap24 prove any fuel unless that fuel was, as of 

25 the date of such consideration, approved in 
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1 at least one State implementation plan in 

2 the applicable Petroleum Administration 

3 for Defense District. 

4 ‘‘(VI) Nothing in this clause shall be 

5 construed to prohibit a State from requir6 ing the use of an alcohol or bio-diesel fuel 

7 additive registered in accordance with sub8 section (b), including any alcohol or bio9 diesel fuel additive registered after the en10 actment of this subclause; however, this 

11 clause shall be construed to prohibit a 

12 State from requiring the use of any other 

13 fuel additive registered in accordance with 

14 subsection (b), including any other fuel ad15 ditive registered after the enactment of 

16 this subclause.’’. 

17 (c) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.—It is the sense of the 

18 Congress that States should seek to maximize the environ19 mental benefits available from the fuels authorized under 

20 subsection (b). 

21 (d) STUDY AND REPORT TO CONGRESS ON BOU22 TIQUE FUELS.— 

23 (1) JOINT STUDY.—The Administrator of the 

24 Environmental Protection Agency and the Secretary 

25 of Energy shall undertake a study of the effects on 
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1 air quality, on the number of fuel blends, on fuel 

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

3 the State plan provisions adopted pursuant to sec4 tion 211(c)(4)(C) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 

5 7545(c)(4)(C)). 

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

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

8 determine how to develop a Federal fuels system 

9 that maximizes motor fuel fungibility and supply, 

10 preserves air quality standards, and reduces motor 

11 fuel price volatility that results from the prolifera12 tion of boutique fuels, and to recommend to Con13 gress such legislative changes as are necessary to 

14 implement such a system. The study should include 

15 the impacts on overall energy supply, distribution, 

16 and use as a result of the legislative changes rec17 ommended. In addition, the study shall examine the 

18 need for additional, cleaner motor fuel reformula19 tions to assist states in complying with the ozone 

20 National Ambient Air Quality Standard. 

21 (3) RESPONSIBILITY OF ADMINISTRATOR.—In 

22 carrying out the study required by this section, the 

23 Administrator shall coordinate obtaining comments 

24 from affected parties interested in the air quality 

25 impact assessment portion of the study. The Admin-
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1 istrator shall use sound and objective science prac2 tices, shall consider the best available science, and 

3 shall consider and include a description of the 

4 weight of the scientific evidence. 

5 (4) RESPONSIBILITY OF SECRETARY.—In car6 rying out the study required by this section, the Sec7 retary shall coordinate obtaining comments from af8 fected parties interested in the fuel availability, 

9 number of fuel blends, fuel fungibility and fuel costs 

10 portion of the study. 

11 (5) PUBLIC PARTICIPATION.—The Adminis12 trator and the Secretary shall appoint a task force 

13 of interested parties, including but not limited to 

14 representatives of Federal, State and local govern15 ments, fuel manufacturers, suppliers, and marketers 

16 and public interest groups, to provide information to 

17 the Administrator and the Secretary and to assist in 

18 the development of the recommendations to be in19 cluded in the report to Congress under paragraph 

20 (5). 

21 (6) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Administrator 

22 and the Secretary jointly shall submit the results of 

23 the study required by this section in a report to the 

24 Congress not later than 12 months after the date of 

25 the enactment of this Act, together with any rec-
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1 ommended regulatory and legislative changes. Such 

2 report shall be submitted to the Committee on En3 ergy and Commerce of the House of Representatives 

4 and the Committee on Environment and Public 

5 Works of the Senate. 

6 (7) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

7 There is authorized to be appropriated jointly to the 

8 Administrator and the Secretary $500,000 for the 

9 completion of the study required under this sub10 section. 

11 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

12 (1) The term ‘‘Administrator’’ means the Ad13 ministrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. 

14 (2) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 

15 of Energy. 

16 (3) The term ‘‘fuel’’ means gasoline, diesel fuel, 

17 and any other liquid petroleum product commercially 

18 known as gasoline and diesel fuel for use in highway 

19 and non-road motor vehicles. 

20 (4) The term ‘‘a control or prohibition respect21 ing a new fuel’’ means a control or prohibition on 

22 the formulation, composition, or emissions character23 istics of a fuel that would require the increase or de24 crease of a constituent in gasoline or diesel fuel. 

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