I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1398 

To amend the Clean Air Act to require that, after the year 2010, all gasoline 

sold in the United States for motor vehicles contain not less than 10 

percent ethanol and that all diesel fuel sold in the United States for 

motor vehicles contain not less than 5 percent biodiesel, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 17, 2005 

Ms. KAPTUR introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the Clean Air Act to require that, after the year 

2010, all gasoline sold in the United States for motor 

vehicles contain not less than 10 percent ethanol and 

that all diesel fuel sold in the United States for motor 

vehicles contain not less than 5 percent biodiesel, 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. FINDINGS. 

4 The Congress finds as follows: 

5 (1) The over reliance of the United States on 

6 imported petroleum creates a major strategic vulner-
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1 ability for the Nation, with nearly half of the energy 

2 supply of the United States dependent on foreign 

3 sources. 

4 (2) From the economically damaging Arab oil 

5 embargoes of 1973–74 and 1979 to the recession 

6 precipitated by rising oil prices which began in 1999, 

7 to the stock market’s instability in early 2005 due 

8 to the cost of imported oil at near record highs of 

9 $55 per barrel, the economic stability of the United 

10 States has too often been shaken by economic forces 

11 outside its borders. 

12 (3) Increasing fuel prices have been a particular 

13 hardship on small, independent businesses particu14 larly truckers and farmers, who have no choice but 

15 to pay ever-increasing fuel bills while absorbing 

16 these higher costs in today’s economic environment. 

17 (4) This Act would help shift America’s depend18 ence away from foreign petroleum as an energy 

19 source toward alternative, renewable, domestic agri20 cultural sources. Its aim is to convert the current 

21 petroleum trade deficit to a trade balance by replac22 ing foreign sources of supply with steady increases 

23 of biobased fuels through domestic production. 

24 (5) Today, there are nearly 140,000,000 cars 

25 and 85,000,000 trucks on our highways. Of this 
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1 amount, approximately 3,300,000 cars and trucks 

2 already on our highways will run on 85 percent eth3 anol (E–85), and this number is increasing. For the 

4 2005 model year, there are 20 different models of 

5 vehicles capable of running on E–85. Yet given this 

6 market, the alternative fuel is used less than 1 per7 cent of the time given that of the more than 

8 187,000 retail locations selling motor fuel in the 

9 United States, only 400 stations across 38 States 

10 sell E–85. 

11 (6) Biodiesel production is also dramatically in12 creasing, going from 5,000,000 gallons in 2001 to 

13 nearly 25,000,000 gallons in 2003. Daimler-Chrysler 

14 has also announced its intentions to initially fuel the 

15 Diesel Jeep Liberty with a 5 percent biodiesel blend, 

16 the first time a vehicle has been explicitly fueled 

17 with an alternative fuel as it rolls off the production 

18 line. 

19 (7) Currently the United States annually con20 sumes about 7,171,885,000 barrels of petroleum. 

21 (164,000,000,000 gallons of vehicle fuels and 

22 5,600,00,000 gallons of heating oil.) In 2002, 62 

23 percent of these fuels were imported, part of a total 

24 $358,200,000,000 trade deficit with the rest of the 

25 world. Since 1983, the United States importation of 
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1 petroleum and its derivatives has more than tripled, 

2 rising from 1,215,225,000 barrels in 1983 to 

3 4,476,501,000 barrels in 2003. 

4 (8) Further Strategic Petroleum Reserve policy 

5 should encourage domestic production to the great6 est extent possible. Currently, the Strategic Petro7 leum Reserve holds 670,700,000 barrels (out of a 

8 potential 727,000,000 barrels), sufficient to cushion 

9 the United States from wild price swings for a pe10 riod of 53 days. None of the fuel in this Reserve is 

11 bio-based. In fact, 92.2 percent of the Strategic Pe12 troleum Reserve has been purchased from foreign 

13 sources—41.9 percent from Mexico, 24 percent from 

14 the United Kingdom, and over 20 percent from 

15 OPEC nations. 

16 (9) Strategic Petroleum Reserve policy also 

17 should encourage the development of alternatives to 

18 the Nation’s reliance on petroleum such as biomass 

19 fuels. 

20 (10) As a first step in diversification, the Stra21 tegic Petroleum Reserve should exchange 2,100,000 

22 barrels from our current reserves for 32,000,000 

23 gallons of ethanol and biodiesel, which could com24 prise less than 2 percent of the United States mar25 ket, but yield a doubling of ethanol products. 
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1 (11) The benefits of biofuels are as follows: 

2 (A) ENERGY SECURITY.— 

3 (i) Biofuels hold potential to address 

4 our dependence on foreign energy sources 

5 immediately. With agricultural surpluses, 

6 commodity prices have reached record 

7 lows; concurrently world petroleum prices 

8 have reached record highs and are ex9 pected to continue rising as global petro10 leum reserves are drawn down over the 

11 next 25 years. It also is clear that eco12 nomic conditions are favorable to utilize 

13 domestic surpluses of biobased oils to en14 hance the Nation’s energy security. 

15 (ii) In the short term, biofuels can 

16 supply at least one-fifth of current United 

17 States fuel demand using existing tech18 nologies and capabilities. Additional plant 

19 research, newer processing and distribution 

20 technologies, and placing additional acres 

21 under cultivation can yield even greater re22 sults. 

23 (iii) Biofuels can be used with existing 

24 petroleum infrastructure and conventional 

25 equipment. 
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1 (B) ECONOMIC SECURITY.— 

2 (i) Continued dependence upon im3 ported sources of oil means our Nation is 

4 strategically vulnerable to disruptions in 

5 our oil supply. 

6 (ii) Renewable biofuels domestically 

7 produced directly replace imported oil. 

8 (iii) Increased use of renewable 

9 biofuels would result in significant eco10 nomic benefits to rural and urban areas 

11 and also reduce the trade deficit. 

12 (iv) According to the Department of 

13 Agriculture, a sustained annual market of 

14 100,000,000 gallons of biodiesel alone 

15 would result in $170,000,000 in increased 

16 income to farmers. 

17 (v) Farmer-owned biofuels production 

18 has already resulted in improved income 

19 for farmers, as evidenced by the experience 

20 with State-supported rural development ef21 forts in Minnesota where prices to corn 

22 producers have been increased by $1.00 

23 per bushel. With the Department of Agri24 culture having forecast prices of $2.10 per 

25 bushel of corn for the 2004–2005 mar-
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1 keting year, the portion of the corn crop 

2 that goes for ethanol has a farm value of 

3 $2,100,000,000. 

4 (C) ENVIRONMENTAL SECURITY.— 

5 (i) The use of grain-based ethanol re6 duces greenhouse gas emissions from 35 to 

7 46 percent compared with conventional 

8 gasoline. Biomass ethanol provides an even 

9 greater reduction. 

10 (ii) The American Lung Association 

11 of Metropolitan Chicago credits ethanol12 blended reformulated gasoline with reduc13 ing smog-forming emissions by 25 percent 

14 since 1990. 

15 (iii) Ethanol reduces tailpipe carbon 

16 monoxide emissions by as much as 30 per17 cent. 

18 (iv) Ethanol reduces exhaust volatile 

19 organic compounds emissions by 12 per20 cent. 

21 (v) Ethanol reduces toxic emissions by 

22 30 percent. 

23 (vi) Ethanol reduces particulate emis24 sions, especially fine-particulates that pose 
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1 a health threat to children, senior citizens, 

2 and those with respiratory ailments. 

3 (vii) Biodiesel contains no sulfur or 

4 aromatics associated with air pollution. 

5 (viii) The use of biodiesel provides a 

6 78.5 percent reduction in CO2 emissions 

7 compared to petroleum diesel and when 

8 burned in a conventional engine provides a 

9 substantial reduction of unburned hydro10 carbons, carbon monoxide, and particulate 

11 matter. 

12 SEC. 2. ETHANOL AND BIODIESEL FUEL REQUIREMENTS. 

13 Section 211 of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7545) 

14 is amended as follows: 

15 (1) By redesignating subsection (o) as sub16 section (q). 

17 (2) By inserting after subsection (n) the fol18 lowing: 

19 ‘‘(o) Renewable Fuel Program— 

20 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

21 ‘‘(A) ETHANOL.—The term ‘ethanol’ 

22 means ethanol derived from any lignocellulosic 

23 or hemicellulosic matter that is available on a 

24 renewable or recurring basis, including dedi25 cated energy crops and trees, wood and wood 
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1 residues, plants, grasses, agricultural residues, 

2 and fibers. The term includes ethanol derived 

3 from animal wastes, including poultry fats and 

4 poultry wastes, and other waste materials, or 

5 municipal solid waste. 

6 ‘‘(B) BIODIESEL.—The term ‘biodiesel’has 

7 the same meaning as when used in section 

8 312(f) of the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (42 

9 U.S.C. 13220(f)). 

10 ‘‘(2) RENEWABLE FUEL PROGRAM.—Not later 

11 than 1 year after the enactment of this subsection, 

12 the Administrator shall promulgate regulations en13 suring that, after December 31, 2010, all gasoline or 

14 diesel motor vehicle fuel sold or dispensed to con15 sumers in the contiguous United States, on an an16 nual average basis, contains not less than 10 percent 

17 ethanol, in the case of gasoline, and not less than 5 

18 percent biodiesel, in the case of diesel fuel.’’. 

Æ