I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1459 

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

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 5, 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, and Mr. ISSA) 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 Reduc5 tion Act of 2005’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. TEMPORARY WAIVERS DURING SUPPLY EMER2 GENCIES. 

3 Section 211(c)(4)(C) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 

4 7545(c)(4)(C)) is amended by inserting ‘‘(i)’’ after ‘‘(C)’’ 

5 and by adding the following new clauses at the end there6 of: 

7 ‘‘(ii) The Administrator may temporarily waive a con8 trol or prohibition respecting the use of a fuel or fuel addi9 tive required or regulated by the Administrator pursuant 

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

11 prescribed in an applicable implementation plan under sec12 tion 110 approved by the Administrator under clause (i) 

13 of this subparagraph if, after consultation with, and con14 currence by, the Secretary of Energy, the Administrator 

15 determines that— 

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

17 supply circumstances exist in a State or region of 

18 the Nation which prevent the distribution of an ade19 quate supply of the fuel or fuel additive to con20 sumers; 

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

22 additive supply circumstances are the result of a 

23 natural disaster, an Act of God, a pipeline or refin24 ery equipment failure, or another event that could 

25 not reasonably have been foreseen or prevented and 

26 not the lack of prudent planning on the part of the 
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1 suppliers of the fuel or fuel additive to such State 

2 or region; and 

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

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

5 meet projected temporary shortfalls in the supply of 

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

7 Nation which cannot otherwise be compensated for). 

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

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

10 unusual fuel and fuel additive supply circumstances waiver 

11 shall be permitted only if— 

12 ‘‘(I) the waiver applies to the smallest geo13 graphic area necessary to address the extreme and 

14 unusual fuel and fuel additive supply circumstances; 

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

16 calendar days or, if the Administrator determines 

17 that a shorter waiver period is adequate, for the 

18 shortest practicable time period necessary to permit 

19 the correction of the extreme and unusual fuel and 

20 fuel additive supply circumstances and to mitigate 

21 impact on air quality; 

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

23 the exact duration of which shall be determined by 

24 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 the enactment 

14 of the Boutique Fuels Reduction Act of 2005, the Admin15 istrator shall promulgate regulations to implement clauses 

16 (ii) and (iii). 

17 ‘‘(v) Nothing in this Act shall— 

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

19 any other waiver authority of the Administrator pur20 suant to this section or pursuant to a regulation 

21 promulgated pursuant to this section; and 

22 ‘‘(II) subject any State or person to an enforce23 ment action, penalties, or liability solely arising from 

24 actions taken pursuant to the issuance of a waiver 

25 under this subparagraph.’’. 
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1 SEC. 3. CAP ON NUMBER OF BOUTIQUE FUELS. 

2 Section 211(c)(4)(C) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 

3 7545(c)(4)), as amended by section 2, is further amended 

4 by adding at the end the following: 

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

6 when considering a State implementation plan or a State 

7 implementation plan revision under this subparagraph, to 

8 approve any fuel if the effect of such approval would be 

9 to increase the total number of fuels approved and fully 

10 implemented as of September 1, 2004 in all State imple11 mentation plans. 

12 ‘‘(II) Except for a fuel with a summertime Reid 

13 Vapor Pressure of 7.0 pounds per square inch, the Admin14 istrator shall have no authority, when considering any par15 ticular State’s implementation plan or a revision to that 

16 State’s implementation plan under this subparagraph, to 

17 approve any fuel unless that fuel was, as of the date of 

18 such consideration, approved and fully implemented in at 

19 least 1 State implementation plan in the applicable Petro20 leum Administration for Defense District. The preceding 

21 sentence shall not limit the Administrator’s authority to 

22 approve any new fuel in any such plan or plan revision 

23 if such new fuel replaces an existing fuel without increas24 ing the total number of fuels approved and fully imple25 mented as of September 1, 2004 in all State implementa26 tion plans. 
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1 ‘‘(III) Nothing in this clause shall be construed to 

2 prohibit a State from requiring the use of any fuel additive 

3 registered in accordance with subsection (b), including any 

4 fuel additive registered in accordance with subsection (b) 

5 after the enactment of this subclause.’’. 

6 SEC. 4. STUDY AND REPORT TO CONGRESS ON BOUTIQUE 

7 FUELS. 

8 (a) JOINT STUDY.—The Administrator and the Sec9 retary shall undertake a study of the effects on air quality, 

10 on the number of fuel blends, on fuel availability, on fuel 

11 fungibility, and on fuel costs of the State plan provisions 

12 adopted pursuant to section 211(c)(4)(C) of the Clean Air 

13 Act (42 U.S.C. 7545(c)(4)(C)). 

14 (b) FOCUS OF STUDY.—The primary focus of the 

15 study required under (a) shall be to determine how to de16 velop a Federal fuels system that maximizes motor fuel 

17 fungibility and supply, preserves air quality standards, 

18 and reduces motor fuel price volatility that results from 

19 the proliferation of boutique fuels, and to recommend to 

20 Congress such legislative changes as are necessary to im21 plement such a system. In addition, the study shall exam22 ine the need for additional, cleaner motor fuel reformula23 tions to assist states in complying with the ozone National 

24 Ambient Air Quality Standard. 
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1 (c) STUDY AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITY.—In carrying 

2 out the study required by this section, the Administrator 

3 shall coordinate obtaining comments from affected parties 

4 interested in the air quality impact assessment portion of 

5 the study, and the Secretary shall coordinate obtaining 

6 comments from affected parties interested in the fuel 

7 availability, number of fuel blends, fuel fungibility and fuel 

8 costs portion of the study. 

9 (d) PUBLIC PARTICIPATION.—The Administrator 

10 and the Secretary shall appoint a task force of interested 

11 parties, including but not limited to representatives of 

12 Federal, State and local governments, fuel manufacturers 

13 and suppliers and public interest groups, to provide infor14 mation to the Administrator and the Secretary and to as15 sist in the development of the recommendations to be in16 cluded in the report to Congress under (e). 

17 (e) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Administrator and 

18 the Secretary jointly shall submit the results of the study 

19 required by this section in a report to the Congress not 

20 later than 12 months after the date of the enactment of 

21 this Act, together with any recommended regulatory and 

22 legislative changes. Such report shall be submitted to the 

23 Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of 

24 Representatives and the Committee on Environment and 

25 Public Works of the Senate. 
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1 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

2 authorized to be appropriated jointly to the Administrator 

3 and the Secretary $500,000 for the completion of the 

4 study required under this section. 

5 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 

6 In this Act: 

7 (1) The term ‘‘Administrator’’ means the Ad8 ministrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. 

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

10 of Energy. 

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