I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1944 

To provide regulatory relief to alternative fuel producers and consumers, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 22, 2015 

Mr. BLUM (for himself, Mr. BUCK, Mr. YOUNG of Iowa, and Mr. PETERSON) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and 

Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 

each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To provide regulatory relief to alternative fuel producers 

and consumers, 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 Choice and De5 regulation Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ALTERNATIVE FUELS. 

7 (a) AFTERMARKET CONVERSIONS OF MOTOR VEHI8 CLES TO ALTERNATIVE FUEL.—Section 203 of the Clean 


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1 Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7522) is amended by adding at the 

2 end the following: 

3 ‘‘(c) OLDER VEHICLES.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The aftermarket conversion 

5 of a vehicle to alternative fuel operation shall not— 

6 ‘‘(A) be considered tampering under this 

7 section if the aftermarket conversion system 

8 manufacturer or the person performing the con9 version is able to demonstrate that the develop10 ment and engineering sophistication of the con11 version technology is— 

12 ‘‘(i) matched to an appropriate vehicle 

13 or group of vehicles; and 

14 ‘‘(ii) well-designed and installed in ac15 cordance with good engineering judgment 

16 so that the aftermarket conversion system 

17 does not degrade emission performance, as 

18 compared to the performance of the vehicle 

19 or vehicles before the conversion; or 

20 ‘‘(B) require the issuance by the Adminis21 trator of any certificate of conformity. 

22 ‘‘(2) LABEL.—The person performing a conver23 sion described in paragraph (1) shall affix a label to 

24 the motor vehicle stating that— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the vehicle has been equipped with an 

2 aftermarket conversion system; and 

3 ‘‘(B) the installation of that system oc4 curred after the initial sale of the vehicle. 

5 ‘‘(3) NO PRECLUSION OF ORDERS.—Nothing in 

6 this subsection may be construed to preclude the Ad7 ministrator from issuing an order to prohibit the 

8 manufacture, sale, distribution, or installation of an 

9 aftermarket conversion system if the Administrator 

10 has evidence that the installation of the aftermarket 

11 conversion system on a vehicle degrades emission 

12 performance.’’. 

13 (b) BIOMASS FUELS.—Section 211 of the Clean Air 

14 Act (42 U.S.C. 7545) is amended by adding at the end 

15 the following: 

16 ‘‘(w) BIOMASS FUELS.—Notwithstanding any other 

17 provision of this Act, the Administrator may not prohibit 

18 or control biomass fuel (as defined in section 203 of the 

19 Biomass Energy and Alcohol Fuels Act of 1980 (42 

20 U.S.C. 8802)) under this Act.’’. 

21 SEC. 3. CALCULATION OF AVERAGE FUEL ECONOMY. 

22 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 32901(a) of title 49, 

23 United States Code, is amended— 

24 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (13) through 

25 (19) as paragraphs (19) through (26); 


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1 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (11) and (12) 

2 as paragraphs (16) and (17), respectively; 

3 (3) by redesignating paragraph (10) as para4 graph (13); 

5 (4) by redesignating paragraphs (7), (8), and 

6 (9) as paragraphs (8), (9), and (10), respectively; 

7 (5) by inserting after paragraph (6) the fol8 lowing: 

9 ‘‘(7) ‘biodiesel’— 

10 ‘‘(A) means liquid fuel derived from bio11 mass that meets— 

12 ‘‘(i) the registration requirements for 

13 fuels and fuel additives established by the 

14 Environmental Protection Agency under 

15 section 211 of the Clean Air Act (42 

16 U.S.C. 7545); and 

17 ‘‘(ii) the requirements of the ASTM 

18 Standard D6751; and 

19 ‘‘(B) does not include any liquid with re20 spect to which a credit may be determined 

21 under section 40 of the Internal Revenue Code 

22 of 1986.’’; 

23 (6) by inserting after paragraph (10), as redes24 ignated, the following: 

25 ‘‘(11) ‘E85’ means a fuel mixture that— 


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1 ‘‘(A) contains between 51 and 83 percent 

2 ethanol; and 

3 ‘‘(B) meets the specifications of the ASTM 

4 Standard D5798. 

5 ‘‘(12) ‘flexible fuel vehicle’ means a vehicle that 

6 has been warranted to operate on gasoline, E85, and 

7 M85.’’; 

8 (7) by inserting after paragraph (13), as redes9 ignated, the following: 

10 ‘‘(14) ‘fuel choice enabling manufacturer’ 

11 means a manufacturer whose total fleet of auto12 mobiles manufactured for the most recent model 

13 year for sale in the United States contains at least 

14 50 percent fuel choice enabling vehicles. 

15 ‘‘(15) ‘fuel choice enabling vehicle’ means an 

16 automobile that— 

17 ‘‘(A) has been warranted to operate on 

18 natural gas, hydrogen, propane, or at least 20 

19 percent biodiesel; 

20 ‘‘(B) is a flexible fuel vehicle; 

21 ‘‘(C) is a plug-in electric drive vehicle; 

22 ‘‘(D) is propelled by a fuel cell that can 

23 produce power without the use of petroleum or 

24 a petroleum-based fuel; or 


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1 ‘‘(E)(i) is propelled by something other 

2 than an internal combustion engine; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) is warranted to operate on something 

4 other than petroleum-based fuel.’’; 

5 (8) by inserting after paragraph (17), as redes6 ignated, the following: 

7 ‘‘(18) ‘M85’ means a fuel mixture that— 

8 ‘‘(A) contains up to 85 percent methanol; 

9 and 

10 ‘‘(B) meets the specifications of the ASTM 

11 International Standard D5797.’’; and 

12 (9) by inserting after paragraph (25), as redes13 ignated, the following: 

14 ‘‘(26) ‘plug-in electric drive vehicle’ has the 

15 meaning given such term in section 508(a) of the 

16 Energy Policy Act of 1992 (42 U.S.C. 13258(a)).’’. 

17 (b) FUEL CHOICE ENABLING MANUFACTURERS.— 

18 Chapter 329 of title 49, United States Code, is amended— 

19 (1) in section 32902, by adding at the end the 

20 following: 

21 ‘‘(l) DEEMED COMPLIANCE WITH THE CLEAN AIR

22 ACT.—If a fuel choice enabling manufacturer is in compli23 ance with all applicable standards prescribed under this 

24 section for model year 2016 or any subsequent model year, 

25 the automobiles manufactured by such manufacturer in 


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1 such model year are deemed to be in compliance with all 

2 applicable greenhouse gas regulations established by the 

3 Environmental Protection Agency pursuant to section 202 

4 of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7521).’’; 

5 (2) in section 32903(a), by amending para6 graph (2) to read as follows: 

7 ‘‘(2) any of the 5 consecutive model years im8 mediately after the model year for which the credits 

9 are earned, to the extent that such credits are not 

10 used under paragraph (1);’’; and 

11 (3) in section 32904— 

12 (A) by redesignating subsections (d) and 

13 (e) as subsections (e) and (f), respectively; and 

14 (B) by inserting after subsection (c) the 

15 following: 

16 ‘‘(d) AVERAGE FUEL ECONOMY BONUS FOR FUEL

17 CHOICE ENABLING MANUFACTURERS.—The average fuel 

18 economy of a fuel choice enabling manufacturer for a 

19 model year is the sum of— 

20 ‘‘(1) the average fuel economy of such manufac21 turer for such model year, as otherwise calculated 

22 pursuant to this section; and 

23 ‘‘(2) 8 miles per gallon.’’. 

24 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

25 this section shall apply with respect to automobiles manuVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:32 May 02, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1944.IH H1944

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1 factured for model year 2016 or for any subsequent model 

2 year. 

3 SEC. 4. EQUALIZATION OF EXCISE TAX ON LIQUEFIED NAT4 URAL GAS AND PER ENERGY EQUIVALENT OF 

5 DIESEL. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 4041(a)(2) of the Internal 

7 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended— 

8 (1) in subparagraph (B)— 

9 (A) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

10 end; 

11 (B) in clause (ii)— 

12 (i) by striking ‘‘liquefied natural 

13 gas,’’; 

14 (ii) by striking ‘‘peat), and’’ and in15 serting ‘‘peat) and’’; and 

16 (iii) by striking the period at the end 

17 and inserting ‘‘, and’’; and 

18 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

19 clause: 

20 ‘‘(iii) in the case of liquefied natural 

21 gas, 24.3 cents per energy equivalent of a 

22 gallon of diesel.’’; and 

23 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

24 ‘‘(C) ENERGY EQUIVALENT OF A GALLON

25 OF DIESEL.—For purposes of this paragraph, 


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1 the term ‘energy equivalent of a gallon of diesel’ 

2 means, with respect to a liquefied natural gas 

3 fuel, the amount of such fuel having a Btu con4 tent of 128,700 (lower heating value). 

5 ‘‘(D) ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.—For 

6 purposes of applying this title with respect to 

7 the taxes imposed by this subsection, references 

8 to any liquid subject to tax under this sub9 section shall be treated as including references 

10 to liquefied natural gas subject to tax under 

11 this paragraph.’’. 

12 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

13 this section shall apply to any sale or use of liquefied nat14 ural gas after the date that is 14 days after the date of 

15 the enactment of this Act. 

16 SEC. 5. ETHANOL WAIVER. 

17 Section 211(h)(4) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 

18 7545(h)(4)) is amended— 

19 (1) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), 

20 by inserting ‘‘or more’’ after ‘‘10 percent’’; and 

21 (2) in subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘additional 

22 alcohol or’’. 

Æ 


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