II 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3737 

To require the Secretary of the Treasury to carry out a program to enable 

certain individuals to trade certain old automobiles for certain new automobiles, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 11 (legislative day, DECEMBER 10), 2008 

Mr. HARKIN (for himself and Mr. DURBIN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of the Treasury to carry out a 

program to enable certain individuals to trade certain 

old automobiles for certain new automobiles, 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 ‘‘Sell Fuel Efficient 

5 Cars Act of 2008’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PASSENGER AUTOMOBILE TRADE-IN PROGRAM. 

7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 (1) AUTOMOBILE, FUEL, MANUFACTURER, PAS2 SENGER AUTOMOBILE.—The terms ‘‘automobile’’, 

3 ‘‘fuel’’, ‘‘manufacturer’’, and ‘‘passenger auto4 mobile’’ have the meaning given such terms in sec5 tion 32901 of title 49, United States Code. 

6 (2) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUAL.—The term ‘‘eligible 

7 individual’’ means an individual— 

8 (A) who does not have more than 3 pas9 senger automobiles registered under his or her 

10 name; 

11 (B) who filed a return of Federal income 

12 tax for a taxable year beginning in 2007, and, 

13 if married for such taxable year (as determined 

14 under section 7703 of the Internal Revenue 

15 Code of 1986), filed a joint return; 

16 (C) who is not an individual with respect 

17 to whom a deduction under section 151 of the 

18 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is allowable to 

19 another taxpayer for a taxable year beginning 

20 in the calendar year in which the individual’s 

21 taxable year begins; 

22 (D) whose adjusted gross income reported 

23 in such return was not more than $25,000 

24 ($40,000 in the case of a joint tax return or a 

25 return filed by a head of household (as defined 


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1 in section 2(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

2 1986)); 

3 (E) who has not acquired an automobile 

4 under the Program; and 

5 (F) who did not file such return jointly 

6 with another individual who has acquired an 

7 automobile under the Program. 

8 (3) ELIGIBLE NEW AUTOMOBILE.— 

9 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘eligible new 

10 automobile’’, with respect to a trade of an eligi11 ble old automobile by an eligible individual 

12 under the Program, means a passenger auto13 mobile that— 

14 (i) has never been registered in any 

15 jurisdiction; 

16 (ii) was manufactured by an auto17 mobile manufacturer that has— 

18 (I) operations in the United 

19 States, the failure of which would 

20 have a systemic adverse effect on the 

21 overall economy of the United States 

22 or a significant loss of United States 

23 jobs, as determined by the Secretary; 

24 and 


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1 (II) operated a manufacturing fa2 cility that produced automobiles or 

3 automobile components in the United 

4 States throughout the 20-year period 

5 ending on the date of the enactment 

6 of this Act; 

7 (iii) was assembled in the United 

8 States; and 

9 (iv) has a fuel economy that— 

10 (I) is not less than 25 miles per 

11 gallon, as determined by the Adminis12 trator of the Environmental Protec13 tion Agency using the 5-cycle fuel 

14 economy measurement methodology of 

15 such Agency; and 

16 (II) has a fuel economy that is 

17 more than 4.9 miles per gallon greater 

18 than the fuel economy of such eligible 

19 old automobile, as determined by the 

20 Administrator using the 2-cycle fuel 

21 economy measurement methodology of 

22 such Agency for both automobiles. 

23 (B) FUEL ECONOMY TESTING METH24 ODOLOGIES.—If a passenger automobile de25 scribed in subclause (I) or (II) of subparagraph 


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1 (A)(iv) has not been measured using the respec2 tive methodologies described such subclauses, 

3 the Administrator may estimate what such 

4 measurement would be if the Administrator 

5 were to use the respective methodology for pur6 poses of determining the fuel economy under 

7 such subclauses. 

8 (4) ELIGIBLE OLD AUTOMOBILE.—The term 

9 ‘‘eligible old automobile’’, with respect to a trade for 

10 an eligible new automobile by an eligible individual 

11 under the Program, means a passenger automobile 

12 that— 

13 (A) is operable; 

14 (B) was first registered in any jurisdiction 

15 by any person not less than 10 years before the 

16 date on which such trade is initiated; 

17 (C) is registered under such eligible indi18 vidual’s name on the date on which such trade 

19 is initiated; and 

20 (D) was registered under such eligible indi21 vidual’s name before December 1, 2008. 

22 (5) FUEL ECONOMY.—The term ‘‘fuel econ23 omy’’ means the average number of miles traveled 

24 by an automobile for each gallon of gasoline (or 

25 equivalent amount of other fuel) used, as determined 


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1 by the Administrator of the Environmental Protec2 tion Agency. 

3 (6) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘Program’’ means 

4 the Passenger Automobile Trade-In Program estab5 lished under subsection (b). 

6 (7) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

7 the Secretary of the Treasury, or the Secretary’s 

8 designee. 

9 (b) PROGRAM ESTABLISHED.—The Secretary shall 

10 establish the Passenger Automobile Trade-In Program to 

11 provide eligible individuals with subsidies to purchase eli12 gible new automobiles in exchange for eligible old auto13 mobiles. 

14 (c) DURATION OF PROGRAM.—The Program shall 

15 commence on the date on which the Secretary prescribes 

16 regulations under subsection (g) and shall terminate on 

17 December 31, 2009. 

18 (d) TRADES.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise pro20 vided in this subsection, if an eligible individual and 

21 a seller of an eligible new automobile initiate a trade 

22 as described in subsection (e) for such new auto23 mobile with an eligible old automobile of the eligible 

24 individual, the Secretary shall provide to the seller of 

25 such new automobile $10,000. 


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1 (2) LIMITATION ON PURCHASE PRICE OF ELIGI2 BLE NEW AUTOMOBILES.—The Secretary may not 

3 make any payment under this subsection for a trade 

4 for an eligible new automobile under the Program if 

5 the purchase price of such new automobile exceeds 

6 the manufacturer’s suggested retail price for such 

7 new automobile. 

8 (3) COMPENSATION FOR DELAYED PAY9 MENTS.—In the case that a payment under this sub10 section to a seller for a trade under the Program is 

11 delayed, the Secretary shall provide to such seller 

12 the amount otherwise determined under this sub13 section plus interest at the overpayment rate estab14 lished under section 6621 of the Internal Revenue 

15 Code of 1986. 

16 (e) INITIATION OF TRADE.—An eligible individual 

17 and the seller of an eligible new automobile initiate a trade 

18 under the Program for such eligible new automobile with 

19 an eligible old automobile of such individual if— 

20 (1) the eligible individual, or the eligible individ21 ual’s designee, drives such old automobile to the lo22 cation of such seller; 

23 (2) the eligible individual provides to the sell24 er— 

25 (A) such old automobile; and 


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1 (B) an amount (if any) equal to the dif2 ference between— 

3 (i) the purchase price of such new 

4 automobile; and 

5 (ii) the amount the Secretary is re6 quired to provide to the seller under sub7 section (d); and 

8 (3) the eligible individual and the seller notify 

9 the Secretary of such trade at such time and in such 

10 manner as the Secretary considers appropriate. 

11 (f) DISPOSAL OF ELIGIBLE OLD AUTOMOBILES.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—A seller who receives an eli13 gible old automobile in exchange for an eligible new 

14 automobile under the Program shall deliver such old 

15 automobile to an appropriate location for proper de16 struction and disposal as determined by the Sec17 retary. 

18 (2) COMPENSATION.—The Secretary shall com19 pensate a seller described in paragraph (1) for costs 

20 incurred by such seller under such paragraph in 

21 such amounts or at such rates as the Secretary con22 siders appropriate. 

23 (g) REGULATIONS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after 

2 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

3 shall prescribe rules to carry out the Program. 

4 (2) EXPEDITED PROCEDURES FOR RULE5 MAKING.—The provisions of chapter 5 of title 5, 

6 United States Code, shall not apply to regulations 

7 prescribed under paragraph (1). 

8 (h) DIRECT SPENDING AUTHORITY.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be 

10 appropriated and is appropriated to the Secretary 

11 such sums as may be necessary to carry out the Pro12 gram. 

13 (2) EMERGENCY DESIGNATION.—Amounts ap14 propriated pursuant to paragraph (1) are designated 

15 as an emergency requirement and necessary to meet 

16 emergency needs pursuant to section 204(a) of S. 

17 Con. Res. 21 (110th Congress) and section 

18 301(b)(2) of S. Con. Res. 70 (110th Congress), the 

19 concurrent resolutions on the budget for fiscal years 

20 2008 and 2009. 

Æ 


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