II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1503 

To improve domestic fuels security. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 24, 2007 

Mr. INHOFE (for himself and Mr. THUNE) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public 

Works 

A BILL 

To improve domestic fuels security. 

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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Gas Petroleum Refiner Improvement and Community 

6 Empowerment Act’’ or ‘‘Gas PRICE Act’’. 

7 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 

8 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Definitions. 

TITLE I—COLLABORATIVE PERMITTING PROCESS FOR DOMESTIC 

FUELS FACILITIES 

Sec. 101. Collaborative permitting process for domestic fuels facilities. 


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TITLE II—ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS OF FISCHER-TROPSCH 

FUELS 

Sec. 201. Evaluation of Fischer-Tropsch diesel and jet fuel as an emission control strategy. 

TITLE III—DOMESTIC COAL-TO-LIQUID FUEL AND CELLULOSIC 

BIOMASS ETHANOL 

Sec. 301. Economic development assistance to support commercial-scale cellulosic biomass ethanol projects and coal-to-liquids facilities on 

BRAC property and Indian land. 

TITLE IV—ALTERNATIVE HYDROCARBON AND RENEWABLE 

RESERVES DISCLOSURES CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM 

Sec. 401. Alternative hydrocarbon and renewable reserves disclosures classification system. 

TITLE V—AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS 

Sec. 501. Authorization of appropriations. 

1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis4 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ5 mental Protection Agency. 

6 (2) COAL-TO-LIQUID.—The term ‘‘coal-to-liq7 uid’’ means— 

8 (A) with respect to a process or tech9 nology, the use of a feedstock, the majority of 

10 which is derived from the coal resources of the 

11 United States, using the class of reactions 

12 known as Fischer-Tropsch, to produce synthetic 

13 fuel suitable for transportation; and 

14 (B) with respect to a facility, the portion 

15 of a facility related to producing the inputs for 

16 the Fischer-Tropsch process, or the finished 


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1 fuel from the Fischer-Tropsch process, using a 

2 feedstock that is primarily domestic coal at the 

3 Fischer-Tropsch facility. 

4 (3) DOMESTIC FUELS FACILITY.— 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘domestic 

6 fuels facility’’ means— 

7 (i) a coal liquification or coal-to-liquid 

8 facility at which coal is processed into syn9 thetic crude oil or any other transportation 

10 fuel; 

11 (ii) a facility that produces a renew12 able fuel (as defined in section 211(o)(1) 

13 of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 

14 7545(o)(1))); and 

15 (iii) a facility at which crude oil is re16 fined into transportation fuel or other pe17 troleum products. 

18 (B) INCLUSION.—The term ‘‘domestic 

19 fuels facility’’ includes a domestic fuels facility 

20 expansion. 

21 (4) DOMESTIC FUELS FACILITY EXPANSION.— 

22 The term ‘‘domestic fuels facility expansion’’ means 

23 a physical change in a domestic fuels facility that re24 sults in an increase in the capacity of the domestic 

25 fuels facility. 


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1 (5) DOMESTIC FUELS FACILITY PERMITTING

2 AGREEMENT.—The term ‘‘domestic fuels facility per3 mitting agreement’’ means an agreement entered 

4 into between the Administrator and a State or In5 dian tribe under subsection (b). 

6 (6) DOMESTIC FUELS PRODUCER.—The term 

7 ‘‘domestic fuels producer’’ means an individual or 

8 entity that— 

9 (A) owns or operates a domestic fuels facil10 ity; or 

11 (B) seeks to become an owner or operator 

12 of a domestic fuels facility. 

13 (7) INDIAN LAND.—The term ‘‘Indian land’’ 

14 has the meaning given the term ‘‘Indian lands’’ in 

15 section 3 of the Native American Business Develop16 ment, Trade Promotion, and Tourism Act of 2000 

17 (25 U.S.C. 4302). 

18 (8) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ 

19 has the meaning given the term in section 4 of the 

20 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 

21 Act (25 U.S.C. 450b). 

22 (9) PERMIT.—The term ‘‘permit’’ means any 

23 permit, license, approval, variance, or other form of 

24 authorization that a refiner is required to obtain— 

25 (A) under any Federal law; or 


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1 (B) from a State or Indian tribal govern2 ment agency delegated with authority by the 

3 Federal Government, or authorized under Fed4 eral law to issue permits. 

5 (10) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 

6 means the Secretary of Energy. 

7 (11) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means— 

8 (A) a State; 

9 (B) the District of Columbia; 

10 (C) the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; 

11 and 

12 (D) any other territory or possession of the 

13 United States. 

14 TITLE I—COLLABORATIVE PER15 MITTING PROCESS FOR DO16 MESTIC FUELS FACILITIES 

17 SEC. 101. COLLABORATIVE PERMITTING PROCESS FOR DO18 MESTIC FUELS FACILITIES. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—At the request of the Governor 

20 of a State or the governing body of an Indian tribe, the 

21 Administrator shall enter into a domestic fuels facility per22 mitting agreement with the State or Indian tribe under 

23 which the process for obtaining all permits necessary for 

24 the construction and operation of a domestic fuels facility 


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1 shall be improved using a systematic interdisciplinary 

2 multimedia approach as provided in this section. 

3 (b) AUTHORITY OF ADMINISTRATOR.—Under a do4 mestic fuels facility permitting agreement— 

5 (1) the Administrator shall have authority, as 

6 applicable and necessary, to— 

7 (A) accept from a refiner a consolidated 

8 application for all permits that the domestic 

9 fuels producer is required to obtain to construct 

10 and operate a domestic fuels facility; 

11 (B) establish a schedule under which each 

12 Federal, State, or Indian tribal government 

13 agency that is required to make any determina14 tion to authorize the issuance of a permit 

15 shall— 

16 (i) concurrently consider, to the max17 imum extent practicable, each determina18 tion to be made; and 

19 (ii) complete each step in the permit20 ting process; and 

21 (C) issue a consolidated permit that com22 bines all permits that the domestic fuels pro23 ducer is required to obtain; and 

24 (2) the Administrator shall provide to State and 

25 Indian tribal government agencies— 


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1 (A) financial assistance in such amounts as 

2 the agencies reasonably require to hire such ad3 ditional personnel as are necessary to enable 

4 the government agencies to comply with the ap5 plicable schedule established under paragraph 

6 (1)(B); and 

7 (B) technical, legal, and other assistance in 

8 complying with the domestic fuels facility per9 mitting agreement. 

10 (c) AGREEMENT BY THE STATE.—Under a domestic 

11 fuels facility permitting agreement, a State or governing 

12 body of an Indian tribe shall agree that— 

13 (1) the Administrator shall have each of the au14 thorities described in subsection (b); and 

15 (2) each State or Indian tribal government 

16 agency shall— 

17 (A) make such structural and operational 

18 changes in the agencies as are necessary to en19 able the agencies to carry out consolidated 

20 project-wide permit reviews concurrently and in 

21 coordination with the Environmental Protection 

22 Agency and other Federal agencies; and 

23 (B) comply, to the maximum extent prac24 ticable, with the applicable schedule established 

25 under subsection (b)(1)(B). 


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1 (d) INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator and a 

3 State or governing body of an Indian tribe shall in4 corporate an interdisciplinary approach, to the max5 imum extent practicable, in the development, review, 

6 and approval of domestic fuels facility permits sub7 ject to this section. 

8 (2) OPTIONS.—Among other options, the inter9 disciplinary approach may include use of— 

10 (A) environmental management practices; 

11 and 

12 (B) third party contractors. 

13 (e) DEADLINES.— 

14 (1) NEW DOMESTIC FUELS FACILITIES.—In the 

15 case of a consolidated permit for the construction of 

16 a new domestic fuels facility, the Administrator and 

17 the State or governing body of an Indian tribe shall 

18 approve or disapprove the consolidated permit not 

19 later than— 

20 (A) 360 days after the date of the receipt 

21 of the administratively complete application for 

22 the consolidated permit; or 

23 (B) on agreement of the applicant, the Ad24 ministrator, and the State or governing body of 

25 the Indian tribe, 90 days after the expiration of 


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1 the deadline established under subparagraph 

2 (A). 

3 (2) EXPANSION OF EXISTING DOMESTIC FUELS

4 FACILITIES.—In the case of a consolidated permit 

5 for the expansion of an existing domestic fuels facil6 ity, the Administrator and the State or governing 

7 body of an Indian tribe shall approve or disapprove 

8 the consolidated permit not later than— 

9 (A) 120 days after the date of the receipt 

10 of the administratively complete application for 

11 the consolidated permit; or 

12 (B) on agreement of the applicant, the Ad13 ministrator, and the State or governing body of 

14 the Indian tribe, 30 days after the expiration of 

15 the deadline established under subparagraph 

16 (A). 

17 (f) FEDERAL AGENCIES.—Each Federal agency that 

18 is required to make any determination to authorize the 

19 issuance of a permit shall comply with the applicable 

20 schedule established under subsection (b)(1)(B). 

21 (g) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—Any civil action for review 

22 of any determination of any Federal, State, or Indian trib23 al government agency in a permitting process conducted 

24 under a domestic fuels facility permitting agreement 

25 brought by any individual or entity shall be brought excluVerDate Aug 31 2005 20:33 May 27, 2007 Jkt 059196 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1503.IS S1503

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1 sively in the United States district court for the district 

2 in which the domestic fuels facility is located or proposed 

3 to be located. 

4 (h) EFFICIENT PERMIT REVIEW.—In order to reduce 

5 the duplication of procedures, the Administrator shall use 

6 State permitting and monitoring procedures to satisfy 

7 substantially equivalent Federal requirements under this 

8 section. 

9 (i) SEVERABILITY.—If 1 or more permits that are re10 quired for the construction or operation of a domestic fuels 

11 facility are not approved on or before any deadline estab12 lished under subsection (e), the Administrator may issue 

13 a consolidated permit that combines all other permits that 

14 the domestic fuels producer is required to obtain other 

15 than any permits that are not approved. 

16 (j) SAVINGS.—Nothing in this section affects the op17 eration or implementation of otherwise applicable law re18 garding permits necessary for the construction and oper19 ation of a domestic fuels facility. 

20 (k) CONSULTATION WITH LOCAL GOVERNMENTS.— 

21 Congress encourages the Administrator, States, and tribal 

22 governments to consult, to the maximum extent prac23 ticable, with local governments in carrying out this sec24 tion. 


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1 (l) EFFECT ON LOCAL AUTHORITY.—Nothing in this 

2 section affects— 

3 (1) the authority of a local government with re4 spect to the issuance of permits; or 

5 (2) any requirement or ordinance of a local gov6 ernment (such as zoning regulations). 

7 TITLE II—ENVIRONMENTAL 

8 ANALYSIS OF FISCHER9 TROPSCH FUELS 

10 SEC. 201. EVALUATION OF FISCHER-TROPSCH DIESEL AND 

11 JET FUEL AS AN EMISSION CONTROL STRAT12 EGY. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—In cooperation with the Secretary 

14 of Energy, the Secretary of Defense, the Administrator 

15 of the Federal Aviation Administration, Secretary of 

16 Health and Human Services, and Fischer-Tropsch indus17 try representatives, the Administrator shall— 

18 (1) conduct a research and demonstration pro19 gram to evaluate the air quality benefits of ultra20 clean Fischer-Tropsch transportation fuel, including 

21 diesel and jet fuel; 

22 (2) evaluate the use of ultra-clean Fischer23 Tropsch transportation fuel as a mechanism for re24 ducing engine exhaust emissions; and 


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1 (3) submit recommendations to Congress on the 

2 most effective use and associated benefits of these 

3 ultra-clean fuels for reducing public exposure to ex4 haust emissions. 

5 (b) GUIDANCE AND TECHNICAL SUPPORT.—The Ad6 ministrator shall, to the extent necessary, issue any guid7 ance or technical support documents that would facilitate 

8 the effective use and associated benefit of Fischer-Tropsch 

9 fuel and blends. 

10 (c) REQUIREMENTS.—The program described in sub11 section (a) shall consider— 

12 (1) the use of neat (100 percent) Fischer13 Tropsch fuel and blends with conventional crude oil14 derived fuel for heavy-duty and light-duty diesel en15 gines and the aviation sector; and 

16 (2) the production costs associated with domes17 tic production of those ultra clean fuel and prices for 

18 consumers. 

19 (d) REPORTS.—The Administrator shall submit to 

20 the Committee on Environment and Public Works of the 

21 Senate and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of 

22 the House of Representatives— 

23 (1) not later than 180 days after the date of 

24 enactment of this Act, an interim report on actions 

25 taken to carry out this section; and 


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1 (2) not later than 1 year after the date of en2 actment of this Act, a final report on actions taken 

3 to carry out this section. 

4 TITLE III—DOMESTIC COAL-TO5 LIQUID FUEL AND CEL6 LULOSIC BIOMASS ETHANOL 

7 SEC. 301. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE TO SUP8 PORT COMMERCIAL-SCALE CELLULOSIC BIO9 MASS ETHANOL PROJECTS AND COAL-TO-LIQ10 UIDS FACILITIES ON BRAC PROPERTY AND 

11 INDIAN LAND. 

12 (a) PRIORITY.—Notwithstanding section 206 of the 

13 Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965 (42 

14 U.S.C. 3146), in awarding funds made available to carry 

15 out section 209(c)(1) of that Act (42 U.S.C. 3149(c)(1)) 

16 pursuant to section 702 of that Act (42 U.S.C. 3232), 

17 the Secretary and the Economic Development Administra18 tion shall give priority to projects to support commercial19 scale cellulosic biomass ethanol projects and coal-to-liquids 

20 facilities. 

21 (b) FEDERAL SHARE.—Except as provided in sub22 section (c)(3)(B) and notwithstanding the Public Works 

23 and Economic Development Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3121 

24 et seq.), the Federal share of a project to support a comVerDate Aug 31 2005 20:33 May 27, 2007 Jkt 059196 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1503.IS S1503

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1 mercial-scale biomass ethanol facility or coal-to-liquid fa2 cility shall be— 

3 (1) 80 percent of the project cost; or 

4 (2) for a project carried out on Indian land, 

5 100 percent of the project cost. 

6 (c) ADDITIONAL AWARD.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall make an 

8 additional award in connection with a grant made to 

9 a recipient (including any Indian tribe for use on In10 dian land) for a project to support a commercial11 scale biomass ethanol facility or coal-to-liquid facil12 ity. 

13 (2) AMOUNT.—The amount of an additional 

14 award shall be 10 percent of the amount of the 

15 grant for the project. 

16 (3) USE.—An additional award under this sub17 section shall be used— 

18 (A) to carry out any eligible purpose under 

19 the Public Works and Economic Development 

20 Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3121 et seq.); 

21 (B) notwithstanding section 204 of that 

22 Act (42 U.S.C. 3144), to pay up to 100 percent 

23 of the cost of an eligible project or activity 

24 under that Act; or 


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1 (C) to meet the non-Federal share require2 ments of that Act or any other Act. 

3 (4) NON-FEDERAL SOURCE.—For the purpose 

4 of paragraph (3)(C), an additional award shall be 

5 treated as funds from a non-Federal source. 

6 (5) FUNDING.—The Secretary shall use to 

7 carry out this subsection any amounts made avail8 able— 

9 (A) for economic development assistance 

10 programs; or 

11 (B) under section 702 of the Public Works 

12 and Economic Development Act of 1965 (42 

13 U.S.C. 3232). 

14 TITLE IV—ALTERNATIVE HY15 DROCARBON AND RENEW16 ABLE RESERVES DISCLO17 SURES CLASSIFICATION SYS18 TEM 

19 SEC. 401. ALTERNATIVE HYDROCARBON AND RENEWABLE 

20 RESERVES DISCLOSURES CLASSIFICATION 

21 SYSTEM. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Securities and Exchange 

23 Commission shall appoint a task force composed of gov24 ernment and private sector representatives, including ex25 perts in the field of dedicated energy crop feedstocks for 


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1 cellulosic biofuels production, to analyze, and submit to 

2 Congress a report (including recommendations) on— 

3 (1) modernization of the hydrocarbon reserves 

4 disclosures classification system of the Commission 

5 to reflect advances in reserves recovery from non6 traditional sources (such as deep water, oil shale, tar 

7 sands, and renewable reserves for cellulosic biofuels 

8 feedstocks); and 

9 (2) the creation of a renewable reserves classi10 fication system for cellulosic biofuels feedstocks. 

11 (b) DEADLINE FOR REPORT.—The Commission shall 

12 submit the report required under subsection (a) not later 

13 than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act. 

14 TITLE V—AUTHORIZATION OF 

15 APPROPRIATIONS 

16 SEC. 501. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

17 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums 

18 as are necessary to carry out this Act and the amendments 

19 made by this Act. 

Æ 


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