II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 889 

To provide regulatory relief to alternative fuel producers and consumers, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 26, 2015 

Mr. PAUL (for himself and Mr. GRASSLEY) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

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 

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

10 end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(c) OLDER VEHICLES.— 

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

3 of a vehicle to alternative fuel operation shall not— 

4 ‘‘(A) be considered tampering under this 

5 section if the aftermarket conversion system 

6 manufacturer or the person performing the con7 version is able to demonstrate that the develop8 ment and engineering sophistication of the con9 version technology is— 

10 ‘‘(i) matched to an appropriate vehicle 

11 or group of vehicles; and 

12 ‘‘(ii) well-designed and installed in ac13 cordance with good engineering judgment 

14 so that the aftermarket conversion system 

15 does not degrade emission performance, as 

16 compared to the performance of the vehicle 

17 or vehicles before the conversion; or 

18 ‘‘(B) require the issuance by the Adminis19 trator of any certificate of conformity. 

20 ‘‘(2) LABEL.—The person performing a conver21 sion described in paragraph (1) shall affix a label to 

22 the motor vehicle stating that— 

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

24 aftermarket conversion system; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) the installation of that system oc2 curred after the initial sale of the vehicle. 

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

4 this subsection may be construed to preclude the Ad5 ministrator from issuing an order to prohibit the 

6 manufacture, sale, distribution, or installation of an 

7 aftermarket conversion system if the Administrator 

8 has evidence that the installation of the aftermarket 

9 conversion system on a vehicle degrades emission 

10 performance.’’. 

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

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

13 the following: 

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

15 provision of this Act, the Administrator may not prohibit 

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

17 Biomass Energy and Alcohol Fuels Act of 1980 (42 

18 U.S.C. 8802)) under this Act.’’. 

19 SEC. 3. CALCULATION OF AVERAGE FUEL ECONOMY. 

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

21 United States Code, is amended— 

22 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (13) through 

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

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

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


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1 (3) by redesignating paragraph (10) as para2 graph (13); 

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

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

5 (5) by inserting after paragraph (6) the fol6 lowing: 

7 ‘‘(7) ‘biodiesel’— 

8 ‘‘(A) means liquid fuel derived from bio9 mass that meets— 

10 ‘‘(i) the registration requirements for 

11 fuels and fuel additives established by the 

12 Environmental Protection Agency under 

13 section 211 of the Clean Air Act (42 

14 U.S.C. 7545); and 

15 ‘‘(ii) the requirements of the ASTM 

16 Standard D6751; and 

17 ‘‘(B) does not include any liquid with re18 spect to which a credit may be determined 

19 under section 40 of the Internal Revenue Code 

20 of 1986.’’; 

21 (6) by inserting after paragraph (10), as redes22 ignated, the following: 

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

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

25 ethanol; and 


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

2 Standard D5798.; 

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

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

5 M85.’’; 

6 (7) by inserting after paragraph (13), as redes7 ignated, the following: 

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

9 means a manufacturer whose total fleet of auto10 mobiles manufactured for the most recent model 

11 year for sale in the United States contains at least 

12 50 percent fuel choice enabling vehicles. 

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

14 automobile that— 

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

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

17 percent biodiesel; 

18 ‘‘(B) is a flexible fuel vehicle; 

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

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

21 produce power without the use of petroleum or 

22 a petroleum-based fuel; or 

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

24 than an internal combustion engine; and 


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

2 other than petroleum-based fuel.’’; 

3 (8) by inserting after paragraph (17), as redes4 ignated, the following: 

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

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

7 and 

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

9 International Standard D5797.’’; and 

10 (9) by inserting after paragraph (25), as redes11 ignated, the following: 

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

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

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

15 (b) FUEL CHOICE ENABLING MANUFACTURERS.— 

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

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

18 following: 

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

20 ACT.—If a fuel choice enabling manufacturer is in compli21 ance with all applicable standards prescribed under this 

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

23 the automobiles manufactured by such manufacturer in 

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

25 applicable greenhouse gas regulations established by the 


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1 Environmental Protection Agency pursuant to section 202 

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

3 (2) in section 32903(a), by amending para4 graph (2) to read as follows: 

5 ‘‘(2) any of the 5 consecutive model years im6 mediately after the model year for which the credits 

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

8 used under paragraph (1);’’; and 

9 (3) in section 32904— 

10 (A) by redesignating subsections (d) and 

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

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

13 following: 

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

15 CHOICE ENABLING MANUFACTURERS.—The average fuel 

16 economy of a fuel choice enabling manufacturer for a 

17 model year is the sum of— 

18 ‘‘(1) the average fuel economy of such manufac19 turer for such model year, as otherwise calculated 

20 pursuant to this section; and 

21 ‘‘(2) 8 miles per gallon.’’. 

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

23 this section shall apply with respect to automobiles manu24 factured for model year 2016 or for any subsequent model 

25 year. 


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1 SEC. 4. EQUALIZATION OF EXCISE TAX ON LIQUEFIED NAT2 URAL GAS AND PER ENERGY EQUIVALENT OF 

3 DIESEL. 

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

5 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended— 

6 (1) in subparagraph (B)— 

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

8 end; 

9 (B) in clause (ii)— 

10 (i) by striking ‘‘liquefied natural 

11 gas,’’; 

12 (ii) by striking ‘‘peat), and’’ and in13 serting ‘‘peat) and’’; and 

14 (iii) by striking the period at the end 

15 and inserting ‘‘, and’’; and 

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

17 clause: 

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

19 gas, 24.3 cents per energy equivalent of a 

20 gallon of diesel.’’; and 

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

22 ‘‘(C) ENERGY EQUIVALENT OF A GALLON

23 OF DIESEL.—For purposes of this paragraph, 

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

25 means, with respect to a liquefied natural gas 


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1 fuel, the amount of such fuel having a Btu con2 tent of 128,700 (lower heating value). 

3 ‘‘(D) ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.—For 

4 purposes of applying this title with respect to 

5 the taxes imposed by this subsection, references 

6 to any liquid subject to tax under this sub7 section shall be treated as including references 

8 to liquefied natural gas subject to tax under 

9 this paragraph.’’. 

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

11 this section shall apply to any sale or use of liquefied nat12 ural gas after the date that is 14 days after the date of 

13 the enactment of this Act. 

14 SEC. 5. ETHANOL WAIVER. 

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

16 7545(h)(4)) is amended— 

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

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

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

20 alcohol or’’. 

Æ 


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