I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4004 
To reduce the price of gasoline by allowing for offshore drilling, eliminating 
Federal obstacles to constructing refineries and providing incentives for 
investment in refineries, suspending Federal fuel taxes when gasoline 
prices reach a benchmark amount, and promoting free trade. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 6, 2005 
Mr. PAUL introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committees on Resources and 
Financial Services, 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 reduce the price of gasoline by allowing for offshore 
drilling, eliminating Federal obstacles to constructing re-
fineries and providing incentives for investment in refin-
eries, suspending Federal fuel taxes when gasoline prices 
reach a benchmark amount, and promoting free trade. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Affordable Gas Price Act’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
Sec. 2. Findings. 
Sec. 3. Termination of restrictions on oil and natural gas development on Fed-
eral lands. 
Sec. 4. Limitation of suits under National Environmental Policy Act of 1969. 
Sec. 5. Incentives for investment in oil refineries. 
Sec. 6. Suspension of fuel taxes on highway motor fuels when weekly United 
States retail gasoline prices exceed benchmark. 
Sec. 7. Increase in mileage reimbursement rates. 
Sec. 8. Termination of application of title IV of the Trade Act of 1974 to the 
Russian Federation and Kazakhstan. 
Sec. 9. Study on effects of oil prices on monetary policy. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) In recent months gas prices across the 
country have risen to as much as over $4 per gallon. 
(2) High fuel costs retard economic growth and 
diminish the quality of life for all Americans. 
(3) The trucking industry is particularly hard 
hit by high fuel prices. 
(4) Attempts to address the issue of high gaso-
line costs by increasing government involvement in 
the market through measures such as price controls 
will only lead to shortages, rationing, and a return 
of gasoline lines. 
(5) The Federal regulations restricting drilling 
impose prohibitive costs on the development of new 
sources of energy, artificially inflating the price of 
gas. 
(6) Federal gas tax inflate the price of oil thus 
burdening American families, business, and truckers.
(7) Allowing private parties to delay, or even 
halt, the construction of new refineries through liti-
gation over the National Environmental Protection 
Act’s Environmental Impact Statement requirement 
reduces the supply of gas thus raising gas prices. 
(8) The so-called Jackson-Vanik (‘‘freedom-of- 
emigration’’) amendment (section 402) of the Trade 
Act of 1974 was a United States reaction to the So-
viet Union’s highly restrictive emigration policy of 
the time. 
(9) By 2005, some 15 years after the end of 
communist rule over the USSR, successor states 
Russia and Kazakhstan allow their citizens the right 
and opportunity to emigrate, free of any heavy tax 
on the visas or other documents required for emigra-
tion and free of any other tax, levy, fine, fee, or 
other charge on any citizens as a consequence of the 
desire of such citizens to emigrate to the country of 
their choice. 
(10) Elimination of the Jackson-Vanik amend-
ment’s threat of trade-restricting provisions would 
increase the United States access to oil supplies 
from non-Arab countries, thus lowering gas prices.
(11) The adoption of a monetary system of fiat 
currency unbacked by any ties to gold may have con-
tributed to the raise in gas prices. 
SEC. 3. TERMINATION OF RESTRICTIONS ON OIL AND NAT-
URAL 
GAS 
DEVELOPMENT 
ON 
FEDERAL 
LANDS. 
(a) OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF.— 
(1) TERMINATION OF LAWS PROHIBITING EX-
PENDITURES
FOR
NATURAL
GAS
LEASING
AND 
PRELEASING ACTIVITIES.—All provisions of existing 
Federal law prohibiting the spending of appropriated 
funds to conduct oil or natural gas leasing and 
preleasing activities for any area of the Outer Conti-
nental Shelf shall have no force or effect. 
(2) REVOCATION OF EXISTING PRESIDENTIAL 
WITHDRAWALS.—All existing withdrawals by the 
President under the authority of section 12 of the 
Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 
1341) are hereby revoked and are no longer in effect 
with respect to the leasing of areas for exploration 
for, and development and production of, oil or nat-
ural gas. 
(b) COASTAL PLAIN OF ALASKA.—Sections 1002(i) 
and 1003 of the Alaska National Interest Lands Con-
servation Act (16 U.S.C. 3142(i) and 3143) are repealed.
SEC. 4. LIMITATION OF SUITS UNDER NATIONAL ENVIRON-
MENTAL POLICY ACT OF 1969. 
Section 102 of the National Environmental Policy 
Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332) is amended by inserting 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—’’ before the first sentence, and by 
adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(b) LIMITATION ON SUITS.—A statement required 
under subsection (a)(2)(C) is not subject to judicial re-
view.’’. 
SEC. 5. INCENTIVES FOR INVESTMENT IN OIL REFINERIES. 
(a) INCREASE OF EXPENSING FOR REFINERIES.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Subsection (a) of section 
179C of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relat-
ing to election to expense certain refineries) is 
amended by striking ‘‘50 percent’’ and inserting 
‘‘100 percent’’. 
(2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 
by this subsection shall take effect as if included in 
section 1323 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005. 
(b) CLASS LIFE FOR REFINERIES.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Subparagraph (B) of section 
168(e)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (re-
lating to 5-year property) is amended by striking 
‘‘and’’ at the end of clause (v), by striking the pe-
riod at the end of clause (vi) and inserting ‘‘, and’’, 
and by adding at the end the following new clause:
‘‘(vii) any petroleum refining prop-
erty.’’. 
(2) PETROLEUM
REFINING
ASSET.—Section 
168(i) of such Code is amended by adding at the 
end the following new paragraph: 
‘‘(17) PETROLEUM REFINING PROPERTY.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘petroleum 
refining property’ means any asset for petro-
leum refining, including assets used for the dis-
tillation, fractionation, and catalytic cracking of 
crude petroleum into gasoline and its other 
components. 
‘‘(B) ASSET MUST MEET ENVIRONMENTAL 
LAWS.—Such term shall not include any asset 
which does not meet all applicable environ-
mental laws in effect on the date such asset was 
placed in service. For purposes of the preceding 
sentence, a waiver under the Clean Air Act 
shall not be taken into account in determining 
whether the applicable environmental laws have 
been met. 
‘‘(C) SPECIAL
RULE
FOR
MERGERS
AND 
ACQUISITIONS.—Such term shall not include 
any asset with respect to which a deduction was