[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3807 Introduced in House (IH)]







109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3807

 To amend the Clean Air Act to create a uniform national standard for 
gasoline, to eliminate ``boutique'' fuels, to require the Secretary of 
 Energy to construct, and sell to private businesses, 15 new gasoline 
                  refineries, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 15, 2005

   Mr. Ney introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Clean Air Act to create a uniform national standard for 
gasoline, to eliminate ``boutique'' fuels, to require the Secretary of 
 Energy to construct, and sell to private businesses, 15 new gasoline 
                  refineries, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the "Restoring Excellence in Fuel 
Independence and National Energy (REFINE) Act of 2005".

SEC. 2. AMENDMENT OF CLEAN AIR ACT FUELS PROVISIONS.

    (a) Elimination of Multiple Fuels.--Section 211(c)(4) of the Clean 
Air Act is amended to read as follows:
    ``(4) After the date of the enactment of the "Restoring Excellence 
in Fuel Independence and National Energy (REFINE) Act of 2005" no State 
(or political subdivision thereof) may prescribe or attempt to enforce 
any control or prohibition respecting any characteristic or component 
of a fuel or fuel additive in a motor vehicle or motor vehicle engine. 
Any such control or prohibition adopted before such date of enactment 
shall cease to have any force and effect on the date 3 years after such 
date of enactment.''.
    (b) Conventional Gasoline.--Section 211(k) of the Clean Air Act is 
amended to read as follows:
    ``(k) Conventional Gasoline Required Throughout Entire Nation.--The 
Administrator shall promulgate regulations under this subsection 
requiring that all gasoline sold or introduced into commerce in the 
United States (except the noncontiguous States and territories) after 
the date 3 years after the date of the enactment of the "Restoring 
Excellence in Fuel Independence and National Energy (REFINE) Act of 
2005" for use in a motor vehicle or motor vehicle engine be 
conventional gasoline. As used in this section, the term `conventional 
gasoline' means a single blend of gasoline identified in regulations of 
the Administrator with a uniform chemical composition in all regions of 
the country that is identical to the chemical composition of the 
gasoline most widely sold in the United States before the date of the 
enactment of the REFINE Act of 2005 in areas other than nonattainment 
areas.''.
    (c) Oxygenated Fuels.--Subsection (m) of section 211 of the Clean 
Air Act is repealed.

SEC. 3. CONSTRUCTION OF REFINERIES.

    (a) GAO Study.--The Comptroller General of the United States shall 
conduct, complete, and publish within 6 months after the enactment of 
this Act, a study to identify the the most viable locations throughout 
the United States for the construction of 15 new gasoline refineries. 
The locations shall identified based upon the following factors:
            (1) Impact on the local community (determined after 
        requesting and receiving comments from State, county or parish, 
        and municipal governments).
            (2) Regional vulnerability to a natural disaster.
            (3) Regional vulnerability to terrorist attacks.
            (4) Proximity to the Strategic Petroleum Reserves.
            (5) Accessibility to national transportation system.
    (b) Refinery Construction.--
            (1) 15 refineries.--Upon completion of the study under 
        subsection (a), the Secretary of Energy shall enter into 
        contracts with private entities for the construction of 5 
        gasoline refineries at the 5 separate locations throughout the 
        United States identified by the Comptroller General as most 
        viable. After the sale of such refineries under subsection (c), 
        the Secretary shall enter into contracts with private entities 
        for the construction of an additional 5 gasoline refineries at 
        the next most viable locations. After the sale of such 5 
        additional refineries under subsection (c), the Secretary shall 
        enter into contracts with private entities for the construction 
        of an additional 5 refineries at the last 5 most viable 
        locations.
            (2) Size.--Each refinery constructed under this subsection 
        shall be capable of processing at least the average barrels per 
        day of crude oil equivalent to the average of all refineries 
        nationwide as determined on December 31st of the previous 
        calendar year and shall process at least such amount for a 
        period of not less than 10 years after the commencement of 
        operations at that refinery.
            (3) Contract and construction requirements.--The contracts 
        entered into under this subsection shall be subject to all 
        applicable Federal laws governing Federal contracts and all 
        Federal laws relating to the protection of the environment, 
        except that in any environmental review under any such law, 
        only governmental entities shall be permitted to comment.
    (c) Sale of Refineries.--Upon completion of construction, the 
Secretary of Energy shall sell the refinery to the highest bidder. Each 
refinery shall be sold in a separate sale from the other refineries.
    (d) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out this section.
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