[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2215 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2215

 To provide a reduction in the aggregate greenhouse gas emissions per 
    unit of energy consumed by vehicles and aircraft, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 8, 2007

Mr. Inslee (for himself, Mr. Farr, Ms. Hirono, Mr. Honda, Ms. Lee, Mr. 
   Markey, Mr. George Miller of California, Mr. Pallone, and Mr. Van 
   Hollen) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To provide a reduction in the aggregate greenhouse gas emissions per 
    unit of energy consumed by vehicles and aircraft, 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. CLEAN AIR ACT AMENDMENT.

    The Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.) is amended by adding at 
the end the following:

 ``TITLE VII--GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS FROM VEHICLE AND AIRCRAFT FUELS

``SEC. 701. PURPOSE.

    ``The purpose of this title is to provide a reduction in the 
aggregate greenhouse gas emissions per unit of energy consumed by 
vehicles and aircraft.

``SEC. 702. FINDINGS.

    ``The Congress finds that:
            ``(1) The United States consumes a quarter of the world's 
        oil and the oil used in transportation accounts for a third of 
        the United States emissions of the greenhouse gases that cause 
        global warming.
            ``(2) To avoid catastrophic global warming, the United 
        States should take decisive action with other nations to reduce 
        greenhouse gas emissions by 60 to 80 percent by 2050.
            ``(3) Transitioning our transportation sector to more 
        efficient use of oil and low-carbon petroleum alternatives is 
        essential to reducing global warming pollution.
            ``(4) It is necessary and feasible to reduce emissions of 
        greenhouse gases, enhance national security by reducing 
        dependence on oil and promote economic well-being without 
        sacrificing land, water and air quality, by enacting energy 
        policies that motivate environmental performance.

``SEC. 703. DEFINITIONS.

    ``For purposes of this title:
            ``(1) Administrator.--The term `Administrator' means the 
        Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
            ``(2) Carbon dioxide equivalent.--With respect to each 
        greenhouse gas, the term `carbon dioxide equivalent' means the 
        amount of the greenhouse gas resulting from that fuel that 
        traps the same amount of heat as one metric ton of carbon 
        dioxide, as determined by the Administrator.
            ``(3) Greenhouse gas.--The term `greenhouse gas' means 
        carbon dioxide, hydrofluorocarbons, methane, nitrous oxide, 
        perfluorocarbons, sulfur hexafluoride, and any other 
        anthropogenically-emitted gas that is determined by the 
        Administrator, after notice and comment, to contribute to 
        global warming to a non-negligible degree.
            ``(4) Lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions.--The term 
        `lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions' means greenhouse gases 
        emitted during the entire cycle of extraction, cultivation, 
        production, manufacturing, feedstock extraction, marketing, and 
        distribution for a fuel or other sources of energy, as well as 
        those emitted during the use of such fuels and sources by 
        vehicles and aircraft. The term includes changes in land use 
        and land cover associated with each phase of such cycle.
            ``(5) Vehicle.--The term `vehicle' means a motor vehicle as 
        defined in section 216 and any other device used for the 
        transportation of persons or goods (other than an aircraft).

``SEC. 704. LOW CARBON FUEL PERFORMANCE STANDARDS.

    ``(a) Vehicle Fuel Standard.--Not later than January 1, 2010, the 
Administrator shall promulgate low carbon fuel performance standards 
for fuels and other sources of energy used to propel vehicles. Such 
standards shall begin to apply in the year 2015.
    ``(b) Graduated Reductions for Vehicle Fuel.--The Administrator 
shall promulgate, by rule, a declining standard for each 5 calendar 
year period beginning in 2015. Each such standard shall represent a 
graduated percentage reduction in aggregate emissions of greenhouse 
gases per Btu in each 5-year period after 2014 through 2050 as provided 
in the following table. The reduction for each such period shall be 
measured from the baseline for vehicle fuel, as determined by the 
Administrator under subsection (f).


 
 
 
``5-year period                          Percent reduction
  2015 through 2019....................  3 percent
  2020 through 2024....................  6 percent
  2025 through 2029....................  9 percent
  2030 through 2034....................  12 percent
  2035through 2039.....................  15 percent
  2040 through 2044....................  18 percent
  2045 through 2049....................  21 percent.

    ``(c) Additional Reductions.--Each 5 years during the period 2015 
through 2050 the Administrator shall review available control 
technology, safety considerations, and land and other resources 
available for production of fuels and other sources of energy used to 
propel vehicles. Following such review, the Administrator may, by rule, 
promulgate a more stringent standard than the standard otherwise 
applicable under subsection (b) which more stringent standard, based on 
such review, the Administrator determines to be requisite to protect 
the public health and welfare from any known or anticipated adverse 
effects associated with greenhouse gas emissions.
    ``(d) Standard for Aircraft Fuel.--Not later than January 1, 2010, 
the Administrator shall promulgate a low carbon fuel performance 
standard for fuels and other sources of energy used by aircraft. The 
performance standard for such fuels and other sources of energy for 
aircraft for each year after 2015 shall be the baseline for that fuel, 
as determined by the Administrator under subsection (f). Such standard 
shall begin to apply in the year 2015 and continue to apply through the 
calendar year 2019. The standard shall remain in effect thereafter 
unless, for each 5 year period thereafter, beginning in 2020, the 
Administrator and the Secretary of Transportation determine that a more 
stringent standard is necessary to carry out the purposes of this Act. 
Such determination may be made only after a thorough review of 
available technology and safety considerations. Following such 
determination, the Administrator shall promulgate a rule establishing a 
more stringent standard.
    ``(e) Terms of Standards.--Each standard under this section shall 
be expressed in carbon dioxide, or carbon dioxide equivalent, emissions 
per Btu of energy from the aggregate of all fuels and other sources of 
energy used by vehicles or by aircraft.
    ``(f) Baseline.--
            ``(1) Vehicle fuel.--The baseline for vehicle fuel for 
        purposes of the standards under this section shall be the 
        aggregate greenhouse gas emissions per Btu from all such fuel 
        and other sources of energy used by vehicles in calendar year 
        2007, as determined by the Administrator.
            ``(2) Aircraft fuel.--For fuel used by aircraft, the 
        baseline for purposes of the standard under this section shall 
        be the aggregate greenhouse gas emissions per Btu from all such 
        fuel and other sources of energy used by aircraft in calendar 
        year 2007, as determined by the Administrator.

``SEC. 705. EPA REGULATIONS; CALCULATION OF EMISSIONS PER BTU.

    ``(a) Regulations.--After consultation with the Secretary of Energy 
and the Secretary of Commerce, and a review of all compliance methods, 
the Administrator, after notice and opportunity for comment, shall 
promulgate, not later than January 1, 2010, and may periodically revise 
thereafter, regulations requiring compliance with the annual 
performance standards established under section 703.
    ``(b) Calculations of Greenhouse Emission Rate Per Btu.--
            ``(1) Individual calculations under standard methodology.--
        The regulations under this section shall provide standard, 
        transparent and public methods for each producer, importer, or 
        blender of a fuel or other source of energy used, directly or 
        indirectly, as a fuel for vehicles or aircraft to calculate the 
        greenhouse gases emitted per Btu of such fuel or other source 
        of energy when so used.
            ``(2) Lifecycle greenhouse gas emission calculation.--The 
        regulations under this section shall include appropriate 
        methods for estimating the lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions 
        of each fuel and other energy source. For purposes of such 
        regulations, the Administrator shall develop methods to 
        quantify the direct and indirect emissions resulting from 
        biofuel production.
            ``(3) Special adjustment for electricity and hydrogen.--In 
        making the calculation under this subsection, the Administrator 
        shall adjust the Btus of energy delivered from the use of 
        electricity and hydrogen used as a fuel or source of energy for 
        vehicles and aircraft. Such adjustment shall reflect the 
        greenhouse gas reductions on a per mile basis in order to 
        reflect the inherent energy efficiency of an average battery 
        electric, plug in hybrid electric vehicle, or hydrogen fuel 
        cell vehicle.
            ``(4) NAS report.--The Administrator shall, not less than 
        90 days after the enactment of this Act, enter into a contract 
        with the National Academy of Sciences to assess and recommend 
        methods to calculate the lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions 
        associated with the production and use of fuels and other 
        sources of energy used as a fuel for vehicles and aircraft.
            ``(5) Consultation.--In developing regulations under this 
        section, the Administrator shall consult with State agencies 
        and other government entities within and outside the United 
        States having programs for control of greenhouse gas emissions 
        from vehicle fuels and shall promulgate such regulations after 
        consideration of the report under paragraph (4).

``SEC. 706. COMPLIANCE WITH STANDARD.

    ``(a) Requirement To Meet Standard.--The regulations under this 
title shall provide that each producer, importer or blender of a fuel 
or other source of energy used for transportation by vehicles or 
aircraft shall be required to generate or obtain in each calendar year 
after 2009 credits equal to the excess, if any, of paragraph (1) over 
paragraph (2) multiplied by paragraph (3). No producer, importer, or 
blender shall be required to obtain credits if the fuel or other source 
of energy meets the aggregate performance standard under section 703 
for the calendar year concerned.
            ``(1) The greenhouse gases (expressed as carbon dioxide or 
        carbon dioxide equivalent) emitted per Btu of fuel or other 
        energy produced, imported, or blended by such producer, 
        importer, or blender in the calendar year concerned.
            ``(2) The aggregate performance standard for all such 
        producers, importer, or blenders established under section 703 
        for the calendar year concerned.
            ``(3) The total number of Btus used in vehicles and 
        aircraft that is provided by the fuel or other energy produced, 
        imported, or blended by such producer, importer or blender in 
        the year concerned.
    ``(b) Generation, Trading, and Banking of Credits.--
            ``(1) Credit generation.--For each calendar year after the 
        calendar year 2014, each producer, importer or blender of each 
        fuel or other source of energy used, for transportation by 
        vehicles or aircraft shall be credited with greenhouse gas 
        emission credits equal to the excess, if any, of paragraph (2) 
        of subsection (a) over paragraph (1) of subsection (a) 
        multiplied by paragraph (3) of subsection (a).
            ``(2) Trading.--The regulations under this section shall 
        allow purchase, sale, and trading of such allowance producers, 
        importers and blenders, and other persons. Credits generated 
        this section may be held and traded by any person. Credits 
        under this section do not constitute a property right, and 
        nothing in any provision of law shall be construed to limit the 
        authority of the United States to terminate or limit any such 
        credit.
            ``(3) Banking.--Credits generated under this section may be 
        used in the year in which they are generated and in the 
        following calendar year.
    ``(c) Monitoring.--The Administrator shall promulgate rules to 
ensure that greenhouse gas emissions and the use of credits generated 
under this section are accurately tracked, reported, and verified.
    ``(d) Enforcement.--
            ``(1) In general.--If any fuel or other source of energy 
        used, directly or indirectly, by vehicles exceeds in any 
        calendar year the standard established under this section and 
        the producer, importer or blender thereof has not acquired 
        credits to offset such excess, the producer, importer or 
        blender shall pay a civil penalty in an amount determined under 
        paragraph (2).
            ``(2) Amount of civil penalty.--The amount of the civil 
        penalty under this subsection shall be twice the market price 
        for the credits that would be necessary for such producer, 
        blender, or importer to meet the standard for the fuel or 
        energy source concerned. The Administrator shall establish the 
        method of determining such market price.
            ``(3) No demand required.--A civil penalty under this 
        subsection shall be due and payable to the Administrator 
        without demand.
            ``(4) Civil action.--The Administrator may bring a civil 
        action in the appropriate United States district court to 
        recover the amount of any civil penalty due and payable under 
        this subsection.

``SEC. 707. CERTIFICATION AND LABELING OF LOW-CARBON TRANSPORTATION 
              FUELS.

    ``(a) Identification.--Not later than January 1, 2009, the 
Administrator shall identify and label low-carbon transportation fuels 
based on the following criteria.
            ``(1) The fuel is responsible for at least 20 percent lower 
        lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions per Btu delivered compared 
        to the 2007 baseline.
            ``(2) The fuel is likely to have fewer adverse impacts on 
        wildlife habitat, biodiversity, water quality or air quality 
        over the lifecycle of the fuel, than conventional 
        transportation fuels.
            ``(3) The fuel achieves reduction in petroleum content over 
        its lifecycle.
In the case of electric energy and hydrogen used, directly or 
indirectly, as a fuel or source of energy for vehicles, the 
Administrator shall apply the special adjustment factor referred to in 
section 705(b)(3) in identifying low-carbon transportation fuels.
    ``(b) Certification.--Not later than January 1, 2009, the 
Administrator shall establish a low-carbon fuel certification process 
to certify fuels that the Administrator has identified as low-carbon 
fuels, make that certification information available to consumers. 
Under regulations promulgated by the Administrator any person 
manufacturing, importing, or distributing low-carbon fuels may provide 
labeling for such fuels in accordance with regulations promulgated by 
the Administrator and promote public awareness of those fuels.

``SEC. 708. FUEL SAFEGUARDS.

    ``(a) Definitions.--As used in this section:
            ``(1) The term `Community Fire Safety Zone' means the 
        immediate vicinity of buildings and other areas regularly 
        occupied by people, or of infrastructure, at risk of wildfire.
            ``(2) The term `Ecosystem conversion' means altering the 
        native habitat to such an extent that it no longer supports 
        most characteristic native species and ecological processes.
            ``(3) The term `native habitat' means dynamic groupings of 
        native plant and animal communities that occur together on the 
        landscape or in the water and are tied together by similar 
        ecological processes, underlying environmental features such as 
        geology, or environmental gradients such as elevation, but does 
        not include land that is currently in agricultural production.
            ``(4) National interest lands.--The term `National interest 
        lands' means areas designated as national wildlife refuges, 
        national forests, or national grasslands, areas managed by the 
        National Park Service (including national parks and monuments), 
        and lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management.
            ``(5) The term `Community Fire Safety Zone' means the 
        immediate vicinity of buildings and other areas regularly 
        occupied by people, or of infrastructure, at risk of wildfire.
            ``(6) The term `Sensitive Lands' means old growth forests; 
        roadless areas on national forests, wilderness study areas; 
        native grasslands; intact, rare, threatened or endangered 
        ecosystems; and any area containing significant concentrations 
        of biodiversity values including endemism, endangered species, 
        high species richness, and refugia.
    ``(b) In General.--Under regulations of the Administrator, no 
transportation fuel sold in interstate commerce after January 1, 2010 
may be derived all or in part from biomass from the following sources:
            ``(1) Lands where the Administrator determines that 
        ecosystem conversion has occurred after the date of the 
        enactment of this Act.
            ``(2) Sensitive Lands.
            ``(3) Land enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program 
        established under subchapter B of chapter 1 of subtitle D of 
        title XII of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3831 et 
        seq.) or the wetlands reserves program established under 
        subchapter C of chapter 1 of subtitle D of title XII of the 
        Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3837 et seq.), unless the 
        biomass is produced in a manner consistent with all applicable 
        guidelines and terms, and conditions under the program.
            ``(4) National interest lands with the exception of either 
        of the following:
                    ``(A) Harvest residue, mill waste, or pre-
                commercial thinnings, from lands assigned to timber 
                production.
                    ``(B) Biomass obtained from a Community Fire Safety 
                Zone.
            ``(5) Recyclable postconsumer waste paper, painted, 
        treated, or pressurized wood, wood contaminated with plastic or 
        metals.
            ``(6) Municipal solid waste (as defined in the Solid Waste 
        Disposal Act).
            ``(7) Materials produced, harvested, acquired, transported, 
        or processed pursuant to an exemption from otherwise applicable 
        environmental laws or rules.

``SEC. 709. AIR QUALITY IMPACTS.

    ``(a) In General.--The Administrator shall ensure, under 
regulation, that no transportation fuel sold or introduced in 
interstate commerce after January 1, 2010 shall result in--
            ``(1) average per gallon vehicle emissions (measure on a 
        mass basis) of air pollutants in excess of the quantity of 
        those emissions attributable to gasoline sold or introduced 
        into commerce in the United States during calendar year 2007; 
        or
            ``(2) a violation of any motor vehicle emission or fuel 
        content limitation under any other provision of this Act.

``SEC. 710. RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT FUNDING.

    ``There is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of Energy 
such sums as may be necessary carry out a cooperative program of 
research and development relating to lower carbon alternatives for 
aircraft jet fuel and fuel for other vehicles. The program shall 
provide for matching Federal grants to private entities carrying out 
such research and development.

``SEC. 711. STATE LAWS.

    ``Nothing in this title shall be interpreted to preempt or limit 
State actions to address climate change.''.
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