II 110th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 859 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES March 13, 2007 Mr. Harkin (for himself and Mr. Lugar) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources A BILL To require the Secretary of Energy to award funds to study the feasibility of constructing dedicated ethanol pipelines to increase the energy, economic, and environmental security of the United States, and for other purposes.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Ethanol Infrastructure Expansion Act of 2007.

2.

Findings

Congress finds that— (1)it is in the national interest to make greater use of ethanol in transportation fuels; (2)ethanol is a clean, renewable fuel that provides public health benefits in the form of reduced emissions, including reduced greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change; (3)ethanol use provides economic gains to agricultural producers, biofuels producers, and rural areas; (4)ethanol use benefits the national security of the United States by displacing the use of petroleum, much of which is imported from foreign countries that are hostile to the United States; (5)ethanol can reduce prices at the pump for motoring consumers by extending fuel supplies and due to the competitive cost of ethanol relative to conventional gasoline; (6)ethanol faces shipping challenges in pipelines that transport other liquid transportation fuels; (7)currently ethanol is shipped by rail tanker cars, barges, and trucks, all of which could, as ethanol production expands, encounter capacity limits due to competing use demands for the rail tanker cars, barges, and trucks; (8)as the United States ethanol market expands in the coming years there is likely to be a need for dedicated ethanol pipelines to transport ethanol from the Midwest, where ethanol generally is produced, to the Eastern and Western United States; (9)as of the date of enactment of this Act, dedicated ethanol pipelines do not exist in the United States and will be challenging to construct, at least initially; (10)Brazil has already shown that ethanol can be shipped effectively via pipeline; and (11)having an ethanol pipeline study completed in the very near term is important because the construction of 1 or more dedicated ethanol pipelines would take at least several years to complete.

3.

Definition of Secretary

In this Act, the term Secretary means the Secretary of Energy.

4.

Feasibility studies

(a)

In general

The Secretary, in coordination with the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of Transportation, shall spend up to $1,000,000 to fund feasibility studies for the construction of dedicated ethanol pipelines. (b)

Conduct of studies

(1)

In general

The Secretary shall— (A)through a competitive solicitation process, select 1 or more firms having capabilities in the planning, development, and construction of dedicated ethanol pipelines to carry out the feasibility studies described in subsection (a); or (B)carry out the feasibility studies in conjunction with such firms. (2)

Timing

(A)

In general

If the Secretary elects to select 1 or more firms under paragraph (1)(A), the Secretary shall award funding under this section not later than 120 days after the date of enactment of this Act. (B)

Studies

As a condition of receiving funds under this section, a recipient of funding shall agree to submit to the Secretary a completed feasibility study not later than 360 days after the date of enactment of this Act. (c)

Study Factors

Feasibility studies funded under this Act shall include consideration of— (1)existing or potential barriers to dedicated ethanol pipelines, including technical, siting, financing, and regulatory barriers; (2)potential evolutionary pathways for the development of an ethanol pipeline transport system, such as starting with localized gathering networks as compared to major interstate ethanol pipelines to carry larger volumes from the Midwest to the East or West coast; (3)market risk, including throughput risk, and ways of mitigating the risk; (4)regulatory, financing, and siting options that would mitigate risk in these areas and help ensure the construction of dedicated ethanol pipelines; (5)financial incentives that may be necessary for the construction of dedicated ethanol pipelines, including the return on equity that sponsors of the first dedicated ethanol pipelines will require to invest in the pipelines; (6)ethanol production of 20,000,000,000, 30,000,000,000, and 40,000,000,000 gallons per year by 2020; and (7)such other factors that the Secretary considers to be appropriate. (d)

Confidentiality

If a recipient of funding under this section requests confidential treatment for critical energy infrastructure information or commercially-sensitive data contained in a feasibility study submitted by the recipient under subsection (b)(2)(B), the Secretary shall offer to enter into a confidentiality agreement with the recipient to maintain the confidentiality of the submitted information. (e)

Review; report

The Secretary shall— (1)review the feasibility studies submitted under subsection (b)(2)(B) or carried out under subsection (b)(1)(B); and (2)not later than 15 months after the date of enactment of this Act, submit to Congress a report that includes— (A)information about the potential benefits of constructing dedicated ethanol pipelines; and (B)recommendations for legislation that could help provide for the construction of dedicated ethanol pipelines.

5.

Funding

There is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry out this Act $1,000,000 for fiscal year 2008, to remain available until expended.