[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3916 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3916

 To require the Consumer Product Safety Commission to study and report 
 on the impact on consumers of permitting an increase in the amount of 
ethanol blended with gasoline for use in gasoline-powered engines used 
  in vehicles operated in interstate commerce, on public streets and 
      roads, or offroad, appliances such as lawn mowers and other 
 nonvehicular devices, and marine engines, and to require the National 
Highway Traffic Safety Administration to study and report on any safety 
or reliability impact of such an increase on motor vehicle engines and 
                             fuel systems.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 29, 2010

 Mrs. Hutchison (for herself and Mr. Cornyn) introduced the following 
 bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 
                      Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To require the Consumer Product Safety Commission to study and report 
 on the impact on consumers of permitting an increase in the amount of 
ethanol blended with gasoline for use in gasoline-powered engines used 
  in vehicles operated in interstate commerce, on public streets and 
      roads, or offroad, appliances such as lawn mowers and other 
 nonvehicular devices, and marine engines, and to require the National 
Highway Traffic Safety Administration to study and report on any safety 
or reliability impact of such an increase on motor vehicle engines and 
                             fuel systems.

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

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) Ethanol is currently widely distributed in commerce for 
        general use in all conventional gasoline-powered onroad and 
        nonroad vehicles and nonroad engines in widespread use as well 
        as gasoline-powered tools and equipment.
            (2) A decision to increase the current blending limit of 
        ethanol into gasoline for motor vehicle and equipment and 
        machine engines requires an agency finding that the increased 
        emission products will not cause or contribute to a failure of 
        any emission control device or system (over the useful life of 
        the motor vehicle, motor vehicle engine, nonroad engine or 
        nonroad vehicle in which such device or system is used).
            (3) Significant questions and concerns exist as to the 
        effects of increasing the current blending limit of ethanol 
        into gasoline for motor vehicle and equipment and machine 
        engines on the performance of such engines, including potential 
        effects such as increased engine failures, decreased engine 
        performance, increased consumer complaints, increased 
        litigation, or other unforeseen effects.
            (5) The Federal Trade Commission has proposed labeling 
        requirements for all fuels distributed in commerce that exceed 
        the current blending limit of ethanol into gasoline to disclose 
        to consumers that using such fuels may harm some conventional 
        vehicles.
            (6) A multi-faceted Federal testing regimen is currently 
        underway on newer motor vehicles to determine the effects on 
        motor vehicle engines of increasing the current blending limit 
        of ethanol into gasoline.
            (7) It has become clear that insufficient data have been 
        submitted on the use of ethanol-gasoline blends of more than 10 
        percent ethanol by volume in vehicles manufactured before 2001, 
        non-road engines, and smaller engines such as those used in 
        gasoline-powered tools and equipment.

SEC. 2. CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION STUDY OF CONSUMER IMPACTS OF 
              INCREASED USE OF ETHANOL AND ETHANOL BLENDS AS FUEL.

    The Consumer Product Safety Commission shall conduct a study of the 
potential impact on consumers of increasing the amount of ethanol 
blended with gasoline or other petroleum products for use as fuel for 
internal combustion engines, including--
            (1) whether such an increase would result in increased 
        consumer costs associated with the operation of passenger motor 
        vehicles, including indirect costs attributable to 
        modifications in infrastructure and delivery systems necessary 
        to accommodate sales of such increased ethanol-gasoline blends;
            (2) whether regional differences in the initial 
        availability of such blends would affect consumer behavior with 
        respect to interstate travel by passenger motor vehicles; and
            (3) the effects on consumers, including safety-related and 
        useful life impacts, of the use of such ethanol-gasoline blends 
        on the operation of gasoline-powered engines used in lawn 
        mowers, leaf blowers, chain saws, and similar consumer 
        products.

SEC. 3. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION STUDY OF VEHICULAR IMPACTS OF 
              INCREASED USE OF ETHANOL AND ETHANOL BLENDS AS FUEL.

    The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration shall conduct a 
study to determine whether the use of ethanol-gasoline blends of more 
than 10 percent by volume ethanol in motor vehicles will have an 
adverse impact on tailpipe emissions, exhaust temperatures, catalytic 
converters, and motor vehicle engine performance and durability.

SEC. 4. REPORTS TO CONGRESS.

    Within 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Consumer 
Product Safety Commission and the Secretary of Transportation, 
respectively, shall submit reports to the Senate Committee on Commerce, 
Science, and Transportation and the House of Representatives Committee 
on Energy and Commerce on the studies required by sections 2 and 3 of 
this Act, together with their findings, conclusions, and 
recommendations.

SEC. 5. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of the Congress that Federal departments and 
agencies should withhold from approving any increase in the use of 
ethanol or ethanol-gasoline blends as fuel for internal combustion 
engines until 30 days after the date on which the Consumer Product 
Safety Commission and the Secretary of Transportation have submitted 
their reports to the Congress under section 4.
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