[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 32, Number 51 (Monday, December 23, 1996)]
[Pages 2509-2512]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Executive Order 13031--Federal Alternative Fueled Vehicle Leadership

December 13, 1996

    By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and 
the laws of the United States of America, including the Energy Policy 
and Conservation Act, as amended (42 U.S.C. 6201 et seq.), the Energy 
Policy Act of 1992 (Public Law 102-486) (``the Act''), and section 301 
of title 3, United States Code, and with the knowledge that the use of 
alternative fueled motor vehicles will, in many applications, reduce the 
Nation's dependence on oil, and may create jobs by providing an economic 
stimulus for domestic industry, and may improve the Nation's air

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quality by reducing pollutants in the atmosphere, it is hereby ordered 
as follows:
    Section 1. Federal Leadership and Goals. (a) The purpose of this 
order is to ensure that the Federal Government exercise leadership in 
the use of alternative fueled vehicles (AFVs). To that end, each Federal 
agency shall develop and implement aggressive plans to fulfill the 
alternative fueled vehicle acquisition requirements established by the 
Act. The Act generally requires that, of the vehicles acquired by each 
agency for its fleets, subject to certain conditions specified in 
section 303(b)(1) of the Act, 25 percent should be AFVs in fiscal year 
(FY) 1996, 33 percent in FY 1997, 50 percent in FY 1998, and 75 percent 
in FY 1999 and thereafter. These requirements apply to all agencies, 
regardless of whether they lease vehicles from the General Services 
Administration (GSA) or acquire them elsewhere. That section also 
defines which Federal agency vehicles are covered by the AFV acquisition 
requirements; this order applies to the same vehicles, which are 
primarily general-use vehicles located in metropolitan statistical areas 
with populations of 250,000 or more.
    (b) To the extent practicable, agencies shall use alternative fuels 
in all vehicles capable of using them. Agencies shall continue to work 
together in interagency committees recommended by the Federal Fleet 
Conversion Task Force established by Executive Order 12844 of April 21, 
1993, to coordinate their vehicle acquisitions and placement.
    Sec. 2. Submission of Agency Plans and Reports on Statutory 
Compliance. (a) Sixty (60) days after the date of this Executive order, 
and annually thereafter as part of its budget submission to the Director 
of the Office of Management and Budget, each agency shall submit a 
report on its compliance with sections 303 and 304 of the Act. A copy of 
the report shall also be submitted to the Secretary of Energy and to the 
Administrator of General Services. The report shall state whether the 
agency is in compliance with the Act, and substantiate that statement 
with quantitative data including numbers and types of vehicles acquired 
and the level of their use. At a minimum, the report shall indicate the 
number of vehicles acquired or converted for each fuel type and vehicle 
class, and the total number of vehicles of each fuel type operated by 
the agency. The Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall 
issue further reporting guidance as necessary.
    (b) If an agency has failed to meet the statutory requirements, it 
shall include in its report an explanation for such failure and a plan, 
consistent with the agency's current and requested budgets, for 
achieving compliance with the Act. The plan shall include alternative 
sources of suitable AFVs if the agency's primary vehicle supplier is 
unable to meet the AFV requirements.
    (c) The Secretary of the Department of Energy and the Administrator 
of General Services shall cooperatively analyze the agency AFV reports 
and acquisition plans, and shall submit jointly a summary report to the 
Director of the Office of Management and Budget.
    Sec. 3. Exceptions for Law-Enforcement, Emergency, and National 
Defense Vehicles. Section 303 of the Act allows exemptions to the 
acquisition requirements for law-enforcement, emergency, and vehicles 
acquired and used for military purposes that the Secretary of Defense 
has certified must be exempt for national security reasons. Law 
enforcement vehicles shall include vehicles used for protective 
activities. Each agency that acquires or utilizes any such vehicles 
shall include in its report an explanation of why an exemption is 
claimed with respect to such vehicles.
    Sec. 4. Fulfilling the Acquisition Requirement. (a) Agencies may 
acquire alternative fueled vehicles to meet the requirements of this 
order through lease from GSA, acquisition of original equipment 
manufacturer models, commercial lease, conversion of conventionally 
fueled vehicles, or any combination of these approaches. All vehicles, 
including those converted for alternative fuel use, shall comply with 
all applicable Federal and State emissions and safety standards.
    (b) Based on its own plans and the plans and reports submitted by 
other agencies, the Administrator of General Services shall provide 
planning information to potential AFV suppliers to assist in production 
planning. After consulting with AFV suppliers, the Administrator of 
General Services shall provide to Federal agencies information on the 
pro

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duction plans of AFV suppliers well in advance of budget and ordering 
cycles.
    (c) As required by section 305 of the Act, the Secretary of Energy, 
in cooperation with the Administrator of General Services, shall 
continue to provide technical assistance to other Federal agencies that 
acquire alternative fueled vehicles and shall facilitate the 
coordination of the Federal Government's alternative fueled vehicle 
program.
    Sec. 5. Vehicle Reporting Credits. The gains in air quality and 
energy security that this order seeks to achieve will be even larger if 
medium- and heavy-duty vehicles are operated on alternative fuels, and 
if ``zero-emissions vehicles'' (ZEVs) are used. Therefore, for the 
purposes of this order, agencies may acquire medium- or heavy-duty 
dedicated alternative fueled vehicles or ZEVs to meet their AFV 
acquisition requirements, and they shall be given credits for compliance 
with their AFV targets as follows. Each medium-duty and ZEV shall count 
the same as two light-duty AFVs, and each dedicated alternative fueled 
heavy-duty vehicle shall count as three light-duty AFVs. The ZEV credits 
may be combined with vehicle size credits. The Director of the Office of 
Management and Budget, in consultation with the Secretary of Energy, 
shall issue detailed guidance on the classification and reporting of 
medium-duty, heavy-duty, and ZEVs. In the reports mandated in section 2 
of this order, medium- and heavy-duty AFVs and ZEVs shall be identified 
separately from light-duty vehicles.
    Sec. 6. Funding Alternative Fueled Vehicle Acquisition. (a) The 
Department of Energy will no longer request or require specific 
appropriations to fund the incremental costs of alternative fueled 
vehicles, including any incremental costs associated with acquisition 
and disposal, for other agencies. Agencies shall formulate their 
compliance plans based on existing and requested funds, but shall not be 
exempt from the requirements of the Act or this order due to limited 
appropriations.
    (b) An exception regarding funding assistance shall be made for 
electric vehicles, which are in an earlier stage of development than 
other alternative fueled vehicles. The Secretary of Energy shall 
establish a program beginning in FY 1997 to provide partial funding 
assistance for agency purchases of electric vehicles. Up to $10,000 or 
one-half the incremental cost over a comparable gasoline-powered 
vehicle, whichever is less, may be provided as funding assistance for 
each electric vehicle, subject to the availability of funds.
    Sec. 7. Agency Cooperation with Stakeholders on Alternative Fueled 
Vehicle Placement and Refueling Capabilities. The Secretary of Energy 
shall work with agencies procuring AFVs to coordinate the placement of 
their vehicles with the placement of similar vehicles by nonfederal 
alternative fuel stakeholders. Federal planning and acquisition efforts 
shall be coordinated with the efforts of the Department of Energy's 
``Clean Cities'' participants, private industry fuel suppliers, and 
fleet operators, and State and local governments to ensure that adequate 
private sector refueling capabilities exist or will exist wherever 
Federal fleet alternative fueled vehicles are located. Each agency's 
fleet managers shall work with appropriate organizations at their 
respective locations, whether in a ``Clean Cities'' location or not, on 
initiatives to promote alternative fueled vehicle use and expansion of 
refueling infrastructure.
    Sec. 8. Definitions. For the purpose of this order, the terms 
``agency,'' ``alternative fueled vehicle,'' and ``alternative fuel'' 
have the same meaning given such terms in sections 151 and 301 of the 
Act.
    Sec. 9. Executive Order 12844. This order supersedes Executive Order 
12844.
    Sec. 10. Judicial Review. This order is not intended to, and does 
not, create any right or benefit or trust responsibility, substantive or 
procedural, enforceable by a party against the United States, its 
agencies or instrumentalities, its officers or employees, or any other 
person.
                                            William J. Clinton
The White House,
December 13, 1996.

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 11:26 a.m., December 16, 
1996]

Note: This Executive order was published in the Federal Register on 
December 17. This item was not received in time for publication in the 
appropriate issue.

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