September - December 2006, Proposals on Congress Hill for New Federal Legislation:

In recent months a number of new bills were introduced to combat high energy costs. These bills include provisions to increase biofuels production, require the production of flex-fuel vehicles, extends the renewable energy tax credits and a variety of other initiatives. See the list below for a brief description of these important bills. To find out the specifics of each bill use the following link to search by each bill number. http://thomas.loc.gov/

S. 3840 – Ethanol Stimulus Act of 2006

On September 5, Senator Schumer (D-NY) introduced the “Ethanol Stimulus Act of 2006”, which amends the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide a tax incentive to produce ethanol in high-consumption, low-production States, and for other purposes. This bill provides specific tax incentives for states which consume more than two percent of the aggregate amount of gasoline consumed in all States and produce less than two percent of the aggregate amount of ethanol produced in all States as determined by the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

S. 3844 – Biofuels Investment Trust Fund Act

On September 5, Senator Nelson (D-NE) introduced the “Biofuels Investment Trust Fund Act”, which provides for the investment of all funds collected from the tariff on imports of ethanol to be used for research, development, and deployment of biofuels, especially cellulosic ethanol produced from biomass feedstocks.

S. 3890 – Rural Energy for America Act of 2006
On September 12, Senators Harkin (D-IA), Lugar (R-IN), Durbin (D-IL), Hagel (R-NE) and Nelson (D-NE) introduced the “Rural Energy for America Act of 2006”, to enhance and improve the energy security of the United States, expand economic development, increase agricultural income, and improve environmental quality by reauthorizing and improving the renewable energy systems and energy efficiency improvements program of the Department of Agriculture through fiscal year 2012. This bill increases this programs authorization to $250 million over five years. (Sec. 9006 of the Energy Title of the 2002 Farm Bill)
S. 3908 – Oil Independence, Limiting Subsidies, and Accelerating Vehicle Efficiency (OILSAVE) Act

On September 18, Senators Wyden (D-OR) and Bennett (R-UT) introduced the “Oil Independence, Limiting Subsidies, and Accelerating Vehicle Efficiency (OILSAVE) Act”, which amends the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide a credit for fuel efficient motor vehicles and to require major integrated oil companies to amortize intangible drilling and development costs.

S. 3817 – American-Made Energy Freedom Act of 2006

On September 21, Senator Burr (R-NC) introduced the “American-Made Energy Freedom Act of 2006”, to establish the American-Made Energy Trust Fund, to increase the tax credits for cellulosic biomass ethanol, to extend tax incentives for solar and fuel cell property, to promote coal-to-liquid fuel activities, to direct the Secretary of the Interior to establish and implement a competitive oil and gas leasing program for the Coastal Plain of Alaska. This is a companion bill to H.R. 5890 introduced by Rep. Nunes (R-CA) on July 26 in the House.

H.R. 6248 – Amendment to Sec. 1703 on Loan Guarantees of the Energy Policy Act of 2005

On September 28, Representatives Rogers (R-MI), Blunt (R-MO), Knollenberg (R-MI), and Schwarz (R-MI) introduced H.R. 6248, which authorizes the Secretary of Energy to make certain loan guarantees for advanced conservation and fuel efficient motor vehicle technology projects, including gasoline and diesel vehicles, flexible-fuel vehicles, and hybrid-electric vehicles, that reduce dependence on oil and the emissions of one or more greenhouse gases.

S. 4000 – National Fuels Initiative

On September 29, Senator Lugar (R-IN) introduced the “National Fuels Initiative”, which amends the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to modify the alcohol credit and the alternative fuel credit, amends the Clean Air Act to promote the installation of fuel pumps for E85 fuel, and amends title 49 of the United States Code to require the manufacture of dual-fueled automobiles.

S. 4003 – Ethanol Infrastructure Expansion Act of 2006

On September 29, Senators Harkin (D-IA) and Lugar (R-IN) introduced the “Ethanol Infrastructure Expansion Act of 2006”, a bill which requires the Secretary of Energy to award funds to study the feasibility of constructing one or more dedicated ethanol pipelines to increase the energy, economics, and environmental security of the United States.

S. 4020 – Renewable Fuels Promotion Act

On September 29, Senators Dayton (D-MN), Obama (D-IL), Durbin (D-IL), Stabenow (D-MI), Dorgan (D-ND) and Harkin (D-IA) introduced the “Renewable Fuels Promotion Act”, which amends the Petroleum Marketing Practices Act to prohibit restrictions on the installation of renewable fuel pumps and amends the Energy Policy Act of 1992 to require that all Federal fleet fueling centers in the United States install not less than one renewable fuel pump.

S. 4039 – Global Warming Reduction Act of 2006

On September 29, Senators Kerry (D-MA) and Snowe (R-ME) introduced the “Global Warming Reduction Act of 2006”, which amends the Clean Air Act to establish an economy-wide global warming pollution emission “cap-and-trade” program to assist the economy in transitioning to new clean energy technologies, to protect employees and affected communities, to protect companies and consumers from significant increases in energy costs, and for other purposes.

H.R. 6266 – 21st Century Energy Independence Act of 2006

On September 29, Representatives Jackson-Lee (D-TX), Berman (D-CA), Solis (D-CA), Watson (D-CA), Millender-McDonald (D-CA), Conyers (D-MI), McGovern (D-MA), Kennedy (D-RI), Pallone (D-NJ), Kucinich (D-OH), Butterfield (D-NC), Scott (D-GA), Kilpatrick (D-MI), Rangel (D-NY), Lee (D-CA), Ortiz (D-TX), Cuellar (D-TX), Reyes (D-TX), Napolitano (D-CA), Kildee (D-MI), Langevin (D-RI), Lynch (D-MA), Thompson (D-MS), Clay (D-MO), Ruppersberger (D-MD), and Davis (D-IL) introduced the “21st Century Energy Independence Act of 2006”, which authorizes the Secretary of Energy to make loan guarantees for cellulosic ethanol production technology development.

H.R. 6269 – Oil and Gas-to-Alternatives Swap (OGAS) Act of 2006

On September 29, Rep. Biggert (R-IL) introduced the “Oil and Gas-to-Alternatives Swap (OGAS) Act of 2006”, which amends the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to expand and extend the incentives for alternative fuel vehicles (extended to 2012) and refueling property (credit rate increased from 30 to 60 percent) and to repeal the oil and gas production incentives added by the Energy Policy Act of 2005.

H.R. 6291 – Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Stimulus Act of 2006

On September 29, Rep. Lowey (D-NY) introduced the “Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Stimulus Act of 2006”, which extends the production tax credit from 2008 to 2011 and, the Clean Renewable Energy Bonds from 2007 to 2010; extends commercial building and home credits; solar investment credits; extends the excise tax for biodiesel and alternative fuels to 2008; and extends many other incentives for clean and renewable energy and its more efficient use.

S. Res. 600 – National Alternative Fuel Vehicle Day

On September 29, Senators Byrd (D-WV), Lugar (R-IN), Rockefeller (D-WV), Kerry (D-MA), Bingaman (D-NM), Stabenow (D-MI), Ensign (R-NV), Cantwell (D-WA), Dodd (D-CT), Mikulski (D-MD), Feinstein (D-CA), Levin (D-MI), Wyden (DOR), Burr (D-NC), Bayh (D-IN), Biden (D-DE), DeWine (R-OH), Durbin (DIL), Dorgan (D-ND), Lieberman (D-CT), Conrad (D-ND), Salazar (D-CO), Hagel (R-NE), Grassley (R-IA), and Reid (D-NV) introduced a resolution designating October 12, 2006, as “National Alternative Fuel Vehicle Day.”

H.R. 4609 – High-Performance Buildings Act of 2006

On December 16, Representatives Smith (D-WA), Lewis (D-GA), Blumenbauer (D-OR), Serrano (D-NY), Markey (D-MA), Brady (D-PA), Pallone (D-NJ), Israel (D-NY), Brown (D- OH), Kucinich (D-OH), McDermott (D-WA), Payne (D-NJ), Grijalva (D-AZ), Carnahan (D-MO), Holt (D-NJ), Inslee (D-WA), Nadler (D-NY), Wexler (D-FL), Baird (D-WA), Miller (D-CA), Capps (D-CA) introduced “High-Performance Buildings Act of 2006”, to increase the use and research of sustainable building design technology, and for other purposes.

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Small Gains Made in Renewable Energy Tax Credit Extensions:

In an early morning session on December 9 the Senate extended several renewable energy tax credits by passing and sending to the President the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006 (H.R. 6408). Specific extensions of interest are the Production Tax Credit for electricity produced from certain renewable energy resources (Section 45) to January 1, 2009; credit to holders of Clean Renewable Energy Bonds (CREBs) Dec 31, 2008; deduction for commercial energy efficient commercial buildings to December 31, 2008; credit for new energy efficient homes to December 31, 2008; credit for residential energy efficiency property, but it looks to be only for PV through December 31, 2008 (solar thermal may not be extended); and energy credit (Section 48) to December 31, 2008. Furthermore, two additional provisions will help biomass technologies, one is a special depreciation provision for cellulosic biomass ethanol plant property placed in service before January 1, 2013 and the other is an extension of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States for ethanol extended from October 1, 2007 to January 1, 2009.

Source: http://thomas.loc.gov/ and http://energy.senate.gov/public/index.cf…
h=12&Year=2006&Party=1

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The Number of E85 Stations in the U.S. Exceed 1000

The Cenex fueling station on 320 Street NW in Bemidji, Minnesota opened in October marking the thousandth E85 outlet location in the United States. Minnesota is the current leader of E85 facilities with over 300 E85 outlets. Presently there are 946 public and 56 private E85 fueling stations covering 39 states of the country. The two most recent states to have added E85 facilities are Arkansas and Massachusetts. The number of E85 outlets in the United States has grown from 100 in 2003 to 1000 today.

Source: http://www.e85fuel.com/news/100606_1000_…