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Diaz-Balart Votes to Boost Ethanol Distribution

Date: July 24, 2006
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Energy


Diaz-Balart Votes to Boost Ethanol Distribution

—Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL) today voted to help America end its dependence on foreign oil by boosting efforts to make alternative fuels viable and accessible. H.R. 5534 "kick starts" the distribution system for a rapidly growing alternative fuel - E-85, an 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline blend.

"There are nearly six million flex-fuel cars on the road and growing, but most Americans lack access to renewable fuels made from products grown in the United States," Diaz-Balart said. "It is essential that Congress works to help end our addiction to foreign oil by making alternative fuels like ethanol more readily available.

"Alternative fuels are not just the future, they are also the present," said Diaz-Balart, a member of the House Science Committee. "But fewer than a thousand gas stations nationwide have E-85 pumps installed. We clearly need to move our distribution system for E-85 ethanol into high gear."

H.R. 5534 will allow independent gas stations, not large oil companies, to apply for targeted grants to be used for the installation of E-85 pumps and other alternative fuel infrastructure.

Funding for the grants established by H.R. 5534 would come from the more than $20 million annually that mostly foreign automakers pay in penalties for failing to meet federal Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards. The funds could double the number of E-85 pumps in the U.S. annually.

H.R. 5534 would:

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create a federal "Fuel Economy Fund" by diverting CAFE penalties currently paid by automakers (roughly $20 million per year) from the general treasury to the "Fuel Economy Fund;"
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authorize the Department of Energy to use the fund to issue grants for the establishment of alternative automobile fuel infrastructure;
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use the existing Clean Cities program, and allows qualified entities to receive grants of no more than $30,000 per grant and $60,000 per business for the purpose of expanding the availability of alternative fuel infrastructure;
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explicitly bar "large integrated oil companies" from receiving grants;
*
establish that no more than 3 percent of the fund can be used for administrative costs.

http://www.house.gov/mariodiaz-balart/news/2006news/072406_ethanol.htm

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