To amend the Clean Air Act with respect to the ethanol waiver for Reid Vapor Pressure under that Act, and for other purposes.
Officially: “To amend the Clean Air Act with respect to the ethanol waiver for Reid Vapor Pressure under that Act, and for other purposes.” Read the full text
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1Short title
This section would give the Act the short title "Nationwide Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act of 2025."
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1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Nationwide Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act of 2025 .
2Nationwide Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act of 2024
This section would amend the Clean Air Act's ethanol waiver and Reid Vapor Pressure rules and would restore certain renewable fuel credits to small refineries. On the existing ethanol waiver authority under section 211(f)(4) of the Clean Air Act, this section reorganizes that authority into a labeled "In general" part and a labeled "Final action" part and replaces the phrase "if he determines" with "if the Administrator determines," without changing what the Administrator may do. It would then add a new rule: a fuel or fuel additive could be introduced into commerce if either the Administrator determines the fuel or additive is substantially similar to a fuel or additive used to certify a model year vehicle, or the fuel or additive already has a waiver under the "In general" part and meets all of that waiver's conditions except for any limitation on Reid Vapor Pressure, and, in either case, the fuel or additive also meets all other applicable Reid Vapor Pressure requirements under section 211(h) of the Clean Air Act. On section 211(h) of the Clean Air Act, this section makes a capitalization fix to the term "Vapor Pressure" throughout, and then, in paragraph (4), changes the ethanol content threshold that triggers the Reid Vapor Pressure limitation in that paragraph from gasoline blended with 10 percent ethanol to gasoline blended with 10 to 15 percent ethanol, so the limitation in paragraph (4) would now cover that wider range of ethanol blends. In paragraph (5)(A), this section changes the notification process so that a state's notification for this Reid Vapor Pressure treatment must be submitted after this Act's date of enactment and be accompanied by appropriate supporting information, and changes the ethanol content covered by that paragraph from 10 percent to 10 to 15 percent. This section also adds a rule for a state whose Governor already submitted this notification before the date of enactment and to which the Administrator had applied the separate Reid Vapor Pressure limitation under paragraph (1): for that state, the paragraph (4) limitation would apply instead, covering all fuel blends of gasoline with 10 to 15 percent denatured anhydrous ethanol that are sold, offered for sale, dispensed, supplied, offered for supply, transported, or introduced into commerce in that state's area during the high ozone season. Separately, this section adds a rule to section 211(o)(9) of the Clean Air Act for small refineries under the renewable fuel program. For a small refinery that retired credits generated for compliance year 2016 or 2017 and that submitted a hardship exemption petition for that compliance year that remained outstanding as of December 1, 2022, and for a small refinery that submitted a hardship exemption petition for compliance year 2018 by September 1, 2019, retired its 2018 credits as part of its 2018 compliance demonstration by March 31, 2019, and either had that petition still outstanding as of December 1, 2022, or had the petition denied by the Administrator as of July 1, 2022, without having its retired credits returned by December 1, 2022, the credits for that compliance year would either be returned to the small refinery and, despite any conflicting rule in paragraph (5)(C), be treated as eligible for use in future compliance years, or be credited to the small refinery's account in the EPA's Moderated Transaction System (EMTS).
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2. Nationwide Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act of 2024 (a) Ethanol waiver (1) Existing waivers Section 211(f)(4) of the Clean Air Act ( 42 U.S.C. 7545(f)(4) ) is amended— (A) by striking (4) The Administrator, upon and inserting the following: (4) Waivers (A) In general The Administrator, on ; (B) in subparagraph (A) (as so designated)— (i) in the first sentence— (I) by striking of this subsection each place it appears; and (II) by striking if he determines and inserting if the Administrator determines ; and (ii) in the second sentence, by striking The Administrator and inserting the following: (B) Final action The Administrator ; and (C) by adding at the end the following: (C) Reid vapor pressure A fuel or fuel additive may be introduced into commerce if— (i) (I) the Administrator determines that the fuel or fuel additive is substantially similar to a fuel or fuel additive utilized in the certification of any model year vehicle pursuant to paragraph (1)(A); or (II) the fuel or fuel additive has been granted a waiver under subparagraph (A) and meets all of the conditions of that waiver other than any limitation of the waiver with respect to the Reid Vapor Pressure of the fuel or fuel additive; and (ii) the fuel or fuel additive meets all other applicable Reid Vapor Pressure requirements under subsection (h). . (2) Reid vapor pressure limitation Section 211(h) of the Clean Air Act ( 42 U.S.C. 7545(h) ) is amended— (A) by striking vapor pressure each place it appears and inserting Vapor Pressure ; (B) in paragraph (4), in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by striking 10 percent and inserting 10 to 15 percent ; and (C) in paragraph (5)(A)— (i) by striking Upon notification, accompanied by and inserting On receipt of a notification that is submitted after the date of enactment of the Nationwide Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act of 2025 , and is accompanied by appropriate ; (ii) by striking 10 percent and inserting 10 to 15 percent ; and (iii) by adding at the end the following: Upon the date of enactment of the Nationwide Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act of 2025 , any State for which the notification from the Governor of a State was submitted before the date of enactment of the Nationwide Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act of 2025 and to which the Administrator applied the Reid Vapor Pressure limitation established by paragraph (1) shall instead have the Reid Vapor Pressure limitation established by paragraph (4) apply to all fuel blends containing gasoline and 10 to 15 percent denatured anhydrous ethanol that are sold, offered for sale, dispensed, supplied, offered for supply, transported, or introduced into commerce in the area during the high ozone season. . (b) Generation of credits by small refineries under the renewable fuel program Section 211(o)(9) of the Clean Air Act ( 42 U.S.C. 7545(o)(9) ) is amended by adding at the end the following: (E) Credits generated for 2016–2018 compliance years (i) Rule For any small refinery described in clause (ii) or (iii), the credits described in the respective clause shall be— (I) returned to the small refinery and, notwithstanding paragraph (5)(C), deemed eligible for future compliance years; or (II) applied as a credit in the EPA Moderated Transaction System (EMTS) account of the small refinery. (ii) Compliance years 2016 and 2017 Clause (i) applies with respect to any small refinery that— (I) retired credits generated for compliance years 2016 or 2017; and (II) submitted a petition under subparagraph (B)(i) for that compliance year that remained outstanding as of December 1, 2022. (iii) Compliance year 2018 In addition to small refineries described in clause (ii), clause (i) applies with respect to any small refinery— (I) that submitted a petition under subparagraph (B)(i) for compliance year 2018 by September 1, 2019; (II) that retired credits generated for compliance year 2018 as part of the compliance demonstration of the small refinery for compliance year 2018 by March 31, 2019; and (III) for which— (aa) the petition remained outstanding as of December 1, 2022; or (bb) the Administrator denied the petition as of July 1, 2022, and has not returned the retired credits as of December 1, 2022. .
Where it is
In the House.