Volume 147, No. 53 covering the 1st Session of the 107th Congress (2001 - 2002) was published by the Congressional Record.
The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“THE CLEAN EFFICIENT AUTOMOBILES RESULTING FROM ADVANCED CAR TECHNOLOGIES ACT OF 2001” mentioning the Environmental Protection Agency was published in the Senate section on pages S3917-S3918 on April 25, 2001.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
THE CLEAN EFFICIENT AUTOMOBILES RESULTING FROM ADVANCED CAR
TECHNOLOGIES ACT OF 2001
Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I rise today to address a bill I have just introduced, S. 760, the ``CLEAR Act,'' which is short for the Clean Efficient Automobiles Resulting from Advanced Car Technologies Act.
Let me begin my remarks by thanking the original cosponsors of S. 760, Senators Rockefeller, Jeffords, Kerry, Crapo, Lieberman, Collins, Chafee, and Gordon Smith, all of whom have joined with me in drafting this legislation which will help our country achieve a greater reliance on alternative fuel technologies.
Our proposal relies on a system of tax-based incentives to encourage development of alternative fuel technologies and consumer acceptance of these products. Rather than rely on a system of federal mandates, we use tax credits to promote all of the advanced technologies being pursued by auto manufacturers in a dramatic effort to reduce emissions and improve efficiency. These technologies include: fuel cell; hybrid electric; alternative fuel; and battery electric vehicles.
It is significant that our bipartisan initiative is founded on a belief that government should not be in the business of picking winners and losers in the free market. Rather, the CLEAR Act leaves it up to the consumer to choose among the lowest emitting vehicles.
By promoting the technologies and fuels that improve air quality, S. 760 helps to solve two of our nation's most difficult and expensive problems, air pollution and energy dependence. These are issues of critical concern in my home state of Utah. According to a study by Utah's Division of Air Quality, on-road vehicles in Utah account for 22 percent of particulate matter. This particulate matter can be harmful to citizens who suffer from chronic respiratory or heart disease, influenza, or asthma.
Automobiles also contribute significantly to hydrocarbon and nitrogen oxide emissions in my state. These two pollutants react in sunlight to form ozone, which in turn reduces lung function in humans and hurts our resistance to colds and asthma. In addition, vehicles account for as much as 87 percent of carbon monoxide emissions. Carbon monoxide can be harmful to persons with heart, respiratory, or circulatory ailments.
While Utah has made important strides in improving air quality, it is a fact that each year more vehicular miles are driven in our State. It is clear that if we are to have cleaner air, we must encourage the use of alternative fuels and technologies to reduce vehicle emissions.
Let me paint the picture on the national scale. In 1998, a year for which we have complete data, our nation had 121 regions that failed to attain the Environmental Protection Agency's National Ambient Air Quality Standards, NAAQS. This status directly threatens the quality of life of more than 100 million, or about one-third, of our citizens who must bear the health and the economic burden associated with non-
attainment. Non-attainment status can be costly, whether due to the loss of federal highway money, lost economic opportunities, or the expensive measures required to reach attainment.
EPA has set new standards for both ozone and particulate matter, PM 2.5. By the EPA's own estimates, the annual cost of achieving the new ozone standard in 2010 was set at $9.6 billion. Additionally, the EPA put the annual cost of achieving the PM 2.5 standard at $37 billion, for a combined cost of $47 billion annually. These staggering figures paint a graphic picture of why we need to invest more effort toward the promotion of alternative fuels. Every new alternative fuel or advanced technology car, truck, or bus on the road will displace a conventional vehicle's lifetime of emissions and reliance on imported oil.
This brings me to another important benefit of the CLEAR Act, increased energy independence. Whether during the energy crisis in the 1970s, during the Persian Gulf War, or during our current energy crisis, every American has felt the sting of our dependency on foreign oil. And I might add, Mr. President, that our dependency on foreign oil has steadily increased to the point where we now depend on foreign sources for more than 57 percent of our oil. Last month alone, it was over 60 percent. When enacted, the CLEAR Act will play a key role in helping our nation improve its energy security by increasing the diversity of our fuel options and decreasing our need for gasoline. Our nation's energy strategy will not be complete without an incentive to increase the use of alternative fuels and advanced car technologies.
Historically, consumers have faced three basic obstacles to accepting the use of alternative fuels and advanced technologies. These are the cost of the vehicles, the cost of alternative fuel, and the lack of an adequate infrastructure of alternative fueling stations. The CLEAR Act would lower all three of these barriers.
First, we provide a tax credit of 50 cents per gasoline-gallon equivalent for the purchase of alternative fuel at retail. To give customers better access to alternative fuel, we extend an existing deduction for the capital costs of installing alternative fueling stations. We also provide a 50 percent credit for the installation costs of retail and residential refueling stations.
Finally, we provide tax credits to consumers to purchase alternative fuel and advanced technology vehicles. To make certain that the tax benefit we provide translates into a corresponding benefit to the environment, we split the vehicle tax credit into two. One part provides a base tax credit for the purchase of vehicles dedicated to the use of alternative fuel or vehicles using advanced technologies. The other part offers a bonus credit based on the vehicle's efficiency and reduction in emissions. In this way, we are confident that the CLEAR Act will provide the biggest possible ``bang for the buck'' in terms of providing a social benefit to our citizens.
We all recognize that in the future we will not use gasoline fueled vehicles to the same extent we do today. Our legislation is an attempt to bring benefits of cleaner air to our citizens sooner, to free our cities from expensive EPA regulations, and to reduce our consumption of foreign oil. S. 760 enables us to tackle these problems with incentives, not mandates.
Our proposal is the most comprehensive legislation ever brought before Congress to promote the use of alternative fuel vehicles and advanced car technologies among consumers. We urge our colleagues to join with us in this forward-looking approach to cleaner air and increased energy independence.
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