Bill Text: FL S0800 | 2014 | Regular Session | Introduced


Bill Title: Renewable Fuel Standard

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-03-21 - Unfavorable by Transportation, laid on Table; YEAS 4 NAYS 4 [S0800 Detail]

Download: Florida-2014-S0800-Introduced.html
       Florida Senate - 2014                                     SM 800
       
       
        
       By Senator Evers
       
       
       
       
       
       2-00286A-14                                            2014800__
    1                           Senate Memorial                         
    2         A memorial to the Congress of the United States,
    3         urging Congress to repeal the Renewable Fuel Standard
    4         established under the Energy Independence and Security
    5         Act of 2007.
    6  
    7         WHEREAS, in enacting the Energy Policy Act of 2005,
    8  Congress established the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program
    9  to ensure that transportation fuel contains a minimum volume of
   10  renewable fuel, and
   11         WHEREAS, the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007
   12  increased the volume of renewable fuel required to be blended
   13  into transportation fuel from 9 billion gallons in 2008 to 36
   14  billion gallons by 2022, and
   15         WHEREAS, the amended RFS program, known as RFS2, requires
   16  that a greater amount of renewable fuel, including cellulosic
   17  biofuel, biomass-based biodiesel, and other advanced biofuels,
   18  be blended into the motor vehicle fuel supply, and
   19         WHEREAS, a study commissioned by the American Petroleum
   20  Institute (API) estimates that, by 2015, the volume mandates set
   21  forth in RFS2 could increase gasoline prices by as much as 30
   22  percent and diesel prices by as much as 300 percent, and
   23         WHEREAS, the API study finds that, by 2015, the adverse
   24  macroeconomic impacts of RFS2 will include a $770 billion
   25  decline in gross domestic product and a corresponding reduction
   26  in consumption per household of $2,700, and
   27         WHEREAS, the API study concluded that, as the renewable
   28  fuel volume obligations in RFS2 increase annually, the “E10
   29  blend wall,” the maximum concentration of ethanol of 10 percent
   30  (E10) that can be blended in gasoline and still be used by most
   31  motor vehicles, will soon be reached, and
   32         WHEREAS, the United States Environmental Protection Agency
   33  (EPA) amended the total volume fuel mandate for 2014 to 15.2
   34  billion ethanol-equivalent gallons, while the maximum volume of
   35  ethanol that can be consumed as E10 under current market
   36  constraints, as projected by the EPA for 2014, remains at 13.2
   37  billion gallons, and
   38         WHEREAS, the EPA acknowledges that compliance with RFS2
   39  will be difficult to achieve in 2014, as it does not foresee a
   40  scenario in which the market could consume enough ethanol sold
   41  in blends greater than E10 or produce sufficient volumes of
   42  nonethanol biofuels to meet the total volume of renewable fuel
   43  and advanced biofuel required under RFS2, and
   44         WHEREAS, by mandating ethanol volumes far above those which
   45  the market can absorb, RFS2 will place consumers and the
   46  automotive industry in an increasingly untenable position, and
   47         WHEREAS, according to a study directed by the Coordinating
   48  Research Council, the engines, fuel pumps, and onboard fuel
   49  measurement systems on millions of motor vehicles could be
   50  severely damaged by fuel blends that contain more than 10
   51  percent ethanol, and
   52         WHEREAS, in 2010, the EPA granted partial waivers allowing
   53  the sale of gasoline fuel blends containing up to 15 percent
   54  ethanol for use in 2001 model year and newer light-duty motor
   55  vehicles despite studies showing the potential for damage to
   56  millions of motor vehicles, and
   57         WHEREAS, automakers have warned consumers that using
   58  ethanol blends that exceed the maximum limits, as specified in
   59  their respective automotive owner manuals, could result in the
   60  voiding of their automotive warranties, and
   61         WHEREAS, the volume mandates set by RFS2 do not account for
   62  the impact on the smaller engines that power lawn mowers,
   63  generators, and similar equipment, or larger marine engines, and
   64         WHEREAS, over the past three years, the EPA levied
   65  penalties mandated by RFS2 on refineries that failed to blend
   66  cellulosic biofuel into gasoline, despite the absence of
   67  technological advances necessary for the commercial production
   68  of cellulosic biofuel, and
   69         WHEREAS, many Florida consumers and national trade groups,
   70  among them the American Bakers Association, The American Frozen
   71  Food Institute, the American Fuel and Petrochemical
   72  Manufacturers, the American Petroleum Institute, the American
   73  Sheep Industry Association, the National Marine Manufacturers
   74  Association, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, The
   75  National Chicken Council, The National Council of Chain of
   76  Restaurants, and the National Turkey Federation, have called for
   77  the repeal or amendment of RFS2, and
   78         WHEREAS, state governors, cattlemen associations, and
   79  restaurant associations have made repeated requests, which have
   80  been consistently denied by the EPA, that the annual mandated
   81  fuel ethanol volumes be reduced to adapt to ethanol feedstock
   82  market conditions and fleet fuel supply and engine constraints
   83  and to accommodate the deficiency in alternative fuel
   84  technological advances, and
   85         WHEREAS, alternative transportation fuels, such as natural
   86  gas, are emerging freely without the assistance of market
   87  distorting mandates, and
   88         WHEREAS, innovations in the oil and natural gas industry,
   89  including directional hydraulic fracturing, deep water
   90  directional drilling, and oil sands production technologies,
   91  have reversed declining oil and natural gas production trends in
   92  the United States, and
   93         WHEREAS, lower oil import volumes and higher natural gas
   94  export volumes have the potential to create a transformative
   95  shift in global energy markets, and
   96         WHEREAS, the International Energy Agency projects that the
   97  United States will become energy independent within the next 10
   98  years and will surpass Saudi Arabia as the largest oil producer
   99  by 2020, and
  100         WHEREAS, innovations in energy efficiency and
  101  affordability, along with discoveries of proven domestic oil and
  102  natural gas reserves, have strengthened the United States’
  103  position in the global energy market, eliminating the original
  104  impetus for the drastic increase in renewable fuel standards, as
  105  set forth in the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007,
  106  NOW, THEREFORE,
  107  
  108  Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
  109  
  110         That the Congress of the United States is urged to repeal
  111  the federal Renewable Fuels Standard mandate established under
  112  the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007.
  113         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be
  114  dispatched to the President of the United States, to the
  115  President of the United States Senate, to the Speaker of the
  116  United States House of Representatives, and to each member of
  117  the Florida delegation to the United States Congress.

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