Auto advocates in Congress have been trying for seven years to pass a bill expanding the U.S. Department of Energy’s fuel efficiency research. They are now on the cusp of success as the Senate looks very likely to pass an energy bill that would reorient DOE's somewhat lagging efforts.
The Senate energy bill contains an amendment aimed at improving the efforts of the DOE's vehicle technology program and would extend its reach to the aftermarket. The legislation was stuck on the Senate floor in February as Republicans and Democrats worked to resolve one remaining critical, and unrelated issue, having to do with new funding for Flint, Mich., to help it with its drinking water crisis. Democrats and Republicans subsequently agreed on a separate Flint aid bill, which has not come up for a vote in Congress yet. But the existence of that Flint bill should clear the way for the Senate to pass the energy bill early this spring and proceed to a conference with the House energy bill (H.R. 8) which was approved by a strong bi-partisan majority in December.
The likelihood of congressional passage of the first major energy bill since 2007 is strong; and President Obama would surely sign it. But there is a potential hiccup awaiting: the House bill contains none of the auto provisions in the Senate bill (S. 2012), which is supported by the Motor and Equipment Manufacturers Association, the Electric Drive Transportation Association, the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers and others.
The key section in the Senate bill comes out of the Vehicle Innovation Act (VIA/S. 1408) sponsored by Sens. Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow, both Michigan Democrats. It essentially reorients the Department of Energy's vehicles technology office towards establishing broad industry partnerships around particular energy efficiency technologies. Among those mentioned are aftertreatment technologies and retrofitting advanced vehicle technologies to existing vehicles. So aftermarket participation in projects is definitely anticipated. The bill authorizes a four percent increase in vehicles technology research through 2020. Given Congress's drive over the past few years, through sequestration, to drastically cut some domestic budgets, any increase is a good increase. Of course it is always important to note that an authorization level is the most the appropriations committees can commit, but it is not a requirement.
While the VIA made it into the Senate energy bill, another auto provision did not. Stabenow wanted Senate Energy Committee chairman Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) to allow a vote on the Senate floor opening up the DOE Advanced Vehicle Technology Manufacturing (AVTM) loan program to auto suppliers and truck manufacturers. Murkowski and the top Democrat on the committee, Maria Cantwell, had their hands full sorting through the 230 amendments waiting to be considered on the Senate floor. Many of them were disallowed, including Stabenow's. That is not surprising given the negative reviews that program has garnered. The AVTM loan program has been open only to auto manufacturers and, lately, to Alcoa, which is working on using aluminum to replace steel in auto frames. Ford, Nissan and Tesla are the other companies receiving loans. Ford's is by far the biggest: $5.9 billion, granted in 2009. The other two came in 2010.
The refusal of Murkowski to allow the Stabenow amendment probably had something to do with the frustration of Republicans with the program's stasis and a negative report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) in 2014 that said Congress may want to rescind all or part of the remaining AVTM credit subsidy appropriations “unless the Department of Energy can demonstrate demand for new AVTM loans and viable applications.”
The VIA was not included in the House energy bill; so Peters and Stabenow will have to fight to have it included in a bill passed by a House-Senate conference committee. The House did pass the bill in 2009 by a vote of 312-114 when Peters, then a House member, sponsored it. The House in 2016 is a different place politically. But there is probably a reasonable chance the VIA will make it into the final bill.
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