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April 24, 2001
ROCKEFELLER COSPONSORS BILL TO INCREASE ALTERNATIVE FUELS
Legislation Will Lessen America's Dependence on Foreign Oil
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), along with a bipartisan group of Senators, introduced legislation to encourage the production of Clean, Efficient Automobiles Resulting from Advanced Car Technologies (the CLEAR Act). The CLEAR Act is designed to improve air quality and decrease the nation’s dependence on foreign oil by making cleaner automobile technologies more affordable and accessible.
"This legislation will take an important step toward bringing consumer-friendly automobile technologies into the marketplace," Rockefeller said. "By providing consumers with financial incentives to purchase these new technologies, we will help to secure our nation’s energy independence and improve our environment."
The bill includes the following incentives to increase alternative fuel vehicle usage:
• A tax credit of $4,000 for consumers who purchase fuel cell vehicles, with additional incentives of up to $4,000 for improved fuel efficiency and emission reduction.
• A tax credit of $1,000 for consumers who purchase Hybrid vehicles (a combination of electric and internal combustion engine), with up to $3,000 more in incentives based on fuel efficiency and emission reduction.
• A tax credit of up to $2,500 for consumers who purchase a "dedicated" alternative fuel vehicle (vehicles that run solely on alternative fuels), and an additional $1,500 for vehicles certified as "Super Ultra Low Emission Vehicles" (SULEV).
• A tax credit of $4,000 for consumers who purchase a battery electric vehicle.
• A tax credit for the purchase of medium and heavy duty vehicles using advanced automotive technology: $40,000 for fuel cell or battery electrics; $32,000 for alternative fuels; or $24,000 for hybrid vehicles.
• A tax credit to allow alternative fuels to compete with gasoline. The bill provides retailers with a credit of $.50 per every gas-equivalent gallon of alternative fuels they sell.
• And, a tax credit to increase the availability of alternative fuel retail locations by expanding the current $100,000 tax deduction and the $30,000 credit for actual costs related to installing alternative fuel infrastructure.
The CLEAR Act is supported by an unprecedented coalition of automakers, the environmental community, the alternative fuel and electric vehicle industries, and a bipartisan group of United States Senators.
Senator Rockefeller said, "I have been pushing for alternative fuel legislation since the late 1980's. Due to increasingly high gasoline prices, widespread concern about the environment, and the threat to our national security that our dependence on foreign oil represents, Congress appears ready to embrace the benefits of alternative fuel vehicles."
The CLEAR Act expands upon legislation -- the Alternative Fuels Promotion Act -- that Senator Rockefeller introduced in 1999.
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