S. 943: A bill to amend the Clean Air Act to permit the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to waive the lifecycle greenhouse gas emission reduction requirements for renewable fuel production, and for other purposes.
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S. 943: A bill to amend the Clean Air Act to permit the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to waive the lifecycle greenhouse gas emission reduction requirements for renewable fuel production, and for other purposes.
111th Congress · introduced 2009-04-30 · Environmental Protection · Latest: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
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Follow this bill, step by step
- Where it came from: introduced 2009-04-30 · official record
- Who proposed it: Sen. Thune, John [R-SD] · what a sponsor is
- What happened next: no floor votes in our records yet. Why?
- Where it stands now: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works. Not final yet: this can still change. We check for updates every day.
- If it becomes law and spends money: follow the money to money laws, then agencies and contracts and grants.
Official title
A bill to amend the Clean Air Act to permit the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to waive the lifecycle greenhouse gas emission reduction requirements for renewable fuel production, and for other purposes.
Plain summary
Amends the Clean Air Act to revise the definition of "lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions" to: (1) exclude significant indirect emissions; (2) provide that emissions are to be determined by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator based on the most recent observable data and on consideration of regional differences of renewable fuel production; and (3) require the Administrator to make the model used in measuring emissions publicly available before publishing any administrative action on such emissions. Authorizes the Administrator to waive, or a renewable fuel manufacturer to petition the Administrator to waive, the lifecycle greenhouse gas emission reduction requirements for renewable fuel production if the requirements: (1) are the primary or contributing factor of a failure to achieve the applicable renewable fuels standard for biomass-based diesel, conventional biofuel, cellulosic biofuel, or advanced biofuel; (2) are causing economic harm within the biofuels industry; or (3) are increasing U.S. dependence on foreign oil. Authorizes a renewable fuel manufacturer to petition the Administrator to certify an innovative production method that may result in lower lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions relative to the baseline lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions of a renewable fuel. Considers a petition to be approved if the Administrator does not approve or deny it within 90 days of its receipt. Requires states that implement a low-carbon fuel standard or similar policy that requires a reduction in lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions for renewable fuels to apply a similar lifecycle greenhouse gas emission baseline to the baseline used for the federal renewable fuel standard. Requires measurements taken under a state standard to be based on observable data relating to the direct lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions from the renewable fuel.
Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.
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What does this mean? (plain words)
Official text
A bill to amend the Clean Air Act to permit the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to waive the lifecycle greenhouse gas emission reduction requirements for renewable fuel production, and for other purposes.
Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)
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How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes
Officials and money
Sponsor: Sen. Thune, John [R-SD] · 4 cosponsors
Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.
Cosponsors on this site
Chuck Grassley (R-IA)
Sponsor's campaign money: Sen. Thune, John [R-SD] reported raising $4.7 million (2025–2026). Details. Shown for context only; it does not mean any donor supported this bill.
Agencies named in this bill
- Environmental Protection Agency: its federal spending and other bills that name it
Found automatically: the agency's full official name appears in the bill title. A bill can affect agencies it does not name, so this list may be incomplete.
No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.
Words on this page, explained (1)
- Bill
- A proposed law. It becomes law only if it passes the legislature and is signed by the president or governor (or a veto is overridden).
Plain meanings written from linked sources. All words.
Sources
- Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)
- Congress.gov
- Data: GovInfo BILLSTATUS bulk data (Library of Congress), BILLSTATUS-111s943.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/111/s>
Record fed-us-cong111-s943 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong111 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong111