Federal Alternative Fueled Vehicle Leadership

[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 243 (Tuesday, December 17, 1996)]

[Presidential Documents]

[Pages 66529-66531]

From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

[FR Doc No: 96-32195]

[[Page 66527]]

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Part V

The President

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Executive Order 13031--Federal Alternative Fueled Vehicle Leadership

Presidential Documents

Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 243 / Tuesday, December 17, 1996 /

Presidential Documents

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Title 3--

The President

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Executive Order 13031 of December 13, 1996

Federal Alternative Fueled Vehicle Leadership

By the authority vested in me as President by the

Constitution and the laws of the United States of

America, including the Energy Policy and Conservation

Act, as amended (42 U.S.C. 6201 et seq.), the Energy

Policy Act of 1992 (Public Law 102-486) (``the Act''),

and section 301 of title 3, United States Code, and

with the knowledge that the use of alternative fueled

motor vehicles will, in many applications, reduce the

Nation's dependence on oil, and may create jobs by

providing an economic stimulus for domestic industry,

and may improve the Nation's air quality by reducing

pollutants in the atmosphere, it is hereby ordered as

follows:

Section 1. Federal Leadership and Goals. (a) The

purpose of this order is to ensure that the Federal

Government exercise leadership in the use of

alternative fueled vehicles (AFVs). To that end, each

Federal agency shall develop and implement aggressive

plans to fulfill the alternative fueled vehicle

acquisition requirements established by the Act. The

Act generally requires that, of the vehicles acquired

by each agency for its fleets, subject to certain

conditions specified in section 303(b)(1) of the Act,

25 percent should be AFVs in fiscal year (FY) 1996, 33

percent in FY 1997, 50 percent in FY 1998, and 75

percent in FY 1999 and thereafter. These requirements

apply to all agencies, regardless of whether they lease

vehicles from the General Services Administration (GSA)

or acquire them elsewhere. That section also defines

which Federal agency vehicles are covered by the AFV

acquisition requirements; this order applies to the

same vehicles, which are primarily general-use vehicles

located in metropolitan statistical areas with

populations of 250,000 or more.

(b) To the extent practicable, agencies shall use

alternative fuels in all vehicles capable of using

them. Agencies shall continue to work together in

interagency committees recommended by the Federal Fleet

Conversion Task Force established by Executive Order

12844 of April 21, 1993, to coordinate their vehicle

acquisitions and placement.

Sec. 2. Submission of Agency Plans and Reports on

Statutory Compliance. (a) Sixty (60) days after the

date of this Executive order, and annually thereafter

as part of its budget submission to the Director of the

Office of Management and Budget, each agency shall

submit a report on its compliance with sections 303 and

304 of the Act. A copy of the report shall also be

submitted to the Secretary of Energy and to the

Administrator of General Services. The report shall

state whether the agency is in compliance with the Act,

and substantiate that statement with quantitative data

including numbers and types of vehicles acquired and

the level of their use. At a minimum, the report shall

indicate the number of vehicles acquired or converted

for each fuel type and vehicle class, and the total

number of vehicles of each fuel type operated by the

agency. The Director of the Office of Management and

Budget shall issue further reporting guidance as

necessary.

(b) If an agency has failed to meet the statutory

requirements, it shall include in its report an

explanation for such failure and a plan, consistent

with the agency's current and requested budgets, for

achieving compliance with the Act. The plan shall

include alternative sources of suitable AFVs if the

agency's primary vehicle supplier is unable to meet the

AFV requirements.

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(c) The Secretary of the Department of Energy and

the Administrator of General Services shall

cooperatively analyze the agency AFV reports and

acquisition plans, and shall submit jointly a summary

report to the Director of the Office of Management and

Budget.

Sec. 3. Exceptions for Law-Enforcement, Emergency, and

National Defense Vehicles. Section 303 of the Act

allows exemptions to the acquisition requirements for

law-enforcement, emergency, and vehicles acquired and

used for military purposes that the Secretary of

Defense has certified must be exempt for national

security reasons. Law enforcement vehicles shall

include vehicles used for protective activities. Each

agency that acquires or utilizes any such vehicles

shall include in its report an explanation of why an

exemption is claimed with respect to such vehicles.

Sec. 4. Fulfilling the Acquisition Requirement. (a)

Agencies may acquire alternative fueled vehicles to

meet the requirements of this order through lease from

GSA, acquisition of original equipment manufacturer

models, commercial lease, conversion of conventionally

fueled vehicles, or any combination of these

approaches. All vehicles, including those converted for

alternative fuel use, shall comply with all applicable

Federal and State emissions and safety standards.

(b) Based on its own plans and the plans and

reports submitted by other agencies, the Administrator

of General Services shall provide planning information

to potential AFV suppliers to assist in production

planning. After consulting with AFV suppliers, the

Administrator of General Services shall provide to

Federal agencies information on the production plans of

AFV suppliers well in advance of budget and ordering

cycles.

(c) As required by section 305 of the Act, the

Secretary of Energy, in cooperation with the

Administrator of General Services, shall continue to

provide technical assistance to other Federal agencies

that acquire alternative fueled vehicles and shall

facilitate the coordination of the Federal Government's

alternative fueled vehicle program.

Sec. 5. Vehicle Reporting Credits. The gains in air

quality and energy security that this order seeks to

achieve will be even larger if medium- and heavy-duty

vehicles are operated on alternative fuels, and if

``zero-emissions vehicles'' (ZEVs) are used. Therefore,

for the purposes of this order, agencies may acquire

medium- or heavy-duty dedicated alternative fueled

vehicles or ZEVs to meet their AFV acquisition

requirements, and they shall be given credits for

compliance with their AFV targets as follows. Each

medium-duty and ZEV shall count the same as two light-

duty AFVs, and each dedicated alternative fueled heavy-

duty vehicle shall count as three light-duty AFVs. The

ZEV credits may be combined with vehicle size credits.

The Director of the Office of Management and Budget, in

consultation with the Secretary of Energy, shall issue

detailed guidance on the classification and reporting

of medium-duty, heavy-duty, and ZEVs. In the reports

mandated in section 2 of this order, medium- and heavy-

duty AFVs and ZEVs shall be identified separately from

light-duty vehicles.

Sec. 6. Funding Alternative Fueled Vehicle Acquisition.

(a) The Department of Energy will no longer request or

require specific appropriations to fund the incremental

costs of alternative fueled vehicles, including any

incremental costs associated with acquisition and

disposal, for other agencies. Agencies shall formulate

their compliance plans based on existing and requested

funds, but shall not be exempt from the requirements of

the Act or this order due to limited appropriations.

(b) An exception regarding funding assistance shall

be made for electric vehicles, which are in an earlier

stage of development than other alternative fueled

vehicles. The Secretary of Energy shall establish a

program beginning in FY 1997 to provide partial funding

assistance for agency purchases of electric vehicles.

Up to $10,000 or one-half the incremental cost over a

comparable gasoline-powered vehicle, whichever is less,

may be provided as funding assistance for each electric

vehicle, subject to the availability of funds.

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Sec. 7. Agency Cooperation with Stakeholders on

Alternative Fueled Vehicle Placement and Refueling

Capabilities. The Secretary of Energy shall work with

agencies procuring AFVs to coordinate the placement of

their vehicles with the placement of similar vehicles

by nonfederal alternative fuel stakeholders. Federal

planning and acquisition efforts shall be coordinated

with the efforts of the Department of Energy's ``Clean

Cities'' participants, private industry fuel suppliers,

and fleet operators, and State and local governments to

ensure that adequate private sector refueling

capabilities exist or will exist wherever Federal fleet

alternative fueled vehicles are located. Each agency's

fleet managers shall work with appropriate

organizations at their respective locations, whether in

a ``Clean Cities'' location or not, on initiatives to

promote alternative fueled vehicle use and expansion of

refueling infrastructure.

Sec. 8. Definitions. For the purpose of this order, the

terms ``agency,'' ``alternative fueled vehicle,'' and

``alternative fuel'' have the same meaning given such

terms in sections 151 and 301 of the Act.

Sec. 9. Executive Order 12844. This order supersedes

Executive Order 12844.

Sec. 10. Judicial Review. This order is not intended

to, and does not, create any right or benefit or trust

responsibility, substantive or procedural, enforceable

by a party against the United States, its agencies or

instrumentalities, its officers or employees, or any

other person.

(Presidential Sig.)

THE WHITE HOUSE,

December 13, 1996.

[FR Doc. 96-32195

Filed 12-16-96; 11:26 am]

Billing code 3195-01-P