LEVEL Act
Latest action. Referred to the subcommitteeA smaller panel inside a standing committee with jurisdiction over a slice of its subject matter. Most hearings and the first markup usually happen here.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) on Energy and Power.
Leave Ethanol Volumes at Existing Levels Act or the LEVEL Act - Amends the Clean Air Act to revise the renewable fuel program, including by: (1) redefining "renewable fuel"; (2) revoking the requirement that the Administrator ensure that renewable fuel achieves a 20% reduction in lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions compared to baseline lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions; (3) reducing the volume of renewable fuel that is required to be in gasoline sold or introduced into commerce in the United States to 7.5 billion gallons for each year; (4) requiring the Administrator of the Energy Information Administration to provide to the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) an estimate of the volumes of gasoline (currently of transportation fuel, biomass-based diesel, and cellulosic biofuel) projected to be sold or introduced into commerce in the following year; (5) making one gallon of cellulosic biomass ethanol or waste derived ethanol equivalent to 2.5 gallons of renewable fuel; (6) repealing provisions concerning cellulosic biofuel and biomass-based diesel; and (7) repealing a requirement that the Administrator of EPA promulgate fuel regulations to implement measures to mitigate adverse impacts on air quality as the result of renewable fuel requirements.
Amends the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 to repeal provisions requiring EPA to report to Congress on current and future impacts of the renewable fuel requirements on environmental issues, resource conservation issues, and the growth and use of cultivated invasive or noxious plants and their impacts on the environment and agriculture.
Prohibits the Administrator from permitting or authorizing (including by granting a waiver through the fuels and fuel additives waiver process) the introduction into commerce of gasoline that: (1) contains greater than 10% ethanol by volume, (2) is intended for general use in conventional gasoline-powered vehicles or engines, and (3) is not a registered fuel or fuel additive that is lawfully sold in the United States before enactment of this Act.
Repeals waivers that permit the introduction into commerce of gasoline that contains greater than 10-volume-percent ethanol for general use in conventional gasoline-powered vehicles or engines, including: (1) the "Partial Grant and Partial Denial of Clean Air Act Waiver Application Submitted by Growth Energy To Increase the Allowable Ethanol Content of Gasoline to 15 Percent; Decision of the Administrator"; and (2) the "Partial Grant of Clean Air Act Waiver Application Submitted by Growth Energy To Increase the Allowable Ethanol Content of Gasoline to 15 Percent; Decision of the Administrator." Excepts waivers for such gasoline that is a registered fuel or fuel additive that is lawfully sold in the United States before enactment of this Act.
The summary continues for 1 more paragraph. Read it in full on Congress.gov
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on April 10, 2013. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on April 12, 2013: Referred to the Subcommittee on Energy and Power.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 113th Congress (2013-14), 296 of the 9,091 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.3 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Michael Burgess (R-TX) introduced it on April 10, 2013. No cosponsors are recorded.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on April 10, 2013, 4948 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 4946 days ago, on April 12, 2013.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 113th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2015 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers