Synthetic Fuels Development Act of 1979
Latest action. Referred to House Committee on Government Operations.
Synthetic Fuels Development Act of 1979 - Title I: Loan Guarantees for Synthetic Fuel Demonstration Facilities - Authorizes the Secretary of Energy to guarantee and to make commitments to guarantee interest payments on obligations issued for the purpose of financing the construction of demonstration facilities for the conversion of domestic coal, oil shale, tar sands, biomass, peat, and other domestic resources into synthetic fuels, and for other energy sources such as ocean thermal energy conversion. Stipulates that such guarantees shall be issued under a competitive bidding procedure to the extent possible. Prohibits the issuance of a guarantee for an oil-shale conversion facility until a modular facility of the same technology has been shown to be successfully operated. Limits the total amount of loan guarantees outstanding under this Act to $10,000,000,000, and prohibits issuance of such guarantees beyond five years after the date of enactment of this Act. Sets forth procedures for handling defaults in payments on any obligation issued and guaranteed under this Act. Establishes within the United States Treasury a revolving fund into which shall be deposited authorized administrative funds, interest and principal payments, or repayments and fees, and any other moneys derived from the operation of this title. Authorizes the Secretary to issue notes or other obligations in the event moneys available in the fund are insufficient to enable the Secretary to carry out this title. Stipulates that inventions made or conceived under a guarantee authorized by this title shall be subject to the appropriate sections of the Federal Nonnuclear Energy Research and Development of 1974. Directs the Secretary to provide opportunities for small business to participate in such guarantee program. Requires the Secretary to submit an annual report of the activities conducted under this title. Requires that regulations issued under this title be submitted to specified congressional committees. Repeals existing provisions of the Federal Nonnuclear Energy Research and Development Act of 1974 relating to loan guarantees for alternative fuel demonstration facilities, excluding those provisions on the issuance of obligations for synthetic fuel conversion facilities and municipal waste energy generation facilities. Title II: Priority Energy Projects - Directs the Secretary of Energy to designate priority energy projects based on specified criteria. Exempts such designations from the impact statement provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1979, but requires that designated projects comply with the appropriate provisions of the Clear Air Act and the Federal Water Pollution Control Act. Directs the Secretary to publish a Project Decision Schedule containing deadlines for all Federal actions relating to such projects. States that the time allowed for completion of all final agency action and the issuance of all final agency decisions as to licenses, permits, and other authorizations shall be consistent with existing statutory obligations. Directs the President to make any decisions or perform any actions in the event that an agency or department fails to meet its deadline. Authorizes the Secretary to establish deadlines for Federal agency action which are shorter than the minimum period required under existing legislation in cases of exceptional national need. Provides for the coordination of the actions of Federal, State, and local governments. Directs the Secretary to transmit to the Governor of a State in which a priority energy project is to be located a voluntary decision schedule setting deadlines for State and local authorities to complete their actions relating to such project. Sets forth procedures authorizing the President to waive State or local law provisions causing delay in implementing the State decision schedule. Sets time limits for filing claims arising out of any action pursuant to this Act, and bars any claims filed thereafter. Stipulates that such claims shall be brought in the United States court of appeals for the circuit where the project would be located, and grants exclusive original jurisdiction to such court in such matters. Directs such court to give precedence to such matters over all other matters on the court's docket. Authorizes the Supreme Court, exclusively, to review interlocutory judgments or orders of the court of appeals pursuant to this Act, and directs the Supreme Court to give expedited treatment to such matters. Establishes an Office for Priority Energy Projects within the Department of Energy to assist the Secretary with his duties under this Act. Terminates the Secretary's authority to designate priority energy projects seven years after enactment of this Act. Title III: Goals and Objectives - Establishes a national goal for the reduction of energy imports by the year 1990 to the equivalent of 25 percent of the crude oil and synthetic fuels consumed in the United States in that year. Directs the Secretary to conduct specified studies relating to the attainment of such goal. Directs the Secretary to establish a program to test the commercial feasibility of synthetic fuels by using such fuels in selected portions of the vehicle fleets of specified Federal agencies.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on August 2, 1979. 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 August 2, 1979: Referred to House Committee on Government Operations.
- 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 96th Congress (1979-80), 613 of the 12,581 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 4.9 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?
DAVID EMERY (R-ME) introduced it on August 2, 1979, and 32 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 12 Democrats, 20 Republicans.
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 August 2, 1979, 17206 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 17206 days ago, on August 2, 1979.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 96th Congress has not finished by January 3, 1981 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