Vehicle Innovation Act of 2015
Latest action. Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 114-344.
Vehicle Innovation Act of 2015
This bill authorizes appropriations to the Department of Energy (DOE) for research, development, engineering, demonstration, and commercial application of vehicles and related technologies for FY2015-FY2020.
The bill requires DOE to:
conduct a program of research, development, engineering, demonstration, and commercial application activities (R&D activities) on materials, technologies, and processes with the potential to substantially reduce or eliminate petroleum use and the emissions of the nation's passenger and commercial vehicles;
ensure that it continues to support R&D activities and maintains competency in mid- to long-term transformational vehicle technologies with potential to achieve deep reductions in petroleum use and emissions;
conduct research, development, engineering, demonstration, and deployment activities on connectivity of vehicle roadway, vulnerable road users, traffic control systems, and transportation data systems, including technologies that allow for improved safety, reduced energy and fuel use, optimized traffic flow, and vehicle electrification;
carry out a program of R&D activities on advanced vehicle manufacturing technologies and practices;
carry out a program of cooperative research, development, demonstration, and commercial application activities on advanced technologies for medium- to heavy-duty commercial, vocational, recreational, and transit vehicles;
conduct a competitive grant program to demonstrate the integration of multiple advanced technologies on Class 8 (heavy duty) truck and trailer platforms;
develop standard testing procedures and technologies for evaluating the performance of advanced heavy vehicle technologies under a range of representative duty cycles and operating conditions and evaluate heavy vehicle performance using work performance-based metrics other than those based on miles per gallon and appropriate metrics based on the work performed by nonroad systems; and
undertake a pilot program of research, development, demonstration, and commercial applications of technologies to improve total machine or system efficiency for nonroad mobile equipment and to seek opportunities to transfer relevant research findings and technologies between the nonroad and on-highway equipment and vehicle sectors.
DOE may construct heavy duty truck and bus testing facilities.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in Senate" stage on May 20, 2015. 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 June 9, 2015: Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 114-344.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the Senate
- Passage by the House
- 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 114th Congress (2015-16), 329 of the 10,233 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.2 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?
Gary Peters (D-MI) introduced it on May 20, 2015, and 2 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 1 Democrat, 1 Republican.
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 May 20, 2015, 4131 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 4111 days ago, on June 9, 2015.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 114th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2017 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
- SenateIn committee, no floor vote yet
- HouseAwaits Senate passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers