XXXX Voted to Delay The Renewable Fuel Mandate. In 2002, XXXX voted for an effort to delay the renewable fuel mandate, which would require an increasing amount of renewable fuel, including ethanol and biodiesel, to be blended into motor vehicle fuel sold in the United States. The renewable fuel mandate would result in a tripling of ethanol production to 5 billion gallons a year by 2012, a boon to farmers. The amendment XXXX voted for represented one of several efforts by senators from California and New York to have it removed, or at least phased in more slowly. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., accused farm-state senators of ignoring the harm that might come to California, where she said a lack of ethanol could produce gasoline shortages and price spikes. The vote was on a motion to table the Feinstein amendment to the to the National Laboratories Partnership Improvement Act of 2001. [S 517, Vote 88, 4/25/02; Associated Press, 4/26/02] XXXX Voted Against Dropping the Safe Harbor Provision Exempting Producers of Renewable Fuels, Including Ethanol, from Liability. In 2002, XXXX voted against an attempt to drop the safe harbor provision exempting renewable fuels producers, including ethanol, from liability. The amendment XXXX voted against would strike a proposal prohibiting lawsuits against producers of renewable motor fuels based on the claim that those fuels were “defective in design or manufacture by virtue of the fact” that they contained renewable fuel. Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) said the safe harbor language made little sense in light of the bill's simultaneous call for a two-year EPA study on renewable fuels' health effects. She further charged the ethanol and petroleum industries with forging a deal earlier in 2002 over the gasoline sections of the energy bill without all interested parties. But Sens. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) and Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) defended the exemption, saying its language does not circumvent the Clean Air Act and the authority EPA has to determine if an aspect of it has been violated. The vote was on a motion to table the Reid (for Boxer) amendment to the National Laboratories Partnership Improvement Act of 2001. [S 517, Vote 87, 4/25/02; Congressional Quarterly Daily Monitor, 4/24/02] XXXX Voted For an Environmentalist Favored Proposal To Eliminate Financial Incentives For Garbage Incinerators. In 2002, XXXX voted for eliminating financial incentives for garbage incinerators. XXXX voted for a proposal to make energy produced by new municipal solid waste incinerators ineligible for credits under the electricity renewable fuels mandate in the broad energy bill. Environmentalists complained that incinerators, which can emit dioxins, mercury and other pollutants, shouldn't be in the same renewable energy category with windmills and solar cells. The vote was on the Bingaman motion to table the Fitzgerald amendment to the National Laboratories Partnership Improvement Act of 2001. [S 517, Vote 84, 4/24/02; San Diego Union-Tribune, 4/28/02] XXXX Voted To Cut Penalties In Half For Utilities That Do Not Produce 10% Of Their Power From Renewable Sources By 2020. In 2002, XXXX voted for an effort to reduce the cost of the penalties on utilities that do not produce 10% of their power from renewable sources by 2020. The proposal would reduce the cost of the penalties from three cents/kWh to one and a half cents/kWh, under the energy bill's renewable portfolio standard. The vote was on a motion to table the Nickles amendment to the National Laboratories Partnership Improvement Act of 2001. [S 517, Vote 83, 4/24/02] XXXX Supported Renewable Fuel Mandates. In 2002, XXXX voted against striking the vehicle renewable fuel mandates from the Daschle further modified substitute amendment to the National Laboratories Partnership Improvement Act of 2001. The motion to table was agreed to, 69-30. [S 517, Vote 78, 4/23/02] XXXX Voted to Require Consideration Of State Waivers For Renewable Fuel Requirements Within 30 Days. In 2002, XXXX voted to require the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), to approve or disapprove within 30 days of submission a State(s) petition for a waiver of the national renewable fuel use (including ethanol) requirement that would be enacted by the Daschle further modified substitute amendment; failure to act within 30 days would constitute approval. The motion to table was agreed to, 61-36. [S 517, Vote 67, 4/11/02] XXXX Voted to Suspend Federal Renewable Energy Standards For Certain States. In 2002, XXXX voted to suspend the application of the proposed Federal 10-percent renewable portfolio standard in a State if the Governor of that State notified the Secretary of Energy that its application would be harmful to consumers in the State. The amendment was rejected, 37-58. [S 517, Vote 59, 3/21/02] 113