Executive Order 13031—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. (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 pro duction 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. 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. William J. Clinton The White House, December 13, 1996. [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 11:26 a.m., December 16, 1996]