Fostering improved, clean transportation has the potential to benefit the country enormously, and advances key goals of the Biden Administration.  The transportation sector is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States, accounting for one-third of all emissions, and must be addressed for there to be any hope of meeting climate goals.  Transportation also affects every American's day-to-day life, from how they participate in their communities to how they pursue economic opportunity and empowerment, representing a significant opportunity to promote equitable growth.

The Blueprint is the Administration's most fleshed out vision for pursuing these goals.  The Blueprint outlines a comprehensive approach, addressing changes to every mode of transportation, and proposing to do so through virtually every policy lever available—a true "whole of government" approach.  It is consistent with, and further advances, key themes in the President's climate policy enunciated from day one, and further reflected in his signature legislative accomplishments, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). 

The Blueprint was a highlight of government speakers at the recent Government/Industry Conference for the auto industry, sponsored by the Society of Automotive Engineers:  In a keynote, Gabe Klein, Executive Director of the newly formed DOE-DOT Joint Office of Energy & Transportation, called it the "most important policy document in a decade."

Below are some of the key features:

• Multiple technological solutions will be needed, reflecting an evolving decarbonization path for several sectors.  To many, the electric passenger car is the symbol of transportation decarbonization.  But power demands and weight considerations, among other issues, may make it more difficult to use this technology in other sectors, including on-highway freight, maritime, and aviation.  The Blueprint recognizes that additional technology must be deployed, including those not yet fully commercialized.  It focuses on three:  battery electric, hydrogen fuel cell, and sustainable biofuel.

The continued prominence of liquid fuels in a transportation decarbonization plan is especially notable.  There remains active debate, even within the agencies which authored the Blueprint as to whether the types of "sustainable" fuels being promoted have the full range of climate benefits they claim. 

• But new technology is not the only tool.  In addition to developing and deploying clean technology, the Blueprint will promote measures to decrease transportation demand and increase transportation efficiency.  The Blueprint seeks to redesign the communities in which we live, so that people are physically closer to where they work, learn, and recreate.  Consistent with the Biden Administration's "whole of government" approach, this will involve policymakers outside of the four agencies who authored the report, including non-federal entities like towns, cities, and counties with jurisdiction over zoning laws that shape land use.  The Blueprint also stresses policies to encourage the most climate-friendly mode of transportation when movement is necessary:  For movement of people, this will likely result in renewed focus on mass transit and emission-free micromobility options. 
• A three stage timeline with interim targets.  Broadly speaking, between now and 2030, the Blueprint focuses most on research and investments to support deployment.In the 2030s, the focus is on scaling up clean transportation solutions, and the 2040s will be about completing the transition to a net zero transportation sector.  But there are plenty of interim benchmarks in between, such as a commitment that all new light-duty acquisitions for the federal fleet be zero emission by 2027, and 30% of private sales of medium and heavy duty vehicles be zero emission by 2030.
• Continued focus on equity.  Ensuring a just transition of the transportation sector is a cornerstone of the Blueprint.  Among other concerns, this will mean a focus on ensuring that zero emissions technology successfully penetrates all communities.  This could mean creating enhanced subsidies for acquiring electric vehicles, ensuring charging stations are meaningfully available in historically overburdened neighborhoods, and ensuring that transit service is fully accessible for the differently abled. 
• Interaction with advanced driver assistance technology (ADAS).  The Blueprint acknowledges that transportation will "dramatically change" in "ways that are hard to forecast," focusing in particular on another transformational shift occurring in the transportation sector:  the emergence of automation and connectivity, up to full vehicle automation.  Although such technology is often discussed for its appealing safety benefits, it may also reduce congestion and result in significant environmental gains as well.
• The continued role of agency-promulgated regulatory standards.  The Blueprint is clear that agency-promulgated, technology-forcing regulation has an important role to play in decarbonizing transport, even if the BIL and IRA focused mainly on incentive-based mechanisms.  The Blueprint specifically mentions renewable fuel standards, and emissions standards for heavy duty on-highway, off road, and fuel pipeline transportation.  More are likely in store, although the Biden Administration will have to tread carefully in light of recent Supreme Court precedent narrowly interpreting the agency enabling statutes that will serve as the authority for these rules.

Whether the Blueprint's lofty ambitions will be met remains to be seen, but the document is an important outline of the federal agenda to come, at least for the remainder of Biden's presidency.  The transportation sector is in the process of fundamental change, set to dramatically reduce where feasible uses of the internal combustion engine—the technology that served as its bedrock for over 100 years.  This process will create exciting opportunities and difficult choices, and the Blueprint provides important insight into federal priorities that should be thoroughly understood when engaging policymakers going forward and when making investment decisions.

On December 4, 2014, the House passed a version of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015 ("NDAA FY 15") which is now up for debate in the Senate.  While the original House version of NDAA FY 15 contained a number of provisions relating to the procurement of biofuels, these biofuels provisions were substantially modified in the amended version of the bill that the House passed last week after an agreement was made with the Senate to align the House and Senate versions of the bill.

Summary of the changes

• Section 314.  Section 314 of the House-passed NDAA FY 15 would require the Secretary of Defense or the Secretary of the military department concerned to submit to the congressional defense committees a business case analysis at least 30 days before entering into a contract for the "planning, design, refurbishing, or construction of a biofuel refinery, or of any other facility or infrastructure used to refine biofuels."  The prior version of this provision in the House bill — Section 317 — would have required the Department of Defense to obtain congressional authorization before entering into such a contract, and drew criticism from the Obama Administration which stated  that such a provision "would inhibit the development of a diverse, cost-competitive energy supply that enhances American energy security."  The Senate committee-reported bill had contained no similar provision.  As such, the original House version of the provision appears to have been softened by dropping the requirement for congressional authorization after negotiations with the Senate.
• Section 316.  Section 316 of the House-passed bill would prohibit the DOD from using funds allocated to it for FY 15 to make bulk purchases of drop-in fuel for operational purposes, unless the fully burdened cost of that drop-in fuel is cost-competitive with the fully-burdened cost of traditional fuel available for the same purpose, subject to a national security waiver.  "Drop in fuel" is a type of alternative hydrocarbon fuel that is designed as a direct replacement for, and is chemically indistinguishable from, traditional fuels such as gasoline, diesel, or jet fuels, and is derived from biomass feedstocks such as algae.  "Fully burdened cost" is defined in the House bill as "the commodity price of the fuel plus the total cost of all personnel and assets required to move and, when necessary, protect the fuel from the point at which the fuel is received from the commercial supplier to the point of use."  The prior version of the House bill contained no such provision, while the Senate committee-reported bill contained a provision that would prohibit DOD funds from being used for bulk purchases of drop-in fuel for operational purposes, unless the cost of that drop-in fuel was cost-competitive with traditional fuel.  The shift from requiring that the cost of the drop-in fuel be cost-competitive with traditional fuels to requiring that it be cost-competitive with the fully burdened cost of traditional fuel may make it substantially more difficult for the DOD to make purchases of drop-in fuel if it is more difficult and costly for the military to move and store alternative drop-in fuels.
• Other changes.  The House-passed bill cut out completely former Section 314 — which would have exempted the DOD from the biofuel purchasing requirements of Section 526 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007.  The Obama Administration had argued that the exemption would "undercut[] a law passed with strong bipartisan support that provides an environmentally sound framework for the development of future alternative fuels."

Impact of the changes

The full practical impact of these changes remains to be seen.  However, it is clear that the removal of the congressional authorization requirement from Section 314 removes a significant obstacle to the military's construction of biofuel refineries in the future.

This month, the EPA announced that it is improving the petition process for obtaining approval of new renewable fuel pathways.  When the initial pathways were approved, there was recognition that a process must be in place to evaluate improvements in existing processes and entirely new pathways.  The Renewable Fuel Standard regulations specify the existing approved pathways and provide a process, submitting a petition, for obtaining approval for new pathways.  The details of the improved petition process have not yet been publicized and the EPA suggests that parties consider delaying any new submissions until the revised process is announced, which the EPA expects will be in approximately six months.  New submissions prior to release of the new improved process may be required to be resubmitted.

Two of the expected elements of the improved process are:

• Improved guidance for petitioners that includes step-by-step instructions and templates for the different types of applications!并
• a更多自动化审查程序使用已知生产技术及先前核准的原料的请愿书。

WeeeEPA在未来6个月努力改进工作时,将继续审查已完成大规模建模的等待优先请愿书和请愿书。并 可在短期内增加使用可再生燃料(例如,投放式燃料)。

条件中甚至与这些标准相联将依据接近商业化和提交日期进一步优先排序。