Input:
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Open Fuel Standard Act of 2009'' or
the ``OFS Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

    (a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) The status of oil as a strategic commodity, which
        derives from its domination of the transportation sector,
        presents a clear and present danger to the United States;
            (2) in a prior era, when salt was a strategic commodity,
        salt mines conferred national power and wars were fought over
        the control of such mines;
            (3) technology, in the form of electricity and
        refrigeration, decisively ended salt's monopoly of meat
        preservation and greatly reduced its strategic importance;
            (4) fuel competition and consumer choice would similarly
        serve to end oil's monopoly in the transportation sector and
        strip oil of its strategic status;
            (5) the current closed fuel market has allowed a cartel of
        petroleum exporting countries to inflate fuel prices,
        effectively imposing a harmful tax on the economy of the United
        States;
            (6) much of the inflated petroleum revenues the oil cartel
        earns at the expense of the people of the United States are
        used for purposes antithetical to the interests of the United
        States and its allies;
            (7) alcohol fuels, including ethanol and methanol, could
        potentially provide significant supplies of additional fuels
        that could be produced in the United States and in many other
        countries in the Western Hemisphere that are friendly to the
        United States;
            (8) alcohol fuels can only play a major role in securing
        the energy independence of the United States if a substantial
        portion of vehicles in the United States are capable of
        operating on such fuels;
            (9) it is not in the best interest of United States
        consumers or the United States Government to be constrained to
        depend solely upon petroleum resources for vehicle fuels if
        alcohol fuels are potentially available;
            (10) existing technology, in the form of flexible fuel
        vehicles, allows internal combustion engine cars and trucks to
        be produced at little or no additional cost, which are capable
        of operating on conventional gasoline, alcohol fuels, or any
        combination of such fuels, as availability or cost advantage
        dictates, providing a platform on which fuels can compete;
            (11) the necessary distribution system for such alcohol
        fuels will not be developed in the United States until a
        substantial fraction of the vehicles in the United States are
        capable of operating on such fuels;
            (12) the establishment of such a vehicle fleet and
        distribution system would provide a large market that would
        mobilize private resources to substantially advance the
        technology and expand the production of alcohol fuels in the
        United States and abroad;
            (13) the United States has an urgent national security
        interest to develop alcohol fuels technology, production, and
        distribution systems as rapidly as possible;
            (14) new cars sold in the United States that are equipped
        with an internal combustion engine should allow for fuel
        competition by being flexible fuel vehicles, and new diesel
        cars should be capable of operating on biodiesel; and
            (15) such an open fuel standard would help to protect the
        United States economy from high and volatile oil prices and
        from the threats caused by global instability, terrorism, and
        natural disaster.

SEC. 3. OPEN FUEL STANDARD FOR TRANSPORTATION.

    Chapter 329 of title 49, United States Code, is amended by adding
at the end the following:

``SEC. 32920. OPEN FUEL STANDARD FOR TRANSPORTATION.

    ``(a) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) E85.--The term `E85' means a fuel mixture containing
        85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline by volume.
            ``(2) Flexible fuel automobile.--The term `flexible fuel
        automobile' means an automobile that has been warranted by its
        manufacturer to operate on gasoline, E85, and M85.
            ``(3) Fuel choice-enabling automobile.--The term `fuel
        choice-enabling automobile' means--
                    ``(A) a flexible fuel automobile; or
                    ``(B) an automobile that has been warranted by its
                manufacturer to operate on biodiesel.
            ``(4) Light-duty automobile.--The term `light-duty
        automobile' means--
                    ``(A) a passenger automobile; or
                    ``(B) a non-passenger automobile.
            ``(5) Light-duty automobile manufacturer's annual covered
        inventory.--The term `light-duty automobile manufacturer's
        annual covered inventory' means the number of light-duty
        automobiles powered by an internal combustion engine that a
        manufacturer, during a given calendar year, manufactures in the
        United States or imports from outside of the United States for
        sale in the United States.
            ``(6) M85.--The term `M85' means a fuel mixture containing
        85 percent methanol and 15 percent gasoline by volume.
    ``(b) Open Fuel Standard for Transportation.--
            ``(1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2),
        each light-duty automobile manufacturer's annual covered
        inventory shall be comprised of--
                    ``(A) not less than 50 percent fuel choice-enabling
                automobiles in 2012, 2013, and 2014; and
                    ``(B) not less than 80 percent fuel choice-enabling
                automobiles in 2015, and in each subsequent year.
            ``(2) Temporary exemption from requirements.--
                    ``(A) Application.--A manufacturer may request an
                exemption from the requirement described in paragraph
                (1) by submitting an application to the Secretary, at
                such time, in such manner, and containing such
                information as the Secretary may require by regulation.
                Each such application shall specify the models, lines,
                and types of automobiles affected.
                    ``(B) Evaluation.--After evaluating an application
                received from a manufacturer, the Secretary may at any
                time, under such terms and conditions, and to such
                extent as the Secretary considers appropriate,
                temporarily exempt, or renew the exemption of, a light-
                duty automobile from the requirement described in
                paragraph (1) if the Secretary determines that
                unavoidable events that are not under the control of
                the manufacturer prevent the manufacturer of such
                automobile from meeting its required production volume
                of fuel choice-enabling automobiles, including--
                            ``(i) a disruption in the supply of any
                        component required for compliance with the
                        regulations;
                            ``(ii) a disruption in the use and
                        installation by the manufacturer of such
                        component; or
                            ``(iii) the failure for plug-in hybrid
                        electric automobiles to meet State air quality
                        requirements as a result of the requirement
                        described in paragraph (1).
                    ``(C) Consolidation.--The Secretary may consolidate
                applications received from multiple manufactures under
                subparagraph (A) if they are of a similar nature.
                    ``(D) Conditions.--Any exemption granted under
                subparagraph (B) shall be conditioned upon the
                manufacturer's commitment to recall the exempted
                automobiles for installation of the omitted components
                within a reasonable time proposed by the manufacturer
                and approved by the Secretary after such components
                become available in sufficient quantities to satisfy
                both anticipated production and recall volume
                requirements.
                    ``(E) Notice.--The Secretary shall publish in the
                Federal Register--
                            ``(i) notice of each application received
                        from a manufacturer;
                            ``(ii) notice of each decision to grant or
                        deny a temporary exemption; and
                            ``(iii) the reasons for granting or denying
                        such exemptions.
    ``(c) Limited Liability Protection for Renewable Fuel and Ethanol
Manufacture, Use, or Distribution.--
            ``(1) In general.--Notwithstanding any other provision of
        Federal or State law, any fuel containing ethanol or a
        renewable fuel (as defined in section 211(o)(1) of the Clean
        Air Act) that is used or intended to be used to operate an
        internal combustion engine shall not be deemed to be a
        defective product or subject to a failure to warn due to such
        ethanol or renewable fuel content unless such fuel violates a
        control or prohibition imposed by the Administrator under
        section 211 of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7545).
            ``(2) Savings provision.--Nothing in this subsection may be
        construed to affect the liability of any person other than
        liability based upon a claim of defective product and failure
        to warn described in paragraph (1).
    ``(d) Rulemaking.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the
enactment of this section, the Secretary of Transportation shall
promulgate regulations to carry out this section.''.

Output:
Open Fuel Standard Act of 2009 or the OFS Act - Requires each light-duty automobile manufacturer's annual covered inventory to comprise at least: (1) 50% fuel choice-enabling automobiles in years 2012-2014; and (2) 80% fuel choice-enabling automobiles in 2015, and in each subsequent year.

Defines "fuel choice-enabling automobile" as: (1) a flexible fuel automobile capable of operating on gasoline, E85, and M85; or (2) an automobile capable of operating on biodiesel fuel.

Authorizes a manufacturer to request an exemption from such requirement from the Secretary of Transportation.

Extends limited liability protection to the use of fuel containing ethanol or renewable fuel in the operation of internal combustion engines by declaring that such fuel shall not be deemed to be a defective product or subject to a failure to warn due to such ethanol or renewable fuel content, unless it violates a control or prohibition imposed under the Clean Air Act.