Alternative Fuels Act

An Act to accelerate the use of alternative fuels for motor vehicles Preamble WHEREAS Canada has a commitment to environmental reform and thus to better control over the emission of greenhouse gases, notably carbon dioxide, and of other air pollutants; WHEREAS damage to the environment is caused by the emission of air pollutants by internal combustion engines using conventional fuels; WHEREAS the federal government is a major user of such engines; AND WHEREAS government can lead the conversion to less harmful fuels by progressively replacing its motor vehicles with others using alternative fuels, thereby promoting the replacement of petroleum-based fuels for transportation; NOW, THEREFORE, Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and the House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows: Short title This Act may be cited as the Alternative Fuels Act. Definitions In this Act, acquire includes to lease for a period of twelve months or more, with or without an option to purchase; (acquérir) alternative fuel means fuel that is for use in motor vehicles to deliver direct propulsion, less damaging to the environment than conventional fuels, and prescribed by regulation, including, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, ethanol, methanol, propane gas, natural gas, hydrogen or electricity when used as a sole source of direct propulsion energy; (carburant de remplacement) Crown corporation means a corporation named in Schedule III to the Financial Administration Act, unless excluded pursuant to subsection (2); (société d’État) federal body means any body named in Schedule I, I.1 or II to the Financial Administration Act; (organisme fédéral) motor vehicle means any motor vehicle of a class prescribed by regulation, including, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, an automobile, passenger van or light duty truck. (véhicule automobile) Excluding Crown corporations The Treasury Board may, by order, exclude any Crown corporation from the application of this Act, after consultation with the board of directors of the corporation. Alternative fuels policy It is the purpose of this Act that, for the fiscal year commencing on April 1, 2004 and for every fiscal year thereafter, where it is cost effective and operationally feasible, seventy-five per cent of motor vehicles operated by all federal bodies and Crown corporations will be motor vehicles operating on alternative fuels, thereby promoting the replacement of petroleum-based fuels for transportation. Implementation of policy The President of the Treasury Board shall take such measures as may be necessary to ensure that all federal bodies that acquire motor vehicles shall, where it is cost effective and operationally feasible to do so, in the aggregate, select, in percentages not less than those following, motor vehicles powered by engines that are capable of operating on alternative fuels: fifty per cent, for the fiscal year commencing April 1, 1997; sixty per cent, for the fiscal year commencing April 1, 1998; seventy-five per cent, for the fiscal year commencing April 1, 1999 and for every fiscal year thereafter. Obligatory use Where it is cost effective and operationally feasible to do so, a federal body shall use an alternative fuel in the operation of any motor vehicle capable of operating on such a fuel. Crown corporations Every Crown corporation that acquires motor vehicles shall, where it is cost effective and operationally feasible to do so, select, in percentages not less than those following, vehicles powered by motors that are capable of operating on alternative fuels: sixty per cent, for the fiscal year commencing April 1, 1998; and Where it is cost effective and operationally feasible to do so, a Crown corporation shall use an alternative fuel in the operation of any motor vehicle capable of operating on such a fuel. Regulations The Treasury Board may, on the recommendation of the President of the Treasury Board made after the President has consulted with such representatives of industry and environmental groups as the President considers appropriate, make regulations prescribing any fuel for the purposes of the definition “alternative fuel”; prescribing any class of motor vehicle for the purposes of the definition “motor vehicle”; respecting the criteria to be used in determining cost effectiveness and operational feasibility; and generally for carrying out the purpose or any of the provisions of this Act. Measures The Treasury Board may take such measures as it considers appropriate for giving effect to the purpose or any provision of this Act. [Repealed, 2012, c. 19, s. 221]