42 U.S.C. § 13258 — Credits

(a) Definitions: This section defines five types of vehicle. (1) A "fuel cell electric vehicle" is an on-road or nonroad vehicle that uses a fuel cell, as defined in section 16152 of this title. (2) A "hybrid electric vehicle" is a "new qualified hybrid motor vehicle" as defined in section 30B(d)(3) of title 26. (3) A "medium- or heavy-duty electric vehicle" is an electric, hybrid electric, or plug-in hybrid electric vehicle weighing more than 8,501 pounds. (4) A "neighborhood electric vehicle" is a 4-wheeled on-road or nonroad vehicle that can reach a top speed over 20 mph but not more than 25 mph over one mile on a flat paved surface, and is powered by an electric motor with an onboard, rechargeable battery that charges from an outside power source. (5) A "plug-in electric drive vehicle" is a vehicle that draws power from a battery of at least 4 kilowatt-hours, can be recharged from an outside power source, and is a light-, medium-, or heavy-duty motor vehicle or nonroad vehicle as defined in section 7550 of this title. (b) In general: (1) The Secretary must give a credit to any fleet or covered person required to buy alternative-fuel vehicles under this subchapter, if it buys more than required, or buys them before it's required to. (2) By January 31, 2009, the Secretary must: (A) set a credit amount for buying a hybrid electric vehicle, plug-in electric drive vehicle, fuel cell electric vehicle, neighborhood electric vehicle, or medium- or heavy-duty electric vehicle, and for investing in qualified alternative-fuel infrastructure or nonroad equipment; and (B) allow more than 1, but no more than 5, credits for investing in emerging technology tied to any of those vehicles, to encourage cutting petroleum demand, advancing the technology, and reducing vehicle emissions. (c) Allocation: The Secretary gives one credit for each alternative-fuel vehicle a fleet or covered person buys beyond what's required, or buys before its required date. If a vehicle is bought early, the Secretary gives one credit per vehicle for each year early it was bought. The credit always matches the type of vehicle that earned it. (d) Use of credits: If a fleet or covered person that earned a credit asks, the Secretary will count that credit as if it had acquired one alternative-fuel vehicle of the matching type, in whatever year that fleet or person chooses, when checking compliance for that year. Each credit can only be counted toward one year's compliance. (e) Transferability: A fleet or covered person that has a credit — whether it earned the credit or received it from someone else — may freely give it to another fleet or covered person that has to comply with this subchapter. If the new holder asks, the Secretary will count the transferred credit the same way, as one vehicle acquired in whatever year the new holder picks, and again only toward one year's compliance. For the alternative fuel provider program under section 13251 of this title, a transferred credit only counts toward compliance if the requirement in section 13251(a)(4) of this title is also met. (f) Authorization of appropriations: Congress may provide whatever funds are needed to carry out this section for fiscal years 2008 through 2013.