Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
The bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to define "crude oil" to explicitly include bitumen, tar sands‑derived oil, and oil from kerogen-bearing sources, so those products are subject to the Federal excise tax on petroleum. It also gives the Treasury Secretary regulatory authority to treat other fuel feedstocks or finished fuels as taxable crude oil or petroleum products if they match the Oil Pollution Act definition and pose significant spill hazards.
Libertarian/conservative focus on tax and regulatory burden versus liberal environmental goals
Relative to its intended legislative type, this bill is a concise, targeted statutory amendment that clearly defines products from tar sands as crude oil for purposes of the Federal excise tax and grants delegated regulatory authority to the Secretary to address other fuel types meeting specified criteria.
The bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to define "crude oil" to explicitly include bitumen, tar sands‑derived oil, and oil from kerogen-bearing sources, so those products are subject to the Federal excise tax on petroleum.
It also gives the Treasury Secretary regulatory authority to treat other fuel feedstocks or finished fuels as taxable crude oil or petroleum products if they match the Oil Pollution Act definition and pose significant spill hazards.
Amendments take effect on enactment and include a minor technical fix.
Technically narrow but politically charged energy-tax change; industry opposition and Senate procedural barriers reduce probability.
Relative to its intended legislative type, this bill is a concise, targeted statutory amendment that clearly defines products from tar sands as crude oil for purposes of the Federal excise tax and grants delegated regulatory authority to the Secretary to address other fuel types meeting specified criteria. It specifies the exact code provisions to amend and includes an effective date.
Libertarian/conservative focus on tax and regulatory burden versus liberal environmental goals
These are examples from the analysis, not a ranked list of the most-affected groups.
Libertarian/conservative focus on tax and regulatory burden versus liberal environmental goals
Likely supportive: sees the bill as closing a loophole that let tar sands products avoid federal petroleum excise tax and as aligning tax policy with environmental risk.
Views the expansion of taxable categories and regulatory authority as tools to reduce incentives for high‑impact fossil fuel production.
May wish for assurances revenues fund cleanup or climate programs.
Cautiously favorable: appreciates the clarity in tax treatment and spill‑risk alignment but wants economic and administrative impact analysis.
Supports the principle of closing ambiguous tax classifications, while seeking limits on regulatory discretion and assurances about costs to consumers and businesses.
Likely opposed: views the bill as a tax increase on energy products and an expansion of executive regulatory authority.
Concerns center on added costs to domestic energy producers, potential higher fuel prices, and federal overreach into energy classification and markets.
Reached or meaningfully advanced
Reached or meaningfully advanced
Still ahead
Still ahead
Still ahead
Technically narrow but politically charged energy-tax change; industry opposition and Senate procedural barriers reduce probability.
The bill has not accumulated any surfaced votes yet.
Libertarian/conservative focus on tax and regulatory burden versus liberal environmental goals
Technically narrow but politically charged energy-tax change; industry opposition and Senate procedural barriers reduce probability.
Relative to its intended legislative type, this bill is a concise, targeted statutory amendment that clearly defines products from tar sands as crude oil for purposes of the Federal excise tax and grants delegated regul…
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