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Will the U.S. Department of Energy Find Improvements in Fuel Efficiency?

If passed, a new measure would reauthorize the department's Vehicle Technology Program budget at $314-million in the next fiscal year.

(TNS) -- Michigan's U.S. senators today proposed legislation that would authorize the U.S. Energy Department to spend more than $1 billion over several years on research to improve fuel efficiency in cars and trucks.

U.S. Sens. Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow, both Democrats, and Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., introduced the measure which would reauthorize the Vehicle Technology Program's budget at $314-million in the next fiscal year and include a 4% annual increase after that through 2020.

Under the program, which has been operating without congressional reauthorization for more than seven years, the Energy Department works with researchers on alternative fuel vehicles. The new authorization would include provisions making research and development of vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communications systems also eligible for funding.

Peters, whose office released details of the bill today, said it is meant to "ensure our auto manufacturers and suppliers continue to lead the way in developing the cutting-edge technologies that will help them compete globally."

Even with authorization, if the legislation were to pass the Senate and U.S. House, it would fall to appropriators in both chambers to guarantee funding for the program.

©2015 the Detroit Free Press, Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.