The House and the Senate are working to craft a 35 mpg energy bill that would be amendable to both houses of Congress, the White House and of course the US automakers which are to be affected of the said bill, reported AIADA newsletter.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is asking staff negotiators to reach a deal as soon as possible to make time for a legal review before the House and Senate members return from recess on Monday.

As expected there were a number of issues that arise but the main concern is with regards to the fuel economy credit that automakers get for producing flexible-fuel vehicles. The law provides automakers with a 1.2 miles-per-gallon credit for manufacturing vehicles that run on alternative fuel such as the E85 ethanol.

The Senate proposal has extended the credit but to the dismay of automakers the said proposal was phased out quickly. And since the E85 is offered at only 1,200 of nation’s 180,000fueling stations and surprisingly a great number of the 6 million-plus flex-fuel vehicles on the road don’t use the fuel but still automakers get to claim the credit.