The home heating oil industry has a long and proud history, and Fuel Oil News has been there supporting it since 1935. It is an industry that has faced many challenges during that time. In its 77th year, Fuel Oil News is doing more than just holding
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/270766
14 MARCH 2014 | FUEL OIL NEWS | www.fueloilnews.com FUELS By KIETH REID I t's been six years since the National Oilheat Research Alliance was allowed to sunset, after failing its five- year Congressional reauthorization in 2010. This highly-effective program was created in in 2000 to provide consumer education, professional education and research and development relative to oil-based heating. During its run it generated numer- ous benefits, not only for the indus- try but for consum- ers. Best of all, it was industry-funded through a fee of $0.002 per wholesale gallon of heating oil sold. Six years is a long time to be off the radar in Washington. Long enough that hope was starting to fade regarding any eventual reauthorization. Suddenly, that hope has been realized as NORA was reauthorized on Feb. 7, 2014, when President Obama signed it back into law. As FON noted in an interview with Petroleum Marketers Association of America President Dan Gilligan, published in the January issue, the stars in Washington were starting to align. "I feel good that we have all the support we need from the important players, it now just comes down to finding a vehicle," Gilligan said. "Most Congressmen when they have a bill that's moving the first thing they will say is 'don't put anything on it.' But the way it works, is if you have a bill that's moving everybody gets a piece of it." That important legislative vehicle turned out to be the farm bill, The Agricultural Act of 2014, a comprehensive omnibus bill that is passed roughly every 5 years NORA reauthorization was introduced into the House farm bill by Reps. Leonard Lance (R-NJ) and Peter Welch (D-VT). NORA companion legis- lation was introduced in the Senate by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Susan Collins (R-ME), S. 913. After the con- ference process that lasted through the fall of 2013 the final bill was approved by the House on Jan. 29, and H.R. 2642 passed out of the Senate by a bipartisan vote of 68 to 32 on Feb. 4. It then went to the president for his signature. "The timing can be critical in the legislative process," said John Huber, NORA president. "Sometimes it goes so slowly you don't even know you are moving, and then all of a sudden you have crossed the fin- ish line or you have lost. It makes it a fun process, but if you are sleeping when you needed to be going fast you really get messed up. I think a lot of people, including myself, were little surprise that we got it done." NORA StRuctuRe NORA is funded through a check-off program. Heating oil dealers pay a $0.002 per gallon fee, which will resume on April 1, 2014. The check-off program was essential for a variety of reasons, according to NORA. First, it allowed some marketplace parity with electric and gas utilities that are essentially state-run monopolies that allow for uniform assessments to fund research and development and consumer education activities. Propane, a competing fuel, successfully implemented a similar check-off program and self-assessments to engage in these activities. The heating oil industry decided that a limited Welcome Back NORA After Six Long years Reauthorization Has Become a Reality Dan Gilligan John Huber