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
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ConneCtiCut CeMA Sues the Conn. Department of energy & environmental Protection and the Public utilities Regulatory Authority CEMA has filed a lawsuit in Hartford Superior Court against the Connecticut D e p a r t m e n t o f E n e r g y and Environmental Protection and the Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority alleging both the agency and regulatory board violated state envi- ronmental laws in an effort to fast-track Governor Malloy's energy plan to convert 280,000 homes and businesses from oil to gas. The lawsuit contends that in pushing through the state's multi-billion dollar energy plan, DEEP and PURA are bla- tantly ignoring state laws which require environmental evaluations of the gas expansion projects. Connecticut's Environmental Policy Act requires DEEP to perform an environ- mental evaluation of projects proposed by the state to determine whether they may cause a significant adverse impact on the environment. Where such a finding is made, the agency must prepare an envi- ronmental impact evaluation that assesses the environmental impacts of the project and considers less environmentally sensi- tive alternatives. The lawsuit seeks to stop any further implementation of the state's natural gas infrastructure expansion plan until an EIE is prepared, or at the very least, until an assessment is made to determine whether an EIE is necessary under the law. CEMA contends that DEEP should have prepared an EIE as part of designing the state's comprehensive energy strategy, which proposes a massive expansion of utility gas infrastructure—an expansion that will increase methane leakage from the transmission lines and which may affect endangered or protected environ- mental habitats. CEMA is represented by the prestigious Washington, D.C., law firm Bassman, Mitchell and Alfano and the Stamford, Conn., law firm Verrill Dana. For more information, contact Chris Herb at chris@ctema.com. new HAMPSHiRe note from oHCnH's Bob Sculley At last week's OHCNH Annual Meeting (mid Sept.) the issue of home heating oil fuel standards was raised. I mentioned to the members in attendance that the OHCNH Board of Directors was going to discuss the issue of low sulfur fuel standards in the state of New Hampshire later in the day. The dis- cussion was initiated due to the fact that the state of New Hampshire is currently the only New England state that has not committed to lowering the sulfur standards on heating oil. The states of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut and Vermont are all scheduled to go to 500 ppm and then 15 ppm sulfur beginning next year. The state of Maine is scheduled to go to 50 ppm and then 15 ppm beginning next year. The concern being, New Hampshire dealers and customers could end up "stuck" with the high sulfur fuel during tight markets when the lower sulfur product would be preferred. The board of directors discussion centered around drafting potential legis- lative language to have the state of New Hampshire mirror the New England states that are going to 500 ppm and then 15 ppm sulfur content over the next two years. The Board currently is in the process of working on the language. The board of directors is seeking input and feedback from the OHCNH members. They strongly desire to know the feelings of the OHCNH membership before they move forward, if they move forward at all. I would be remiss if I did not mention that there are no guarantees during the leg- islative process. I will forward all comments that I receive back to the board of directors and keep the entire membership updated on this issue. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions. oHCnH Ad Campaign Launched T h e O H C N H A d v e r t i s i n g / P u b l i c Relations Committee spent the latter half of the summer developing an ad cam- paign to promote the use of oil heat in New Hampshire utilizing the new NORA funds. Sunday, Sept. 28, marked the beginning of the campaign, which ran for four consecutive weeks. Each week the print ad changed, and each time it pointed the reader to the Oil Heat Council's website. There was a presence in 26 newspapers across the state and a total of 113 ads. There was an online presence as well, in order to reach homeowners who may not read a daily or weekly paper, that began on Monday, Sept. 29, with a presence on 19 websites. Media reach is measured in gross impressions, and this campaign was expected to provide 2,077,060 impres- sions over the course of the month. PennSyLvAniA From PPA: Senate Passes Bill Promoting Conventional oil Production in Pennsylvania The Pa. Senate passed Senate Bill 1310 on Oct. 8 that prime sponsor Sen. Scott Hutchinson said will protect and promote conventional oil production in Pennsylvania and protect the conventional oil production industry from state regulations designed to cover companies extracting Marcellus Shale gas. "The conventional oil industry is an important part of the regional economy in northwestern Pennsylvania—an economy that is already struggling. It cannot afford to be stymied by excessive and unnec- essary regulatory burdens," said Sen. Hutchinson. Senate Bill 1310, would establish the Penn Grade Crude Development Advisory Council, a panel empowered to study exist- ing regulations and assist the Department of Environmental Protection in making changes that better address the differences between conventional and unconventional oil and gas production. STATE BY STATE N e w s 10 noveMBeR 2014 | FueL oiL newS | www.fueloilnews.com