National Petroleum News (NPN) has been the independent voice of the petroleum industry since 1909 as the opposition to Rockefeller’s Standard Oil. So, motor fuels marketing and retail is not just a sideline for us, it’s our core competency.
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/54942
TOP OF THE NEWS NACS to Senate: Hands off LUST Fund Federal LUST Fund in danger Convenience Stores is asking the Senate Finance Committee. The association sent a letter to the committee, urging them to not transfer $3 billion from LUST to the highway trust fund. "In order for states to comply with the multitude of new requirements enacted in the EPAct, states must receive sig- nificant funding from the federal program. If states do not receive such funding, they will be unable to comply and will lose funding from the federal government, which would then return enforcement back to the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Unfortunately, they also lack the K n NPRA blasts EPA biofuels goal; calls 2 billion gallons in 2012 'Unrealistic' A production goal for advanced biofu- els, set by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as part of its Renewable Fuel Standard, is "unrealistic, impractical and bad for consumers," said Charles T. Drevna, president of the National Petrochemical & Refiners Association (NPRA). Drevna issued the following statement after the Environmental Protection Agency announced 2012 mandated production volumes for advanced biofuels under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS): "Once again, EPA has acted unwise- ly to make a bad law worse with regu- lations not based on reality and sci- ence. Once again, refiners are being ordered to use a substance that no one is producing in commercial quanti- ties—cellulosic ethanol—and are being required to pay millions of dollars for failing to use this non-existent sub- stance. This makes no sense. "This new rule is another remind- er that the Renewable Fuel Standard needs to be modified to prevent harm to American consumers and the American economy. Government mandates like EPA's new regulations calling for enormous increases in the annual production of advanced biofu- els in the United States are unrealistic 6 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2012 eep the federal Leaking Underground Storage Tank program intact, the National Association of appropriate funding and resources to effectively enforce the regulations," the letter stated. "The Federal LUST Trust Fund must not be used as an offsetting tool in this bill. This is a critical environmental program that needs to be adequately funded so that it can continue to protect the environment, prevent UST releases into groundwater systems, and ensure that all tanks comply with state and federal UST laws. This was the intended pur- pose of the LUST tax and it should not be abandoned," the letter said. NACS concluded with a plea that the Senate "explore all other funding options." and impractical, and not in the best interest of American consumers. "Instead of imposing an unreason- able biofuels mandate, which would raise energy costs and impact fuel sup- plies, government should allow con- sumer choice and the free market to determine the mix of energy sources to best meet our nation's needs." Drevna said NPRA has been point- ing out major problems with the Renewable Fuel Standard for years and noted that a recent report by the National Academy of Sciences makes many of the same criticisms. "This objective study by prestigious scientists unconnected to our indus- tries validates what we've been saying for years about the Renewable Fuel Standard," Drevna said. "The standard is not achievable or sustainable economi- cally or environmentally. The American people shouldn't be required to spend billions of their hard-earned tax dol- lars to prop up renewable fuels that are plagued with problems, unpopular with consumers, and unable to survive on their own in the free market." NPRA is a trade association repre- senting U.S. manufacturers of gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, other fuels and home heating oil, as well as petrochemicals. It has changed its name at the end of January to the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM). n Biodiesel industry calls for quick action on tax extenders The U.S. biodiesel industry's record growth and resulting job creation is at risk without immediate action from Congress to reinstate the industry's tax incentive, the National Biodiesel Board (NBB) said in written testimony submit- ted to the Senate Finance Committee. The $1-per-gallon biodiesel tax incentive expired on Dec. 31 for the second time in three years, despite clear evidence that the incentive is working to stimulate production and economic activity. In her testimony, NBB Vice President of Federal Affairs Anne Steckel empha- sized that when the incentive was rein- stated last year after a lapse in 2010, it helped boost biodiesel production to a record volume of nearly 1.1 billion gal- lons in 2011. That volume - triple the production in 2010 - supported more than 39,027 jobs and $3.8 billion in GDP, according to a recent study con- ducted by Cardno ENTRIX, an inter- national economics consulting firm. "The biodiesel industry is poised to continue that momentum so long as Congress and the administration continue supporting strong policies such as the biodiesel tax incentive," she said. "The recent expiration of the $1 per gallon biodiesel tax incentive poses NPN Magazine n www.npnweb.com