Bill aims to make it easier for retailers to offer customers different kinds of fuel.
The Domestic Fuels Act of 2012 (S.2264) was introduced in the U.S. Senate yesterday, March 29. The legislation would help retailers offer new fuels with a lower cost of entry, a lower liability risk and to limit other regulatory factors that impact the amount of renewable fuels that can be sold through existing motor fuel retail outlets, DL Online reported.
U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), John Hoeven (R-ND), Roy Blunt (R-MO) and Mike Crapo (R-ID) introduced the bipartisan legislation.
The legislation’s goal is to produce more energy, increase competition, promote alternative fuels, provide more consumer choice and lower the cost of fuels at the pump. The Domestic Fuels Act would also help make it easier to market all fuels in order to give consumers more fuel choices.
The bill looks to do the following:
• Allow all fuels—traditional and renewable—to be stored and dispensed with common equipment.
• To require the EPA to develop streamlined criteria, so underground tanks can be used to dispense gasoline, diesel, ethanol or some combination of fuels, rather than requiring the use of separate tanks.
• Provide liability protection for retailers that meet these streamlined EPA standards, allowing them to sell multiple types of fuel with less restrictions.
• Establish a new way for retailers to ensure their equipment is safe and legally recognized in order to reduce the cost of entry.
NACS is behind the legislation and has been working with a coalition including the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers, API, Growth Energy, NATSO, OPEI, PMAA, the Renewable Fuels Association and SIGMA to develop the legislation.
The coalition noted that importantly, the bill would “protect innocent parties from certain liabilities associated with misfueling when consumers are informed about fuels that are approved for only certain engines; and it will establish that an entity who complies with today’s laws and regulations cannot be held retroactively liable even if those laws and regulations change tomorrow.”
In support of the bill, nine trade associations sent letters to key Members of Congress in both the House and Senate. Read the letters to the House (http://bit.ly/H05ije) and the Senate (http://bit.ly/H34VJC).