Congress is gone for the rest of the summer —almost. Both the House and Senate adjourned last weekend for their scheduled August recess and will return to the nation's Capitol on September 4. However, before they left town and after last week's memo was written, they accomplished a couple of things worth mentioning.
First, the House finished work on a new energy bill. When writing last week, I was uncertain if they would be voting on an amendment to require the use of 36 billion gallons of renewable and alternative fuels by 2023. The decision ultimately was made to forego consideration of that amendment, and instead deal with the issue in conference with the Senate, which has already adopted such a mandate. Despite some last minute concerns, there were no efforts to insert a mandate for retailers to install E-85 pumps.
However, on the other side of the Capitol, Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO) introduced S. 1997, the FAIR (Future Accountability in Retail) Fuel Act. The text of this legislation is not yet available, however, her press release describes the legislation as requiring all retailers to install automatic temperature compensation equipment on fuel pumps within six years of enactment. The bill apparently offers some incentives to help retailers comply and penalties for non-compliance.
Earlier this year, NACS testified before a House committee on this issue and stressed that requiring retailers to adjust volumes based upon temperature would not benefit consumers at all. Competition drives retail prices and forcing retailers to invest an additional $2,000 or more per dispenser will only raise the cost of operations, which will hurt retailers and consumers alike. In her press release, McCaskill references the profits of the major integrated oil companies. What she fails to understand is that they own and operate only five percent of retail locations. The cost of this program will be borne by independent business owners and their customers. As of introduction, the senator had attracted no cosponsors.
Meanwhile, the Environmental Protection Agency released its final "Grant Guidelines to States for Implementing the Operator Training Provisions of the Energy Policy Act of 2005." To remain eligible to receive federally appropriated underground storage tank funds, each state must, by August 8, 2009, implement an operator training requirement program for all operators within three specific classes consistent with the guidelines. In short, these requirements must:
- Be developed in cooperation with tank owners and operators
- Take into consideration operator training programs implemented by tank owners and operators
- Be appropriately communicated to tank owners and operators
A significant portion of the guidelines is committed to defining the three classes of operators. In short, these are:
Class A: This would be a company's primary UST compliance official. The guidelines specify that this individual has primary responsibility to operate and maintain UST system, including managing resources and personnel to achieve and maintain compliance with regulatory requirements.
Class B: This would be a company's primary field manager responsible for day-to-day operations. EPA specifies that this individual would be responsible for daily operating, maintaining and recordkeeping of UST systems at one or more facilities.
Class C: This references the clerk-level employee. EPA describes this person as being the first line of response to events indicating emergency conditions and is responsible for responding to alarms or other emergency indicators.
Retailers are advised to communicate with their state UST program offices to ensure that state programs are compliant with the requirements of the EPA and accurately reflect the operating conditions of their companies.
For the rest of the August recess, NACS government relations staff will be traveling the country meeting with retailers and legislators in their local districts, driving home the issues that are most important to retailers. If you would like to get involved in this type of outreach, please send me an e-mail or contact a member of the government relations team at (703) 684-3600.
Have a great weekend!
John Eichberger
Vice President, Government Relations