WASHINGTON – The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy and Air Quality meets today to consider new energy policy legislation. The language under consideration no longer includes a number of controversial provisions in the motor fuels title, including an earlier proposal to require retailers to install E-85 dispensers. This proposal was met with strong resistance from NACS.
On June 7, NACS Vice Chairman of Government Relations Sonja Hubbard told the subcommittee that NACS strongly opposed language in its original draft legislation that would direct the Secretary of Energy to require some retailers within a region to install E-85 dispensers when the number of vehicles capable of running on this fuel reached 15 percent of all vehicles in that region.
“Let me state clearly and unconditionally: NACS and SIGMA are strongly opposed to this provision,” Hubbard testified. “It is anti-free market; it will put retailers in significant economic jeopardy; it is an extreme overreaching by the Federal government into private enterprise; and, it is unsupported by existing or anticipated market conditions.”
Hubbard further noted that every industry group affected by such a mandate opposed the provision, including the Renewable Fuels Association, the National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition, the Alliance of Automobile Manufactures and NACS.
Following the hearing, NACS began meeting with subcommittee members to generate support for an amendment to strike the mandate, in anticipation of a markup the following week. That markup was postponed until today. During the interim, the Democratic majority of the House Energy and Commerce Committee decided to drop a number of provisions, including the E-85 mandate.
Another provision dropped from the bill was a proposal to create an alternative fuels standard, requiring the use of 35 billion gallons of renewable and alternative fuels by the year 2025. Hubbard had advised the subcommittee to precondition any increase in the mandate for such fuels upon a finding by the Secretary of Energy that there were sufficient supplies and distribution infrastructure to deliver the required product to consumers without unnecessarily burdening them with additional costs.
Hubbard had also testified regarding a provision seeking to clarify that a franchisor may not prohibit a franchisee from offering an alternative fuel. She impressed upon the subcommittee to amend the section to ensure that a franchisee cannot subject the landowner to long-term liability by selling an alternative fuel from non-certified equipment. NACS was successful in its efforts to amend the section to protect the rights of the landowner.
“The removal of the E-85 mandate and the clarification of the franchise relationship are significant victories for the retail community,” NACS Vice President of Government Relations John Eichberger told NACS Daily. “While Congress is intent upon promoting alternative and renewable fuels, it is our industry’s goal to ensure such efforts do not violate the ability of retailers to make business decisions based upon free market conditions.”
NACS Daily will report the outcome of deliberations on the pending legislation in future editions.