Caucus, Autogas Again Among Top “Propane Days” Issues

Asked in early April to discuss the issues that the propane industry will present to legislators and their staffs at Propane Days this month, National Propane Gas Association (NPGA) director of legislative affairs Matt Bisenius said the association’s legislative team was still working on putting together the briefs. But he listed some top priorities that would be part of the Propane Days conversations. Promoting the Congressional Propane Caucus and extending propane autogas tax credits will continue to be primary objectives, just like at last year’s Propane Days.

Bisenius noted that the Caucus had just signed up its 50th member, Rep. Mike Conaway (R-Texas). NPGA and members of Congress in May 2015 formed the caucus to provide a bipartisan forum to engage Congress members, their staffs, and the public on issues of importance to propane consumers and the propane industry. Reps. Robert E. Latta (R-Ohio) and Tim Walz (D-Minn.) serve as co-chairs of the caucus.

Caucus members’ level of understanding of the propane business and propane’s profile with members of Congress has increased, meeting a major goal of the group. Bisenius is pleased to see that the caucus is bipartisan and regionally diverse. Recent events held by the group were also successful.

Heading into winter 2015-2016, caucus members convened a briefing with representatives from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) and the Congressional Research Service to discuss the propane supply situation and to update members and their staffs on what to expect for the winter. NPGA correctly predicted at the briefing that the winter would be relatively mild, and no Congressional action was required. The group is hoping to hold similar events in the future.

“We want to make sure to thank members that have joined the caucus and to encourage members to continue to join,” Bisenius said.

Autogas will again be a focus of Propane Days issues. An extension of the federal alternative fuel tax credit, which was 50 cents per gallon in 2015 and roughly 37 cents per gallon for 2016, will be a priority, with a long-term extension of five years being a top goal. The credit is set to expire at the end of this year. Expanding the credit to include commercial lawn mowers is a relatively new goal of NPGA’s legislative team.

Also on the autogas side, NPGA continues to push for parity in the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) fuel standards, which have been in existence since the 1970s with a goal to improve vehicle fuel efficiency. Automakers are required to comply with the standards, and current law allows them to earn CAFE credits for producing alternative fuel and/or bifuel vehicles. For most alternative fuels, the total CAFE credits that manufacturers can earn are subject to a cap. But electric and natural gas vehicles are exempt from that cap.

“Currently there are instances in those standards where electric or natural gas vehicles, or in some cases both, receive advantageous treatment, and we make the argument that there should be a level playing field within the federal standards for auto fuel to include propane,” Bisenius noted.

Jurisdictional propane systems are another area of legislative focus. He explained that the threshold to designate a system as jurisdictional, which would make it fall under federal regulations, is relatively low. NPGA is working to reduce the possibility of propane systems falling under federal regulations, which state that a system is jurisdictional if just 10 or more customers are supplied from a single tank or as few as two customers if part of the system crosses a public way, such as a street.

“We’re currently working to see if there are potential legislative avenues to provide some regulatory relief and modify those levels,” Bisenius said. “This again is an issue that’s relatively new and needs working out before it’s ready for prime time, but it’s something that at least in theory or principle, I think a lot of members of Congress could get behind. That’s where Propane Days really works out well for us because that’s where education can happen on this issue to bring members up to speed for what needs to be done to help our industry.

“Those are some of the topline issues we’re working on right now,” he added. “There could be some other ones depending on how things shake out in the spring. That’s where a lot of the focus for the legislative team is going to be heading into Propane Days.” —Daryl Lubinsky