Dear PEI Member:
Delegates to the interim meeting of the National Conference on Weights and Measures (NCWM), held
late last month in New Orleans, discussed nearly a dozen issues of importance
to PEI members and their customers. A few issues will go forward as voting
items at the NCWM Conference in July; most were not ready for "prime time"
and will require more work before they are considered once again.
Six proposals to amend
the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Handbook 44
section on Liquid Measuring Devices
related to price posting. The six were merged into one item,
which has been designated for a vote in July. The proposals include language that:
- Updates specifications to address current marketing methods for
offering discount pricing beyond simple cash/credit pricing;
- Allows greater flexibility in the way consumers can select a unit
price to accommodate new technology;
- Provides an exemption from the money values agreement requirement when
the dispensing system offers post-delivery discounts that result in total
price indications different than those indicated on an auxiliary element;
- Ensures that fuel dispensers provide receipts with sufficient
information to allow customers to fully understand any post-delivery
discounts and to allow the use of electronic as well as printed receipts;
- Provides realistic requirements for displaying or posting unit prices
in consideration of the discount marketing practices being offered to
consumers; and
- Provides adequate information on the consumer receipt to allow the
customer to verify all applicable discounts.
Other action taken at the interim meeting in New Orleans included:
- Meter provers. NIST will form a work group at some later date
to address differences between verification results of meters using vapor
capture prover apparatus and verification results using non-vapor capture
proving apparatus, such as open-neck provers.
- Dispensers of electricity. NIST will eventually form a work
group to create a method of sale to support uniformity in retail sales of
electricity as a vehicle fuel.
- Biodiesel blends. A Biodiesel Disclosure Task Group formed in
2011 continues to study a proposal that would remove the exemption for
declaration of biodiesel content on product transfer documents for
biodiesel blends up to 5 percent.
- Diesel nozzles. The NCWM Conference in July will vote on a proposal to amend NIST Handbook 130 to establish the
minimum nozzle spout diameter for diesel nozzles at 0.93 inches to prevent
accidental misfueling. An attempt to color-code diesel nozzles failed to
garner enough support to move forward as a voting item.
- E15. The Laws and Regulations Committee will continue to work on language with the hope that NCWM will
be in a position to vote to recognize E15 in NIST Handbook 130 at the NCWM
2012 annual conference.
- Pump labeling. The NCWM will vote in July to amend NIST Handbook 130 to recognize and include
EPA's mandatory pump labeling requirements included in EPA's July 25, 2011, Misfueling Mitigation rule.
- Diesel filters. The Fuels and Lubricants Subcommittee will
gather more information on a proposal from the Missouri Department of
Agriculture to require diesel and biodiesel to have a 10 micron or smaller
nominal pore-sized filter. This issue will not be voted on at NCWM's July
conference.
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NCWM Interim Meeting Report
PEI To Sponsor Two Additional CNG Courses
Obama and
Natural Gas
Natural Gas Fuel Incentive Bill
More PEI and Industry Events »
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All committee reports will be posted on the NCWM website around mid-March. Those reports will
include the exact wording of each proposal. We will make them available
to you then. In the meantime, if you have
questions about any of the NCWM's actions described above, call
Bob Renkes at PEI (918-236-3960) or email
rrenkes@pei.org.
TWO ADDITIONAL CNG COURSES PLANNED FOR MAY
Since PEI's
CNG Fueling Station Design and Construction Course in
Las Vegas sold out within weeks, PEI has planned additional courses for
Chicago (May 9-10 at Rosemont/O'Hare) and Baltimore (May 15-16 at
Baltimore-Washington Airport). These will be the last two CNG station
courses offered this year and are expected to sell out
quickly. If you want
to attend be sure to
register online as soon as possible. Contact Sondra
Sutton for registration questions (918-236-3967) or email
ssutton@pei.org.
PRESIDENT OBAMA
PUSHES NATURAL GAS
During a speech on September 26 in Las Vegas, President Obama sketched out
a plan to encourage the use of natural gas as an alternative fuel to power
the nation's long-haul trucking fleet. Through subsidies and tax breaks, the
President hopes to spur the creation of a network of natural gas refueling
stations. The stations would, in theory, encourage trucking companies to
take a tax break by either converting or buying trucks fueled by natural gas
instead of diesel fuel. According to a White House Fact Sheet, the
President's plan includes:
- Proposing new incentives for medium- and heavy-duty trucks that run on
natural gas or other alternative fuels;
- Launching a competitive grant program to overcome the barriers to
natural gas vehicle deployment;
- Developing transportation corridors that allow trucks fueled by
liquefied natural gas to transport goods; and
- Supporting programs to convert municipal buses and trucks to run on
natural gas, and to find new ways to convert and store natural gas.
SENATOR CASEY INTRODUCES NATURAL GAS FUEL INCENTIVE BILL
U.S. Senator Robert Casey (D-PA) unveiled legislation February 5 to
speed the transition to natural gas as a vehicle fuel. Casey's Natural Gas
Energy and Alternative Rewards (NGEAR) Act would create a rebate program as
incentive for localities to buy natural gas powered buses, and extend tax
credits for establishing natural gas filling stations and vehicle fuel.
Specifically, NGEAR would:
- Offer a 30 percent rebate, capping at $15,000, to businesses and local
governments to buy natural gas fueled school and transit buses;
- Extend the alternative-fuel tax credit of 50 cents per gallon through
2016. This credit would go to consumers who drive natural gas fueled and
alternative fuel vehicles; and
- Extend the tax credit for installing commercial natural gas
refueling infrastructure through 2016, up to 30 percent or $30,000.
BRIEFLY NOTED
The Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) regulatory agenda released
January 20, 2012, indicates that EPA plans to release its final rule
defining "widespread use" for purposes of eliminating Stage II vapor
recovery requirements in June 2012.
TravelCenters of America LLC has completed the installation of bulk
diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) dispensers at 62 of its TA and Petro Stopping
Center branded locations. The company said that it expects to have on-island
bulk DEF dispensers at substantially all of its 165 locations before the end
of this year.
Pilot Flying J currently has 221 locations with DEF
dispensers. Pilot Flying J operates approximately 550 truckstops and travel
centers in 47 states and eight Canadian provinces.
Nearly two-thirds of consumers (63 percent) rated price as the most
important reason why they select a particular location for fueling, more
than triple any other reason.―2012 NACS Consumer
Fuels Report.
The Committee on Science, Space, and Technology approved a bill (H.R.
3199) on February 7 that requires EPA to coordinate with the National
Academy of Sciences to comprehensively assess scientific and technical
research on gasoline blends with 15 percent ethanol (E15) before such fuels
may be approved for consumer use. The Committee approved the bill by a vote
of 19-7.
The Washington Department of Transportation has installed the first
of a series of electric car charging stations along Interstate 5, dubbed the
West Coast Electric Highway, which will link British Columbia in Canada with
Oregon. Nine charging stations in Washington and eight in Oregon are
scheduled for completion by March. Plans to extend the electric highway into
California are on hold because of funding problems.
APPOINTMENTS AND PROMOTIONS
Petroleum Parts Inc., Fort Wayne, Indiana, has hired Bradley
Minor as senior account manager. Minor was previously president of B & D
Sales.
OPW Fueling Components, A Dover Company has named Ed Kammerer western
regional sales manager and Steve Stewart Canada sales manager, effective
February 6. Kammerer is responsible for all sales-related activities and
sales personnel in Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Michigan, and all states west of
the Mississippi River with the exception of Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana.
Stewart is responsible for all sales-related activities across Canada and
will also serve as district manager for Eastern Canada.
REGULATORY BRIEFS
Hawaii. A bill to repeal the ten percent ethanol by volume
requirement for gasoline sold in Hawaii for use in motor vehicles has been
introduced in Hawaii's House of Representatives. The bill was referred to
the Committee on Energy and Environmental Protection on February 2.
DEATHS
Ray Swonger, president and founder of R-J Sales & Associates Inc.,
Greensboro, Georgia, died February 1 after suffering a severe stroke the
week before. He was 79. Ray founded R-J Sales & Associates in 1984 and
worked in the business with his son, Jeff, and daughter, Jill Rabb. He also
is survived by his wife, Joan. Ray will be remembered as a person who
truly loved the industry and its people.
ADMITTED TO PEI
- A. Phelps Petroleum, Lynn Haven, FL (dis)
- Pumptech Service and Maintenance Limited, Red Deer, Alberta (S&C)
- Berg Engineering Co. LLC, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates (aff)
- Darin Knowlton, ExxonMobil, Bristow, VA (O&E)
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