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| Louisiana Biofuels Mandate Bill Making Headway
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| Posted by: Community Fuels |
4/7/2006 |
Louisiana, A bill making its way through the Louisiana legislature would require ethanol and biodiesel be used in 2% of the transportation pool.
Friday, April 7, 2006
Louisiana Biofuels Mandate Bill Making Headway |
Louisiana, A bill making its way through the Louisiana legislature would require ethanol and biodiesel be used in 2% of the transportation pool.
The bill, HB 685, by state House Agriculture Chairman Francis Thompson (D-D19), would require the biofuel requirement be enacted within six months of instate ethanol and biodiesel production each reaching 10 million gal/yr.
According to the Louisiana Farm Bureau Federation, there are no biofuel production plants currently operating in the state, although at least one proposed project is in the works, converting a former propane plant in Pollack to produce biodiesel.
"We have the opportunity to be first in something positive for a change," Thompson said recently in support of the bill, according to a Louisiana Department of Agriculture press release. "Louisiana farmers are struggling while petroleum companies earn record profits. It would be wonderful if the two could join hands to produce renewable fuels," Thompson said.
Once enacted, the gasoline blenders and retailers would have six months to meet the new biofuel requirements, according to language in the bill, aviation fuel would be exempt from the requirement.
The bill's introduction and recent passage by the House Agriculture
Committee may be surprising to some, considering in 2004 the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality vigorously fought against RFG designation for the five-parish Baton Rouge region. RFG designation would have required the city to use an oxygenate, likely ethanol. The Baton Rouge region was to start selling RFG in June of 2004, but was granted a stay by a federal court of appeals. The case appears to still be pending.
However, in a nod to the ongoing court case, HB 685 now includes an amendment stating, "Fuels containing ethanol or biodiesel shall not be sold in ozone non-attainment areas."
HB 685 must now be approved by the full House and then the Senate, before being sent to the governor's office. The legislature ends its session on June 19.
While the bill has support from the biofuel and rural communities,
including Louisiana Agriculture Commissioner Bob Odom, it still must overcome opposition from state petroleum and marketers. The Louisiana Oil Marketers and Convenience Store Association (LOMCSA) is against any bill that mandates biofuels, according to executive director Natalie Babin, noting this bill has the potential to increase gasoline prices 10-12 c/gal.
But, there's room for negotiation, Babin said. If there was a tax rebate provided to gasoline station owners to help offset the cost of installing tanks for ethanol and biodiesel-blended fuel, LOMCSA would be more supportive of the bill, she said, declining to cite a specific dollar amount. However, Babin said she has talked to Thompson and that he is not willing to add tax rebate language to his bill.
Louisiana joins a slew of other states looking at biofuel requirements this year. |
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Rachel Gantz, rgantz@opisnet.com | |
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