CleanFuel CNG Blog

NGVAmerica reports that this week, four US Senators introduced the Streamline Alternative Fuel Vehicle Conversions Act. (S. 1809 and HR 3431). The legislation would simply and streamline EPA’s emissions certification process for aftermarket fuel conversion systems. It is a bill “To amend the Clean Air Act to promote the certification of aftermarket conversion systems and thereby encourage the increased use of alternative fueled vehicles.” (S.1809)

During the bill’s introduction, Sen. Inhofe noted that the bill “makes critical changes so that vehicle conversions can become a commonplace option for all Americans. By simplifying this compliance process, we will not only incentivize conversion manufacturers to offer more systems for additional vehicle makes and models, but will eventually reduce the costs of these conversion systems for interested car owners – perhaps by hundreds and even thousands of dollars”.

Specifically the bill would:

• Eliminate the need for subsequent yearly recertification after a system has already been certified, making it no longer necessary to resubmit data to EPA for a system that has not changed;
• Direct the EPA to establish criteria that would cover several different yet similar vehicle makes, models and model years on a single certificate of conformity using the test data from a single vehicle;
• Instruct the EPA to allow the submission of previous testing data if a vehicle or the conversion system has not changed in a way which would affect compliance;
• Direct the EPA to promulgate regulations to help conversion system manufacturers comply with potentially difficult on-board diagnostics (OBD) requirements and compatibility; and
• Clarify the treatment of vehicles which are beyond their useful life as defined by the EPA as long as the conversion system manufacturer or the converter is able to demonstrate that the emissions would not worsen due to a conversion.

Source: NGVAmerica

The Railroad Commission of Texas, which oversees oil and gas production in the state, recently reorganized some of its staff to improve efficiency and pave the way for a possible future increase in the use of compressed natural gas (CNG) as a transportation fuel.

The three commissioners, based in Austin, unanimously approved the creation of the Alternative Energy Division (AED) on Oct. 22. Commissioner Elizabeth Ames Jones, appointed by Gov. Rick Perry to the commission in 2005, announced the AED’s launch the following day.

The new division, which focuses on existing alternative energy currently under the commission’s jurisdiction, is comprised of staff from across the agency, now united under one common purpose: the promotion and regulation of alternative fuels throughout the state of Texas. It’s being billed as a more efficient way to manage operations because there can be cross-training of inspectors, trainers, marketers and licensors in one place.

The Railroad Commission of Texas already has been promoting propane as a transportation fuel. According to the commission, Texas operates about 10.000 propane vehicles, and about 1.500, or 4 percent, of the state’s school buses are propane-powered. About 35 Texas districts operate propane school buses, and some have been using the fuel for more than 25 years.

Other important fuels would be liquefied natural gas (LNG) and compressed natural gas, which is used in many fleet vehicles. In the Fort Worth-Dallas area, three districts operate a total of about 40 CNG buses, according to the commission.

Barnett Shale Energy Education Council Executive Director Ed Ireland is a proponent of natural gas as a transportation fuel. Ireland and Texas Christian University’s Ken Morgan, director of the Energy Institute, recently launched the Metroplex Natural Gas Vehicle Consortium, which aims to bring together groups and people who are interested in natural gas vehicles, including fleet operators, natural gas producers and more. One of the consortium’s goals is to encourage the building of natural gas-fueling stations.

The US state of Texas has passed House Bill 432 that addresses limitations in previous legislation, to remove financial disincentives to purchasing alternative fuel vehicles and clarify government requirements for state fleets. The bill, which becomes law on September 1, 2009, amends the Government Code to provide that purchasing requirements relating to state agency purchases of alternatively fueled vehicles do not apply if an agency demonstrates that it will incur net costs in meeting those requirements. It also amends provisions to specify that such vehicles must use alternative fuels, rather than just be capable of using alternative fuels, and to specify that a vehicle meets the use requirement if it uses an alternative fuel not less than 80 percent of the time it is driven.

The bill sets a new deadline, September 20, 2010, for agencies that operate a fleet of more than 15 motor vehicles, excluding law enforcement and emergency vehicles, to have a fleet in which at least 50 percent of the vehicles use alternative fuels.

It transfers from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to the comptroller of public accounts the power to reduce or waive these requirements.

The bill applies certain low emissions vehicle purchasing requirements not just to a state agency that purchases 10 or more vehicles in a state fiscal biennium, as under previous law, but to any agency that is authorized to purchase passenger vehicles or other ground transportation vehicles for general use. It increases, from 10 to 25 percent, the minimum percentage of purchased vehicles, other than exempted vehicles, that must meet those emission standards and expands the vehicles exempted to include a vehicle to be used by a peace officer whose duties include the apprehension of persons for violation of a Texas criminal law.

The State of Oklahoma has passed two alternative fuel bills that will help Oklahomans take advantage of the state’s local alternative energy assets with natural gas for transportation. House Bill 1949 extends an existing tax credit on the purchase of a qualified clean-burning motor vehicle for five years for compressed and liquefied natural gas and electric cars. House Bill 1952 seeks to help further expand the number of vehicles in the state running on alternative fuels like compressed natural gas. The legislation will also help expand the number of publicly available fueling stations across the state.

The credit is equal to 50 percent of the cost of a conversion of vehicles to operate on a qualified fuel, as well as those originally equipped to do so.

The legislation also includes a tax credit for businesses seeking to build infrastructure to fuel such vehicles, along with a $2,500 tax credit for consumers installing home-fueling stations.

House Bill 1952

The bill would allow the Department of Central Services to provide fleet services to schools, county and municipal governments and provide public access to alternative fueling infrastructure in underserved areas unless a private provider locates within five miles.

The “State Fleet Management Fund” will also be amended to allow money from the fund to be used to build alternative fueling infrastructure or to acquire alternative fuel vehicles for use by state agencies or to lease to political subdivisions. The bill states that money from lease payments would be deposited into the fund.

The allowable loan amount out of the fund for a fill station will increase to $300,000, and a current cap of $10,000 per vehicle conversion will remain intact.

The bill would also repeal cost-prohibitive California Air Resources Board emission limits, and instead defer to emissions standards put in place by the federal Environmental Protection Agency. This change will make conversions easier and less cost-prohibitive but would still keep federal standards in place on all conversion kits.