This week, the U.S. Senate began consideration of a comprehensive energy package, S.2657, the American Energy Innovation Act. As expected, this legislation includes several provisions that are helpful and others that raise concern for the propane industry.
In general, NPGA is supportive of the overall package, which includes programs that would promote the use of propane. One of the most beneficial provisions is the repeal of Section 433 of the Energy and Security Act of 2007, which banned fossil fuels from certain federal buildings. Additionally, the bill establishes a technical assistance partnership program for combined heat and power (CHP) and promotes grid resilience by deploying microgrid technology.
Most notably, S. 2657 does not include building codes language that would promote widespread electrification and discourage the use of propane and natural gas across the country. That said, major efforts have been made by
Senator Portman (R-OH) to include these building codes through an amendment on the Senate floor. NPGA signed a
letter penned by the
National Association of Homebuilders and the
American Gas Association that aims to educate legislators and push back against Senator Portman’s amendment. Additionally, NPGA has launched a grassroots campaign, sending nearly 1,200 letters asking Senators to oppose the inclusion of these misguided building codes. If you have not done so already, please show your support by
sending an email today!
The Senate is expected to vote on Senator Portman’s amendment and final passage of S. 2657 by the end of next week.
If you have questions, please contact NPGA’s Michael Baker at
[email protected] or 202-466-7200.
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Register Now For 2020 NPGA Expo
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The NPGA Expo offers the largest array of propane-related products and services in the world. You'll find providers of all of these product and service categories—and more—in one convenient location:
• LP-gas appliance, equipment, and components
• Manufacturers
• Vehicle fabricators
• Tank and cylinder manufacturers
• Computer hardware, software, and technology service providers
• Producers and wholesalers of LP-gas
• Manufacturer representatives and wholesalers
• Propane transporters
• Insurance carriers, underwriters, and agencies
• Autogas distributors and technology providers
• Other providers of goods and services to the LP-gas industry
What's more, Expo Only passes start at just $40 and include access to the
Expo Hall
, Autogas Pavilion, New Product Showcase, and
Fast-Track Sessions
.*
*Savings amounts are the difference between early-bird member and on-site non-member rates. See
NPGAExpo.com
for details.
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Expo Update Amid Health Concerns
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NPGA will follow the direction of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and United Nations Word Health Organization (WHO) for decisions around the impact of COVID-19.
At this time, based on the information available, there are no plans to cancel the 2020 NPGA Southeastern Convention & International Expo or any other NPGA sponsored activities.
NPGA will continue to follow the rolling updates and current risk assessments from experts in the public health community. NPGA is in daily contact with officials in Nashville who are also monitoring COVID-19 closely. Attendee safety is an NPGA priority.
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A goodwill gesture by a propane delivery driver in Maine was caught on a homeowner’s camera and the story has gone viral. The driver, from Dead River Company, was making a propane delivery at the home of a Marine Corps veteran following a significant snowstorm. When the driver noticed the homeowner’s American flag had blown down amidst the storm’s strong winds, the driver simply picked up the flag, dusted it off and placed it back into position, all of which was caught on video. The image of the driver’s action occurred, ironically, on the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Iwo Jima, which famously produced a similar iconic image. The homeowner expressed his sincere gratitude to the driver for this patriotic gesture. You can read the full story
here
.
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The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) recently published a Policy and Compliance Notice regarding treatment of cannabidiol (CBD) products.
According to the Notice, DOT does not distinguish between the use of CBD products and any other marijuana use by safety-sensitive employees, including drivers transporting hazardous materials. Therefore, propane drivers who use CBD products may test positive for marijuana on drug exams.
The 2018 Farm Bill categorized hemp-derived CBD products with up to 0.3 percent tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) as not a controlled substance. THC is the psychoactive element of marijuana. However, the Food & Drug Administration (FDA), which regulates the sale and labeling of CBD products, does not require CBD manufacturers to label the amount of THC in the product. Thus, an individual may use a CBD product without knowing the percentage of THC present in the product. The percentage of THC may be sufficient to cause a positive test result on DOT mandatory substance exams.
While some individuals use CBD products to treat medical conditions, DOT regulations do not recognize the use of CBD products as a legitimate medical explanation for a marijuana-positive test result. DOT recommends that safety-sensitive employees consider the possibility of a positive test result before using CBD products. The DOT Notice is available online
here.
Please direct any questions to
Sarah Reboli, NPGA Deputy Counsel, Regulatory Affairs.
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Propane Autogas School Buses
Poster Available Now
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NPGA is pleased to announce our
Propane Autogas School Buses Poster is now available to download from the password protected
NPGA Member Dashboard.
The poster includes a state-by-state listing of total propane-powered school buses per state and pounds of Annual NOx Reduction. You can use this poster to educate school districts, municipalities, and local government officials in a propane-powered alternative.
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Fight Electrification
Toolkit Now Available
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NPGA is pleased to announce our
Fight Electrification Toolkit is now available to download from the password protected
NPGA Member Dashboard.
The toolkit includes a variety of tools you can use to combat the push towards electrification and/or local bans on the use of gas or installation of gas infrastructure.
These materials can be co-branded with a state association or member company’s logo. With co-branding, your logo will be placed on the document alongside NPGA branding, and contact information can be included. Please
complete this form to request co-branding. Initially, NPGA will handle these co-branding requests, but eventually we will have a “do it yourself” tool. Our goal is to complete requests within 24 hours on a regular business day, but please provide as much lead time as possible. For more information, email
Morgan Doggett.
Thank you to those who provided valuable comments during the development stage to improve these materials. We appreciate your efforts and feedback. These materials are just the first step in the
Fight Electrification effort. NPGA and PERC are developing an overall communications strategy with more details to be released soon.
The goal is to make these materials useful at the state and local level. For technical inquiries, please contact
Lesley Garland. For questions on the communications materials, use, or production, please contact
Sarah McLallen.
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NFPA Technical Committee Meets
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In anticipation of entering into a new development cycle for the 2023 edition of
NFPA 58 LP-Gas Code, the NFPA Technical Committee on LP-Gas held a one-day meeting to review topics carried over from the previous development cycle and to explore new issues. The committee also discussed two Tentative Interim Amendments to NFPA 58 that are currently out for public comment, Log Nos. 1483 and 1487.
By the end of the day, several task forces were formed to follow up on the issues with the idea of developing proposals either by the June 30 deadline for public input or in sufficient time to be added to the agenda for the First Revisions meeting, which is tentatively scheduled for mid-October.
The task forces and their scopes are:
• Task force on mobile commercial cooking applications (food trucks), which will investigate the drafting of requirements in NFPA 58 for LP-Gas systems used in mobile commercial cooking applications.
• The task force on CGA 791 and CGA 793 cylinder valve connections will address the proposed TIA and consider making changes to the requirements for inspecting face seals on cylinder valves.
• The task force on container supports will be focusing on simplifying the written text in 6.8.3 in order to resolve inconsistencies within the text.
• The task force on internal valves will consider whether to draft a proposal to expand the requirement for internal valves on vapor lines of containers.
• The task force on the correlation of remote shutdown location will work on a proposal to resolve any conflicts in the distance requirements for remote shutdown of internal valves and emergency shutoff valves.
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Propane/propylene inventories decline
U.S. propane/propylene stocks decreased by 3.6 million barrels last week to 70.0 million barrels as of February 28, 2020, 18.8 million barrels (36.7%) greater than the five-year (2015-19) average inventory levels for this same time of year. Gulf Coast inventories decreased by 1.6 million barrels, Midwest inventories decreased by 1.5 million barrels, and East Coast and Rocky Mountain/West Coast inventories each decreased by 0.3 million barrels. Propylene non-fuel-use inventories represented 7.7% of total propane/propylene inventories.
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The information and commentary are intended to provide general information and do not constitute advice, recommendations, or speculation on propane demand or supply by NPGA staff or PERC staff.
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February 2020 Propane Inventory Report
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Monthly ending inventory levels for the U.S. overall as reported by the EIA for November 2019 fell from the previous month to 95.6 million barrels, approximately 40.7 days of demand. IHS Markit estimates U.S. end of month inventory levels will continue to fall on a monthly basis and reach a minimum for the season in April 2020. The end of April inventory estimate is 64.9 million barrels or 29.3 days of demand. This low point in the inventory cycle is still above the inventory level for the same time last year, but it is important to note the months through year end 2020 will be very different and lower compared to last year.
Full Inventory Trends Reports are for NPGA members only. Login is required to access them. If you need login help, please call 202-466-7200.
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NPGA Welcomes New
Regulatory Affairs Manager
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NPGA is excited to welcome
Twana Aiken! Twana joins our Advocacy & Technical Services Unit as Manager, Regulatory Affairs.
A native of Jackson, TN., Mrs. Aiken is an Agricultural Communications Bachelors graduate of Austin Peay State University and Environmental Science Masters graduate of Tuskegee University. A proud advocate for the environment, Twana has previous experience in chemical regulatory affairs, agriculture plant pathology regulation, and environmental science.
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NPGA at Energy Independence Summit
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NPGA participated in a panel discussion at the
Energy Independence Summit (EIS) in Washington, DC. The panel focused on the legislative priorities for alternative fuel vehicles (AFV) and the current state of play in Congress. EIS is a premier annual clean transportation policy summit that brings together public officials, Clean Cities coalitions, and industry stakeholders to discuss and promote the adoption of clean, alternative transportation fuels, such as autogas. This year, there was a special emphasis on propane school buses.
Additionally, NPGA staff visited six House offices, two Senate offices, and one Senate staffer from the Appropriations Committee to discuss the congressional priorities of the propane industry as well as Clean Cities. Topics of discussion included: appropriations requests, equitable alternative fuel corridor funding,
Diesel Emissions Reductions Act (DERA) grants, and the importance of providing long-term tax certainty for AFVs.
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NPGA Member Spotlight: Congressman Rob Wittman Visits Phillips Energy
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Story provided by Phillips Energy
During visits with constituents and businesses throughout the first Congressional district last month, Rep. Rob Wittman spent time at
Phillips Energy’s Gloucester Point office and showroom to talk all things energy and trends in Washington.
Wittman applauded President John Phillips and Vice President Elizabeth McCormick for continuing Phillips Energy’s legacy as a strong, family-owned business providing important jobs throughout the region from their Mathews, Gloucester and New Kent offices.
“I am a strong proponent of propane,” Wittman said. “I use propane personally in my home and know it to be an extremely valuable source of clean, reliable and affordable energy. Propane has a low carbon footprint and is an important energy source for families and small businesses.”
“As an environmental health specialist, I know the importance of clean energy,” Wittman added. “It is going to take innovation and creativity to reach our energy goals – and I am working in Congress to dispel myths and educate the public on the creative and alternative ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. One of those ways is through the
Congressional Propane Caucus, that engages Members of Congress on the important role that propane plays in meeting our current and future energy needs.”
The Congressional Propane Caucus serves as the forum for bipartisan engagement of Members of Congress, their staff, and the industry on issues of importance to propane businesses and their customers. The Congressional Propane Caucus is intended to keep caucus members up to date with developments in the propane industry.
“One of the things we are seeing right now, especially in state government, is the big issue of climate change,” said Phillips. “We are all for cleaning up the environment and want to do all we can as good stewards of the environment to run as clean vehicles as we can.”
But the trend, Phillips said, in Virginia is to focus on electric power.
“We’re really fighting hard in Richmond for alternative fuels,” Phillips said. “One of the things that has been a struggle is the administration wants to make school buses and all vehicles on the highway electrified.”
“We’ve got over 200 buses in the state running on propane right now, with more to come, and we have 18,000 across the United States,” Phillips said. “The cost of an electric bus is $360,000, on average. A propane bus is $90,000. You have about a 120-mile range in an electric bus and you have about 400 in a propane bus.”
Phillips Energy and other propane businesses have been telling that story, Phillips said, and working to get some energy funding pointed toward alternative fuels.
“But we can’t seem to gain any traction with those numbers,” Phillips said.
Promoting electric as the only green solution, Wittman said, has been the popular argument, not necessarily the logical argument for creating a greener future.
“The carbon footprint that goes into making the batteries, maintaining those batteries, building the electric engines, is a much larger carbon footprint than the internal combustion engine,” Wittman said. Plus, “when you plug in (an electric vehicle), there’s a power plant somewhere that’s producing that electricity that might be burning coal, which is a lot dirtier than propane.”
Wittman said in Washington they have been working to dispel myths and educate the public on the creative and alternative ways to reduce carbon footprints by people and corporations, citing as an example the Trillion Trees Act, legislation that would plant one trillion trees globally by 2050 and incentivize the use of wood products as carbon sequestration devices.
If you are interested in hosting a member of Congress at your facility, please contact NPGA’s Legislative Affairs Manager,
Tyler Lawrence
.
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Ready to Grow Your Business?
Join NPGA’s Benchmarking Council Today
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Think there are ways you could grow your business or be more efficient? NPGA’s Benchmarking Council could help!
The
Benchmarking Council
provides opportunities for propane marketers to search for new ideas by comparing business practices with other marketers who share the same challenges. Discussion sessions are held three times per year and are in small groups and are constructed so that participants within each group do not compete directly in the marketplace. Topics for discussion are decided upon by members of each small group and may include any aspect of the business from personnel matters to bulk truck configuration.
There are immediate openings.
Want to join a group or visit the Council to see if you are interested in membership? So we can best match you with a group that suits your interests, please
CLICK HERE
and provide your information; we will contact you shortly to provide additional registration information.
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Crum & Forster - Insurance Solutions
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Crum & Forster has specialized in providing insurance solutions to the propane industry since 1923. As an active member for 35 years, Crum & Forster has worked to raise the industry’s safety standards by promoting safety practices to mitigate common causes of incidences. Our risk engineering team has specialists who have served in safety management and training positions within the propane industry for over 25 years. Crum & Forster’s risk engineers partner with the insured to identify potential exposures and offer risk management measures to help reduce the risk of accidents and liability. Our risk engineers are committed to helping insureds directly as well as serving the propane industry through participation on the NPGA Member Services, TS&S and PERC Advisory committees.
Crum & Forster develops industry specific safety guides with periodic alerts sent to insureds to raise safety awareness. Multiple options are available for employee training including convenient, virtual online training led by a live instructor. We offer discounted options through outside vendors for vehicle cameras and employee screening services. The Crum & Forster claim department has adjusters experienced with claims involving LPG dealers and are dedicated to rapid claim handling on behalf of our insured.
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National Propane Gas Association
1899 L ST NW, Suite 350
Phone: 202-466-7200 | Fax: 202-466-7205
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Copyright © 2020 NPGA. All Rights Reserved.
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