OPMCA Connection
Keeping You Informed!
OPMCA Connection keeps you informed and current on regulations from all state and national agencies as well as laws pertaining to the petroleum marketing/c-store industry.
OPMCA STAFF


Candace McGinnis
Executive Director  
Candace@opmca4you.com 

Hannah Fite
Director of Member Services  
Hannah@opmca4you.com

OPMCA  
6420 N. Santa Fe, Suite B
Oklahoma City, OK 73116
Phone: (405) 842-6625 
(800) 256-5013 
Fax: (405) 842-9562
2018-2019 Board of Directors
Tommy Shreffler, Chairman 
 OnCue Marketing, LLC

Jerry Davidson
Pete’s Corporation

Jason Flinn 
Flowers Oil Company

Teresa Hollenbeck
Red Rock Distributing Company

Kurtis Hutchinson
Hutchinson Oil Company

Brian Lohman
ASAP Energy, Inc.

John Netherton
Danielson Fuel Services

Duff Thompson
AVP Metro Petroleum LLC

Rob Toth
Coffeyville Resource
2019 Convention Registration is OPEN!
The 2019 OPMCA Convention will be held on April 30th, with the Oklahoma Super Trade Show the following day on May 1st. OPMCA encourages all members to attend and participate in convention activities. Online registration is now open!
The host hotel for the 2019 OPMCA Convention and Oklahoma Super Trade Show will be the Skirvin Hotel in downtown Oklahoma City. Please be sure to reserve your room before April 1, 2019 to receive the discounted room rate.
Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2019
  • PMAA December 2018 Priorities Report
  • Oil Spill Liability Tax Expires
  • FMCSA Random Drug and Alcohol Testing Rates for 2019
  • Shutdown's Impact on Marketers
  • FMCSA Lowers 2019 Unified Carrier Registration Fees
  • Federated Insurance Risk Management Academy Webinar
PMAA December 2018 Priorities Report
To view the full report, please click HERE .

Top Issues

  • RVP Waiver for E10+ Blends, E15 Description/Labeling, EPA RFS Final Rule, RFS Reform CAFE Standards -- Rolling Back Obama-era Fuel Efficiency Rules
  • Reducing UST Compliance Costs/UST Rule Delay
  • NORA Reauthorization 
  • ULSD Corrosion
  • Unfair EV Charging Infrastructure Initiatives/EV Tax Credit 
  • CDL Driver Shortage
  • Swipe Fees and Litigation
  • Federal Motor Fuel Excise Tax Increase
  • Tax Extenders/Biodiesel Tax Credit

Secondary Issues
  • FDA Regulation of Tobacco
  • Placarding 
  • Meal and Rest Breaks for Motor Carriers
  • LIHEAP Funding/Leveraging Requirement
  • Overtime Rule
  • Expanding the HOS Short Haul Exemption
  • SNAP Program
  • Method 27 -- Determination of Vapor Tightness of Gasoline Delivery Tank Using Pressure Vacuum Test
  • On-Demand Fueling
  • Disaster Planning/Establish Emergency Response Program
  • Tax Reform

Oil Spill Liability Tax Expires
The Oil Spill Liability Tax (OSLT) expired at midnight December 31, 2018
 
The 9 cents per barrel OSLT tax is imposed on crude oil at the refinery gate. The OSLT has no tax related impact on downstream marketers, it is simply a cost passed through on finished product. The OSLT is paid by the refiner upstream. Unfortunately, some terminals break out the OSLT as a separate line item on bills of lading and invoices. This practice causes confusion downstream because the tax is paid by refiners on crude oil at the refinery gate. The OSLT is not imposed, remitted or refunded downstream. There are no OSLT floor stock taxes or OSLT tax exempt parties downstream. However, breaking out the OSLT as a separate line item gives it a perception of importance downstream.
 
The impact of the OSLT on wholesale petroleum marketers below the terminal rack is a miniscule increase in the rack cost of finished motor fuel and heating oil. Terminal operators break out the OSLT on invoices, not because wholesale petroleum marketers need to know, but for their own accounting purposes and no other reason. There is no OSLT notice requirement for downstream parties. Some downstream wholesale petroleum marketers who break out the OSLT on invoices to their end user customers may need to adjust their accounting practices and software to reflect the expiration. However, there is no regulatory requirement to breakout the OSLT downstream of the terminal rack on invoices in the first place.
 
PMAA will work with Congressional tax writing committees early next year to ensure that the tax isn’t applied retroactively. 

IRS Issues Standard Mileage Rates for 2019
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) this week issued the 2019 optional standard mileage rates used to calculate the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business, charitable, medical or moving purposes. Beginning on January 1, 2019, the standard mileage rates for the use of a car (also vans, pickups or panel trucks) will be:
  • 58 cents per mile driven for business use, up 3.5 cents from the rate for 2018, 
  • 20 cents per mile driven for medical or moving purposes, up 2 cents from the rate for 2018, and 
  • 14 cents per mile driven in service of charitable organizations.

The business mileage rate increased 3.5 cents for business travel driven and 2 cents for medical and certain moving expense from the rates for 2018. The charitable rate is set by statute and remains unchanged. It is important to note that under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, taxpayers cannot claim a miscellaneous itemized deduction for unreimbursed employee travel expenses. The standard mileage rate for business use is based on an annual study of the fixed and variable costs of operating an automobile. The business standard mileage rate cannot be used for more than four vehicles used simultaneously. 

This and other limitations are described in section 4.05 of Rev. Proc. 2010-51.

FMCSA Random Drug and Alcohol Testing Rates for 2019
U.S. DOT announces random drug and alcohol test rates for 2019:

The FMCSA this week announced minimum employee random drug and alcohol testing rates for 2019. The test rates are the minimum percentage of employees who are subject to U.S. DOT drug and alcohol requirements who must undergo a random test during the upcoming calendar year. The number of random tests conducted by employers for 2019 must equal at least 25 percent for drugs and 10 percent for alcohol. These are the same rates required in 2018.

Shutdown's Impact on Marketers
Last week, the House passed three appropriations bills that would fund the Department of Transportation (DOT), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Department of Agriculture (DOA), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Department of Treasury (DOT) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) as part of an effort to end the ongoing government shutdown. Additionally, the House is set to vote on their fourth and final appropriations bill today that would fund the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Department of Interior (DOI). However, the votes are largely symbolic because Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has said the Senate will not bring to the floor any bills that President Trump wouldn’t sign, and President Trump has said he would veto all four bills.  

Due to disagreements on the appropriations bills and their lack of funding for the border wall, day 22 of the partial government shutdown left EPA without funding. The E-Verify electronic verification employment system’s website had been shut down, and USDA is working with states to issue February SNAP benefits earlier than usual. The EPA has also announced it will begin “orderly shutdown procedures” of non-essential functions. There is no immediate resolution in sight and no other votes are expected today. House leadership have committed to giving 24 hours’ notice before calling for a vote.  

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) E-Verify electronic verification employment system’s website that verifies the information on a worker’s Form I-9 with Social Security Administration records, was shut down. For employers who use E-Verify, until the website is operational, simply go back to the rules for hiring documents that the majority of employers’ use, which includes employee Form I-9/Employment Eligibility Verification. According to DHS, the three-day rule for creating E-Verify cases has been suspended during the shutdown. There continues to be strong Administration support for the program. President Trump would like to mandate DHS’s E-Verify program nationwide, and his fiscal 2019 budget plan requested $23 million to expand the online program for all 50 states.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue announced that in order to ensure that participants in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) receive their benefits in February if the shutdown persists, USDA will work with states to issue February benefits earlier than usual.  

Based on language in the recently-expired Continuing Resolution (CR), programs like SNAP can incur obligations for program operations within 30 days of the CR’s expiration. USDA will
instruct states to request early issuance of SNAP benefits, and states will have until January 20th to request and implement the early issuance. SNAP retailers are urged to prepare for early transactions and to staff and stock stores appropriately.

If Democrats continue to refuse funding for a border wall, President Trump has said that he will likely use his presidential power to declare a national emergency. If this were to happen, the money for the wall would likely come from unused money in the Army Corps of Engineers budget, specifically from a disaster spending bill that Congress passed last year. If an emergency declaration is issued, House Democratic leadership have been discussing the possibility of suing the Trump Administration, although they may not have standing to sue. With no end in sight, it remains to be seen when the government will fully reopen.

FMCSA Lowers 2019 Unified Carrier Registration Fees Due to Past Year Overcollection
Unified Carrier Registration fees for trucking companies, brokers and freight forwarders are going down for 2019. The UCR applies to petroleum marketers operating cargo tank vehicles across state lines to deliver fuel. The fees are being reduced in order to not exceed the total amount collected nationwide as set by Congress. Under the UCR Plan and Agreement, the maximum amount of revenues that can be collected from carriers is established at $107.78 million. Fees collected in 2017 exceeded this maximum by $7.3 million. The fee reductions for 2019 and 2020 are to ensure registration fees don’t exceed the maximum in the next two years. UCR fees will increase in 2020 from 2019, but still stay below levels from 2010-2018.
 
UCR requires individuals or companies that operate commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) in interstate or international commerce, or individuals or companies that make arrangements for the transportation of cargo and goods, to register their businesses and pay an annual fee based on the size of their fleet. The UCR applies to CMVs with a gross vehicle weight (GVW) or gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of 10,001 pounds or more or is used to transport hazardous materials in a quantity that requires placarding. Motor carriers, motor private carriers, freight forwarders, leasing companies, and brokers based in the United States, Canada, Mexico, or any other country that operate in interstate or international commerce in the United States must register under the UCR program. For for-hire carriers, UCR replaced the Single State Registration System (SSRS) program. SSRS was not renewed for 2007. The UCR program is similar to SSRS in that UCR is a Base-State system, under which a carrier pays UCR fees to one state on behalf of all participating states.
 
More information is available at: https://www.ucr.gov/

Federated Insurance Risk Management Academy Webinar
A Top Ten List You Can’t Ignore (OSHA Top Ten) 
Tuesday, January 15, 2019, 1:00 p.m. CT 

Each year, OSHA releases a summary of their list of Top Ten workplace safety violations. This 30-minute webinar will take a look at OSHA’s Top Ten violations in 2018. More importantly, however, we will focus on risk management policies, procedures, and training resources to implement and help reduce employee accidents and injuries! 

What you will learn: 
  • Quick overview of the OSHA Top Ten violations for 2018 
  • Training resources, programs and policies to implement in your business 
  • How to positively impact workplace productivity and culture through accident prevention

Advance registration is required.

For additional information or to discuss this in further detail, please contact your Federated regional representative.