Author: consumerfocus

PMAA Regulatory Alert

PMAA Contact: Mark S. Morgan, Regulatory Counsel mmorgan@pmaa.org 

• By yesterday afternoon a series of fixes and upgrades were completed. The servers are running smoothly and there has not been any downtime today. The registration and reporting functions are working well, with 11,000+ registrants today at this point.
• The portal authentication function for the Clearinghouse was restored today. If a carrier is having issues with their portal account (locked out, password issues etc.) they may still register for the Clearinghouse and their account can be linked at a later date.
• The remaining issue is centered around problems with Commercial Driver’s License Information System (CDLIS) validation that impacts a carrier’s ability to query and drivers to register. An upgrade to CDLIS will be deployed this evening that will hopefully improve this issue.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s new requirements for a Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse go into effect on January 6, 2020. On and after that date, all companies that use drivers who have a Commercial Driver’s License or a Commercial Learner’s Permit must do four things:

1. Register with the FMCSA to use the Clearinghouse. Registration is now available on the Clearinghouse website portal by clicking here.
2. Upload information to the Clearinghouse on any drug or alcohol violations occurring on or after January 6, 2020 by any CDL driver that your company uses. (Note: Violations that occurred prior to January 6, 2020 do not need to be uploaded.)
3. Query the Clearinghouse for drug or alcohol violations by any prospective CDL driver that your company is considering hiring or contracting to operate a commercial motor vehicle.
4. Companies must also annually query the database for information about all current CDL drivers they use.

Registration

Motor carrier companies must register with the Clearinghouse in order to upload information about an employee driver’s positive tests or refusals to take a test, and also to query the system for current or prospective drivers. A company may use a Consortium/Third Party Administrator (C/TPA) to access the Clearinghouse database on behalf of the company.

Drivers must also register with the Clearinghouse to provide electronic consent to the company seeking information regarding the driver, and to review the accuracy of any information in the queried driver’s Clearinghouse record.

Uploading Information
When one of your drivers tests positive for drugs or alcohol, or refuses to take a DOT-mandated drug or alcohol test, that information must be uploaded into the Clearinghouse database. The Medical Review Officer will report the information to the Clearinghouse on behalf of the company.

NOTE: Only positive DOT test results or refusals to take a DOT test may be reported to the Clearinghouse. Companies may not report non-DOT tests or refusals to the Clearinghouse.

The Clearinghouse will notify the driver using the method indicated during the driver’s Clearinghouse registration — either postal mail or email — any time information about the driver is added, revised, or removed. If the driver has not yet registered for the Clearinghouse, these notifications will be sent by postal mail using the address associated with the driver’s commercial driver’s license.

NOTE: FMCSA recently announced that beginning January 1, 2020, the minimum annual percentage rate for random controlled substances testing increases to 50 percent of the average number of driver positions. The minimum rate was previously 25 percent. The minimum annual percentage rate for random alcohol testing will remain at 10 percent.

Queries

A query is an electronic check in the Clearinghouse, conducted by an employer or prospective employer or their designated Consortium/Third Party Administrator, to determine if current or prospective driver employees are prohibited from performing safety-sensitive functions, such as operating a commercial motor vehicle, due to unresolved drug and alcohol program violations.

There are two types of queries:

LIMITED QUERIES: This is a check for the presence of information in the queried driver’s Clearinghouse record. A driver must give written consent to an employer or prospective employer before the limited query may be conducted. If the Limited Query indicates there is information in the driver’s Clearinghouse record, then a Full Query is necessary to find out the nature of the drug or alcohol program violations in the driver’s record.

FULL QUERIES: The queries disclose to employers and designated C/TPAs detailed information about any resolved or unresolved violations in a driver’s Clearinghouse record. If a limited query returns a result that there is information recorded in the Clearinghouse about the queried driver, and the employer follows up with a full query to access the detailed violation information, the employer will only be charged once for both queries.

All queries into the database will cost $1.25 each. A company may purchase queries from the Clearinghouse in bundles to avoid paying each time there is a transaction, but the cost is still $1.25 per query.

The Clearinghouse will contain only violations that occurred on or after January 6, 2020. If a driver’s violation occurred prior to that date, and is in the return-to-duty (RTD) process when the Clearinghouse is implemented, the violation and any related RTD activity will not be entered into the Clearinghouse.

More Information

There is more information for employers on the Clearinghouse website, including a list of Frequently Asked Questions. Companies may also sign up to receive email alerts when new information on the Clearinghouse becomes available.

Federal Tax Credit Will Help Advance Higher Blends of Bioheat® Fuel

In an important move that will help the heating oil industry achieve its goals of higher blends of renewable fuel and significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs), President Trump signed into law a year-end spending bill (H.R.1865) that includes a five-year extension of the federal biodiesel tax credit.

Heating oil associations and their members are applauding renewal of the biodiesel tax credit and expired tax provisions, known as “tax extenders.” The proposal enjoyed support from members of Congress in all nine Northeast states and strong bipartisan support from lawmakers across the country.

The new law renews the biodiesel tax credit retroactively for 2018 and 2019. To provide long-overdue certainty to the market and incentivize blending into the future, Congress is extending the credit for an additional three years, or through 2022. The tax credit will continue to offer $1 per gallon for the blending of qualified biodiesel and renewable diesel into distillate fuels including home heating oil. Blends of biodiesel and conventional heating oil are often referred to as Bioheat® Fuel – a safe, efficient, and environmentally competitive home heating fuel.

The credit has been in limbo since its lapse at the end of 2017, leaving producers, wholesale and retail marketers, and consumers in the lurch. Over the last two years, heating oil associations joined forces with the biodiesel industry to press for reinstatement of the tax credit. Grassroots advocacy campaigns generated thousands of letters and phone calls to Congress and frequent “fly-in” events brought retail marketers to Washington to meet with key lawmakers.

NEFI President & CEO Sean Cota said, “I would like to personally thank everyone that wrote, called, or took the time to meet personally with members of Congress in support of this hard-fought effort.” Cota said the credit’s renewal will boost confidence in renewable liquid heating fuels and result in greater investments by the business community. “Policymakers are beginning to acknowledge that our industry can achieve dramatic greenhouse gas reductions in a shorter period of time, and with minimal cost to the homeowner, as compared to other heating fuels.”

“Restoration of the credit has been a top priority for businesses like mine as we pursue higher blends in our fuel and partner with policymakers in reducing carbon emissions and hence retain our customer base,” said NEFI Government Affairs Committee Chairman Scott E. MacFarlane of MacFarlane Energy in Dedham, Massachusetts. “Importantly, it will help further our industry’s commitments under the Providence Resolution,” he said.

MacFarlane is referring to a recent commitment by the heating oil industry to reduce GHG emissions and help meet increasingly aggressive state and regional climate change laws. At an industry summit in Providence, Rhode Island in September, more than 300 industry representatives endorsed the following resolution:

“Be it resolved that the heating oil industry will reduce its greenhouse gas emissions – based on 1990 levels – by 15% by 2023, 40% by 2030 and net-zero by 2050.”

Heating oil retailers across the Northeast already offer biodiesel blends of 20% (B20) or higher. Rigorous studies have found that even modest blends result in dramatic GHG emissions reductions. A 50% (B50) blend in the Northeast would reduce carbon emissions by 18.5 million metric tons, which is like removing four million cars from the road. That is more than all registered vehicles in New York City, Boston, and Philadelphia combined.

Northeast heating oil associations advocating for the biodiesel tax credit legislation include the Berks-Schuylkill Oil Heat Association, Better Home Heat Council of Lehigh Valley, Connecticut Energy Marketers Association, Delaware Valley Fuel Dealers Association, Empire State Energy Association, Energy Marketers Association of New Hampshire, Energy Marketers Association of Rhode Island, Fuel Merchants Association of New Jersey, Maine Energy Marketers Association, Massachusetts Energy Marketers Association, NEFI, New York Oil Heating Association, Northeast Pennsylvania Energy Marketers Association, South Central Pennsylvania Energy Association, and the Vermont Fuel Dealers Association. It was also strongly supported by the National Biodiesel Board (NBB), the trade association for U.S. biodiesel producers. Bioheat® is a registered trademark of NBB.

Broco Oil to provide biodiesel-blended heating oil for city’s municipal buildings

HAVERHILL, MA (December 17, 2019) — Family owned, veteran operated fuel company Broco Oil has been contracted to provide heating oil for use in Boston’s city-owned buildings, including firehouses, police stations and other municipal facilities.

Broco Oil’s ’s heating oil is a B20 Bioheat^® fuel blend containing 20 percent biodiesel, a renewable liquid fuel that significantly reduces greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions compared with petroleum-based diesel fuel and heating oil. Through a partnership announced in May 2019, Broco Oil purchases its biodiesel from Renewable Energy Group (REG). The fuel is transported via rail from REG’s Midwest production facilities to Broco’s rail-connected bulk plant in Haverhill, Massachusetts, where it is stored, blended on demand and sold to commercial customers. Broco Oil also has its own fleet of trucks that deliver blended B20 Bioheat fuel for residential and commercial use.

Under the terms of Broco Oil’s contract with the City of Boston, the company will deliver heating oil to sites maintained and operated by the following city departments: Fire, Parks and Recreation, Police, Property Management, Public Schools, Public Works and Transportation. Broco Oil has been contracted for one year, beginning November 1, 2019. The company completed its first contracted delivery on November 6, 2019, for the Public Works Department’s Andrew McArdle Bridge House in East Boston.

“This is great news for REG, Broco Oil and the City of Boston,” said Gary Haer, Vice President, Sales & Marketing, REG. “REG is excited to partner with Broco to deliver high-quality, lower carbon fuel options that can safely and effectively reduce Boston’s building green house gas emissions.”

The contract calls for Broco to deliver an estimated annual volume of 90,000 gallons of heating oil. At B20, this will reduce the City of Boston’s carbon dioxide equivalent building emissions by 322,560 pounds, the equivalent GHG emissions of 357,728 passenger vehicle miles according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

“We are proud to partner with the City of Boston to provide Bioheat^® fuel blends for its firehouses and other municipal buildings,” said Robert Brown, owner of Broco Oil. “As an active fire captain, I am personally honored to be able to serve these sites that play a vital role in protecting our communities.”

For more information, visit regi.com and brocooil.com. If interested in purchasing biodiesel or blended fuel, contact REG representatives Jeff Murdy, 603-498-8762, jeff.murdy@regi.com, or Marc MacLean, 603-812-1248, marc.maclean@regi.com.

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*Bioheat® is a licensed trademark of the National Biodiesel Board, used with permission.

About Broco Oil

Broco Oil, Inc. is a Certified Veteran Owned, DBE, Massachusetts-based distributor of petroleum products, lubricants, and propane for commercial, industrial, marine, and residential applications. Established in 2007 by Robert, a U.S. Navy Seabee veteran, and Angela Brown, Broco currently has an active customer base of 15,000 commercial and residential accounts in the Greater Boston area, with specialty emergency and disaster relief services throughout New England and along the East Coast. Their Haverhill, MA headquarters offer two rail-served terminals capable of trans-loading petroleum, steel, and various other bulk liquids and dry goods. Broco Oil is the proud recipient of the 2019 SBA Veteran Owned Business of the Year.

About Renewable Energy Group

Renewable Energy Group, Inc., (Nasdaq: REGI) is leading the energy industry transition to sustainability by transforming renewable resources into high-quality, cleaner fuels. REG is an international producer of cleaner fuels and North America’s largest producer of biodiesel. REG solutions are alternatives for petroleum diesel and produce significantly lower carbon emissions. REG utilizes an integrated procurement, distribution and logistics network to operate 14 biorefineries in the U.S. and Europe. In 2018, REG produced 502 million gallons of cleaner fuel delivering over four million metric tons of carbon reduction. REG is meeting the growing global demand for lower-carbon fuels and leading the way to a more sustainable future.

Final Rule Issued on Calculating ‘Regular Rate’ of Pay

• allow employers to count a portion of certain bonuses and commissions towards meeting the annual salary level;
• raise the “standard salary level” from $455 to $684 per week (equivalent to $35,568 per year for a full-year worker);
• raise the total annual compensation level for “highly compensated employees” from $100,000 to $107,432 per year; and
• allow employers to use nondiscretionary bonuses and incentive payments (including commissions) to satisfy up to 10 percent of the standard salary level.