Chapter 379
2011 -- H 5390 AS AMENDED
Enacted 07/13/11
A N A C T
RELATING TO
MOTOR AND OTHER VEHICLES - CLEAN ENERGY BIOFUELS
Introduced By: Representatives Naughton, and Walsh
Date Introduced: February 16, 2011
It is enacted by the
General Assembly as follows:
SECTION 1. Title 31of the General Laws entitled “Motor and
Other Vehicles” is hereby
amended by adding thereto the following chapter:
CHAPTER
36.2
PROMOTION
OF BIOFUELS ACT OF 2011
31-36.2-1.
Short title. – This chapter shall be known and
may be cited as the "Promotion
of Biofuels Act of 2011."
31-36.2-2. Biofuels study commission established. -- (a) Membership. There is
hereby
established a special study commission to study the feasibility
and effectiveness of various forms
of incentives to promote the development and use of
advanced biofuels in the state including, but
not limited to: production credits, the production
and harvesting of woody biomass or woody
residue, feedstock incentives, and direct consumer credits
for the use of advanced biofuels in
various applications. Said commission shall be
known as the Biofuels Study Commission and
shall be comprised of fifteen (15) members: five (5) of
whom shall be members of the house of
representatives, not more than four (4) from the same political
party, to be appointed by the
speaker of the house of representatives; three (3) of whom
shall be members of the senate, not
more than two (2) from the same political party, to be
appointed by the senate president; one of
whom shall be the director of the department of
environmental management, or his or her
designee; one of whom shall be employed by an independent
organization in the field of the
environment and fuels, to be appointed by the speaker of the
house; one of whom shall be the
director of the office of energy resources, or his or her
designee; three (3) of whom shall be
employed by companies that work in and/or who themselves work
in the field of advanced
biofuels, to be appointed by the speaker of the house of
representatives; and one of whom shall be
from the
house of representatives.
(b) Purpose. The
purpose of the commission shall be to investigate and develop a strategy
to increase the use of advanced biofuels
as alternatives to conventional carbon-based fuels by the
state, its agencies and political subdivisions and regional
transit authorities, and also to promote
the use of such fuels in all sectors of the state, both
private and public. In conducting its
investigation and study, the commission shall consider biofuel incentive programs in other states
and the states’ relative competitiveness in the field.
(c) Information
furnished. All departments and agencies of the state shall furnish any
advice and information, documentary and otherwise, to the
commission and its agents that is
deemed necessary or desirable by the commission to
facilitate the purposes of this chapter.
(d) The commission
shall report to the general assembly on the results of its
investigations and study and its recommendations, if any, on or
before January 23, 2012, and at
least every two (2) years thereafter on its continued findings
and the results of its studies, and
shall make such recommendations to the general assembly as
it deems advisable.
31-36.2-3. Further study purposes of biofuels
study commission. -- (a) The biofuels
study commission established pursuant to the provisions of
this chapter shall explore the
possibility of developing and entering into, to the extent
possible, an agreement among those
states participating in the Regional Greenhouse Gas
Initiative, for the purpose of implementing a
low carbon fuel standard (hereinafter referred to as
“LCFS”), for transportation fuels. Provided,
the commission is not authorized to, nor shall the
commission enter into any form of agreement,
contract, compact, memorandum of understanding, or similar
document or arrangement.
(b) By way of
guidance, in developing proposed agreements, such agreements should
seek to provide for the following, when reasonably
possible:
(1) That LCFS
shall be measured on a full fuels lifecycle basis;
(2) That LCFS
may be met through market-based methods by which providers exceeding
the performance required by an LCFS shall receive credits
that may be applied to future
obligations or traded to providers not meeting the LCFS;
(3) That
agreement shall establish a declining standard for greenhouse gas emissions
measured in CO2-equivalent grams per unit of fuel energy sold,
sufficient to achieve a ten percent
(10%) reduction in the carbon content of all passenger
vehicle fuels sold in participating states;
and
(4) That the
state shall, with the other states participating in the agreement, examine the
regulations and implementation of a low carbon fuel standard in
consider ways to coordinate and issue public findings on both
such matters, and if applicable, use
in the agreement the life-cycle analysis methods
employed by the
to determine the carbon intensity of fuel. The state
shall, with other states, adopt life-cycle
emissions accounting standards that are consistent with the
EPA's recently revised regulations for
the federal renewable fuel standard.
31-36.2-4. Biofuels as alternatives to carbon-based fuels.-- (a) In addition to the
preceding provisions of this chapter, the biofuels
study commission shall investigate and develop
a strategy to increase the use of advanced biofuels as alternatives to conventional carbon-based
fuels by the state, its agencies and political subdivisions
and regional transit authorities.
(b) The commission shall develop strategies to
increase the use of advanced biofuels by
the state, its agencies and political subdivisions and
regional transit authorities and methods to
advance those strategies. Methods to be considered
shall include, but not be limited to: financing
mechanisms including grants, loans and other incentive programs
for group procurement of
advanced biofuels, vehicles using
advanced biofuels and distribution infrastructure and
technical
assistance.
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.
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LC00068
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