2025 -- H 5612

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2025

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A N   A C T

RELATING TO MOTOR AND OTHER VEHICLES -- PROMOTION OF BIOFUELS ACT OF

2011

     Introduced By: Representatives Newberry, Santucci, Paplauskas, Fascia, Quattrocchi,
and Hopkins

     Date Introduced: February 26, 2025

     Referred To: House Environment and Natural Resources

     It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

     SECTION 1. Chapter 31-36.2 of the General Laws entitled "Promotion of Biofuels Act of

2011" is hereby repealed in its entirety.

CHAPTER 31-36.2

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

University of Rhode Island cooperative extension, to be appointed by the speaker of 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

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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 California and other states and

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 California Air Resources Board

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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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

RELATING TO MOTOR AND OTHER VEHICLES -- PROMOTION OF BIOFUELS ACT OF

2011

***

     This act would repeal the Promotion of Biofuels Act of 2011, which established a study

commission to investigate the use and promotion of such fuels within the state, in its entirety.

     This act would take effect upon passage.

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