Bill Text: MS HB1200 | 2012 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Mississippi Alternative Fuels Conversion Act; create.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 2)
Status: (Failed) 2012-03-06 - Died In Committee [HB1200 Detail]
Download: Mississippi-2012-HB1200-Introduced.html
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2012 Regular Session
To: Energy; Appropriations
By: Representative Boyd
House Bill 1200
AN ACT TO CREATE THE MISSISSIPPI ALTERNATIVE FUELS CONVERSION ACT; TO CREATE THE MISSISSIPPI ALTERNATIVE FUELS CONVERSION FUND AS A SPECIAL FUND FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION; TO PROVIDE THAT THE FUND SHALL BE REIMBURSED BY A SURCHARGE ON ALTERNATIVE FUELS; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. This act may be cited as the Mississippi Alternative Fuels Conversion Act.
SECTION 2. As used in the act, the follow words and phrases shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
(a) "Alternative fuels" means fuels which result in comparably lower emissions of oxides of nitrogen, volatile organic compounds, carbon monoxide, or particulates or any combination thereof and includes compressed natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas, liquefied natural gas, ethanol, methanol, "�85" which is a mixture of methanol and gasoline containing at least eighty-five percent (85%) methanol, electricity, biodiesel, and "B2O" which is a mixture of biodiesel and diesel fuel containing at least twenty percent (20%) biodiesel;
(b) "Charge station" means the physical device that provides a connection from a power source to an electric vehicle as defined by the Electric Vehicle Association of America, the Electric Power Research Institute, and the Society of Automotive Engineers. All charge stations shall comply with the National Electric Code. Inductive connectors and conductive connectors shall comply with the guidelines of the Society of Automotive Engineers;
(c) "CNG" means compressed natural gas;
(d) "CNG conversion kit" means the equipment installed to modify a motor vehicle which is propelled by gasoline or diesel fuel so that the vehicle may be propelled by compressed natural gas;
(e) "Diesel fuel" means diesel engine fuel, and all other liquids suitable for the generation of power for the propulsion of motor vehicles except gasoline;
(f) "Fill station" means the property which is directly related to the delivery of compressed natural gas, liquefied natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas, methanol, "�85" which is a mixture of methanol and gasoline containing at least eighty-five percent (85%) methanol, biodiesel, or "B2O" which is a mixture of biodiesel and diesel fuel containing at least twenty percent (20%) biodiesel into the fuel tank of a motor vehicle propelled by such fuel including the compression equipment and storage vessels for such fuel at the point where such fuel is delivered;
(g) "Gallon" means the quantity of fluid or liquid at a temperature of sixty degrees (60�) Fahrenheit necessary to completely fill a United States standard gallon liquid measure;
(h) "Gasoline" means the same as motor fuel and means every liquid petroleum product, or any combination thereof, other than solvents as herein defined, having an A.P.I. gravity of forty-six degrees (46�) or above at a temperature of sixty degrees (60�) Fahrenheit and at atmospheric pressure, and includes drip, casinghead or natural gasoline. The term gasoline also includes any liquid of less than forty-six degrees (46�) A.P.I. gravity at a temperature of sixty degrees (60�) Fahrenheit compounded, blended, manufactured or otherwise produced by mixing or blending gasoline or solvents with any blending materials, as hereinafter defined, when the blended product can be used for generating power in internal combustion engines, regardless of how such liquid is made, compounded, manufactured or recovered and regardless of the name by which such liquid may be known or sold;
(i) "Government vehicle" means all motor vehicles, owned and operated by the State of Mississippi, any public trust authority, county, municipality, town or city within this state;
(j) "Sale" means sales, barters, exchanges, and every other manner, method, and form of transferring the ownership of personal property from one person to another, and also includes the use or consumption in this state in the first instance of gasoline received from without the state or of any other gasoline upon which the surcharge has not been paid;
(k) "School vehicle" means all buses and multi-passenger motor vehicles owned and approved to operate by the State Department of Education or any school district within this state; and
(l) "Solvents" means especially prepared commercial and industrial solvents, cleaners' and painters' naphthas, and raw petroleum materials or petrochemical intermediates when used as or sold for use in production or manufacture of plastics, detergents, synthetic rubber, herbicides, insecticides and other chemicals or products which are not prepared, advertised, offered for sale, or sold for use or suitable for use as fuel for generating power in internal combustion engines.
SECTION 3. (1) All school vehicles and all government vehicles may be converted to operate on an alternative fuel. The state, any county or municipal government and any school district within the state may have access to the Mississippi Alternative Fuels Conversion Fund and the reasonable expenses of the conversions and/or the installation of a fill station or charge station may be reimbursed in the manner provided by Section 4 of this act if the state, county, municipality or school district can pay back such conversion and/or fill station or charge station installation costs within seven (7) years of the date of conversion and/or fill station or charge station installation.
(2) The reasonable expenses of the conversion of the school vehicle fleets and the government vehicle fleets that are converted pursuant to this section shall be reimbursed in the manner provided by Section 4 of this act.
(3) The reasonable expenses of the installation of a fill station or charge station that is installed according to subsection (1) of this section shall be reimbursed in the manner provided by Section 4 of this act.
(4) Any vehicle converted to have the capability of being fueled or charged by alternative fuels according to the provisions of this act shall not be sold or otherwise transferred to another person or entity before the total reimbursement of the cost of such conversion according to this act unless such conversion equipment is removed and installed on another government vehicle or school vehicle owned by such public entity.
(5) Any fill station or charge station installed pursuant to the provisions of this act shall not be sold or otherwise transferred to another person or entity before the total reimbursement of the cost of such fill station or charge station according to the provisions of this act.
(6) All school vehicles and all government vehicles which are converted to operate on alternative fuel shall be required to use such alternative fuel whenever a fill station or charge station is in operation within a five-mile radius of the respective department, district, agency, office or political subdivision that has converted vehicles to operate on alternative fuel, and the price of the alternative fuel is comparable to the price of the fuel being displaced. School vehicles and government vehicles that are capable of operating on a conventional fuel as well as an alternative fuel shall be exempt from this restriction on those occasions when the vehicle or vehicles must be refueled outside the five-mile radius of the respective department, district, agency, office or political subdivision that has said vehicle and no alternative fuel fill station or charge station is reasonably available.
SECTION 4. (1) There is hereby created in the State Treasury a revolving fund for the Department of Finance and Administration to be designated as the "Mississippi Alternative Fuels Conversion Fund." The fund shall be a continuing fund, not subject to fiscal year limitations, and shall consist of all monies received by the Department of Finance and Administration in accordance with this act.
(2) All monies accruing to the credit of the revolving fund shall be expended by the Department of Finance and Administration to reimburse expenses relative to the conversion of government vehicles and school vehicles to have the capability of being fueled or charged by alternative fuels and/or the expenses relative to the installation of a fill station or charge station. The maximum amount expended per vehicle shall be the actual cost of vehicle conversion or Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00), whichever is less. The maximum amount expended per fill station or charge station shall be the actual cost of the installation or Three Hundred Thousand Dollars ($300,000.00), whichever is less. The balance on deposit in the fund shall never exceed the sum of Five Million Dollars ($5,000,000.00).
(3) Expenditures from the revolving fund shall be made upon warrants issued by the State Treasurer against claims filed as prescribed by law for approval and payment.
SECTION 5. (1) The Mississippi Alternative Fuels Conversion Fund shall be reimbursed by a surcharge on alternative fuels sold within the state under the provisions of this act.
(2) A reimbursement account shall be established in the name of each recipient of reimbursement for vehicle conversion and/or fill station installation in accordance with the provisions of applicable law. The initial amount of each recipient's account shall be the amount of the reimbursement received by that recipient. A recipient's account shall be increased by the amount of any subsequent reimbursement received by that recipient; a recipient's account shall be reduced by the amount of all surcharges on alternative fuels paid by that recipient.
(3) A surcharge in an amount equivalent to the per gallon fuel cost savings in utilizing alternative fuels is hereby levied on sales of alternative fuels to recipients of reimbursement for vehicle conversion and/or fill station installation according to the provisions of applicable law. Initially, the amount of the surcharge shall be based upon monthly fuel savings as determined in the manner prescribed by applicable law. Such amount shall be adjusted periodically, by the Department of Revenue, to reflect any change in the amount of fuel savings actually received by the recipient. The surcharge shall not be levied on sales of alternative fuels for any other purposes. The surcharge shall continue on sales to each such recipient for so long as that recipient maintains a reimbursement account. When the reimbursement account for a recipient is reduced to zero, the surcharge levied by this section shall terminate until such time as a reimbursement account may be reestablished for that recipient.
(4) The surcharge levied under this section shall be collected by the Department of Revenue and apportioned monthly to the Mississippi Alternative Fuels Conversion Fund.
(5) The surcharge levied under this section shall be suspended whenever the price of the alternative fuel used by the recipient is equal to or greater than the price of the original fuel displaced by the alternative fuel which may be purchased by such recipient. Provided, such surcharge shall be reinstated whenever the price of the alternative fuel used by the recipient becomes less than the price of the original fuel displaced by the alternative fuel which may be purchased by such recipient.
(6) The Department of Revenue shall adopt rules and regulations relating to the payment and collection of the surcharge levied under this section.
SECTION 6. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2012.
