HF 2567 (LSB 6326HV (2) 88)

HOUSE FILE 2567

BY  COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE

(SUCCESSOR TO HSB 689)

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to the E-15 gasoline infrastructure program, by providing for the award of financial incentives to participating persons.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  NEW SECTION.  159A.14A  E-15 gasoline infrastructure program.
   1.  An E-15 gasoline infrastructure program is established in the department under the direction of the infrastructure board.
   2.  The purpose of the program is to improve existing retail motor fuel sites and terminals by installing, replacing, or converting infrastructure to be used to store, blend, or dispense E-15 gasoline.
   3.  The infrastructure must be designed and shall be used exclusively to store or dispense E-15 gasoline as a registered fuel recognized by the United States environmental protection agency. Eligible infrastructure includes tanks and all associated equipment, including but not limited to pipes, hoses, tubes, lines, fittings, valves, filters, seals, and covers. However, eligible infrastructure does not include motor fuel pumps, motor fuel blender pumps, or tank vehicles.
   4.  The infrastructure board shall approve cost-share agreements to make infrastructure improvements if executed by the department and persons that the infrastructure board determines are eligible as provided in this section, according to terms and conditions required by the infrastructure board. The infrastructure board shall determine the amount of the financial incentives to be awarded to a person participating in the program subject to the limitations provided in this section. In order for a person to be eligible to participate in the program all of the following must apply:
   a.  The person must be an owner or operator of a retail motor fuel site, or a terminal operator.
   b.  The person must apply to the department in a manner and according to procedures required by the infrastructure board. The application must contain all information required by the infrastructure board and shall at least include all of the following:
   (1)  The name of the person and the address of the retail motor fuel site or terminal to be improved.
   (2)  A detailed description of the infrastructure to be installed, replaced, or converted. For a storage tank installed at a retail motor fuel site, the information shall include the model number of each installed, replaced, or converted motor fuel storage tank if available.
   (3)  A statement describing how the retail motor fuel site or terminal is to be improved, the total estimated cost of the planned improvement, and the date when the infrastructure will be first used following the completion of the improvement.
   (4)  A statement certifying that the infrastructure shall only be used to comply with the provisions of this section and as specified in the cost-share agreement, unless granted a waiver by the infrastructure board pursuant to this section.
   5.  A retail motor fuel site or terminal improved using financial incentives awarded under this section must comply with applicable federal and state standards governing new or upgraded motor fuel storage tanks used to store and dispense E-15 gasoline. A retail motor fuel site issued a certificate of no further action by the department of natural resources under section 455B.474 shall retain its classification following modifications necessary to store the E-15 gasoline and the owner or operator of the retail motor fuel site shall not be required to perform a new site assessment unless a new release occurs or if a previously unknown or unforeseen risk condition arises.
   6.  An award of financial incentives to a participating person shall be on a cost-share basis in the form of a grant. To participate in the program, an eligible person must execute a cost-share agreement with the department as approved by the infrastructure board in which the person contributes a percentage of the total costs related to improving the retail motor fuel site or terminal. 
   a.  A cost-share agreement shall be for five years. The infrastructure board may approve multiple improvements to the same retail motor fuel site or terminal so long as the improvements are made under separate cost-share agreements.
   b.  (1)  The financial incentives awarded to a participating person to improve a retail motor fuel site shall not exceed seventy percent of the actual cost of making the improvement or one hundred thousand dollars, whichever is less.
   (2)  The infrastructure board may approve multiple awards of financial incentives to make improvements to one or more retail motor fuel sites so long as the total amount of the awards does not exceed the limitations provided in subparagraph (1).
   (3)  The infrastructure board shall not award a total of more than five hundred thousand dollars in financial incentives to a participating person to make improvements to one or more retail motor fuel sites as provided in subparagraphs (1) and (2) during any twelve-month period.
   7.  A participating person awarded financial incentives shall not use the infrastructure to store and dispense motor fuel other than E-15 gasoline, unless one of the following applies: 
   a.  The participating person is granted a waiver by the infrastructure board. The participating person shall store or dispense the motor fuel according to the terms and conditions of the waiver.
   b.  The E-15 gasoline infrastructure fund created in section 159A.17 is immediately repaid the total amount of moneys awarded to the participating person together with a monetary penalty equal to twenty-five percent of that awarded amount. The amount shall be deposited in the E-15 gasoline infrastructure fund created in section 159A.17.
   8.  A participating person may be awarded financial incentives under this section regardless of whether the participating person received financial incentives under the renewable fuel infrastructure program for retail motor fuel sites established in section 159A.14.
   9.  A participating person who acts in violation of an agreement executed with the department pursuant to this section is subject to a civil penalty of not more than one thousand dollars per day for each day of the violation. The civil penalty shall be deposited into the general fund of the state.
    Sec. 2.  NEW SECTION.  159A.17  E-15 gasoline infrastructure fund.
   1.  An E-15 gasoline infrastructure fund is created in the state treasury under the control of the department. The E-15 gasoline infrastructure fund is separate from the general fund of the state.
   2.  The E-15 gasoline infrastructure fund is composed of moneys appropriated by the general assembly and moneys available to and obtained or accepted by the department from the United States government or private sources for placement in the fund.
   3.  Moneys in the E-15 gasoline infrastructure fund are appropriated to the department exclusively to support the E-15 gasoline infrastructure program as provided in section 159A.14A, and as allocated in financial incentives by the infrastructure board. The moneys shall not be transferred, used, obligated, appropriated, or otherwise encumbered except to allocate as financial incentives under the program.
   4.  a.  The recapture of awards or monetary penalties as provided in section 159A.14A, subsection 7, or other repayments of moneys originating from the E-15 gasoline infrastructure fund, shall be deposited into the fund.
   b.  Notwithstanding section 12C.7, interest or earnings on moneys in the fund shall be credited to the fund.
   c.  Notwithstanding section 8.33, unencumbered and unobligated moneys remaining in the E-15 gasoline infrastructure fund at the close of each fiscal year shall not revert but shall remain available in the fund for the purposes designated.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with

the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   This bill creates an E-15 gasoline infrastructure program (program) to support the improvement of retail motor fuel sites (sites) and terminals installing, replacing, or converting motor fuel storage tanks (e.g., underground storage tanks) and associated fittings and equipment, other than dispensers (motor fuel pumps). The bill imposes caps on the amount that may be awarded to improve a site or awarded for one or more sites owned and operated by the same person during any 12-month period. An award to an owner or operator of a site or the operator of a terminal is based on a five-year cost-share agreement (agreement) executed by the participating person and the department of agriculture and land stewardship acting in cooperation with the renewable fuel infrastructure board (board). The bill provides that the board may waive the requirement that the improved infrastructure be used to store and dispense E-15 gasoline. A participating person who acts in violation of an agreement is subject to a civil penalty. The bill also creates an E-15 gasoline infrastructure fund that is used to support the program.