Committee backs changes to oil spill cleanup fund fees after actuarial review; bill advances with implementation delay

CONCORD, N.H. — The Senate Ways and Means Committee voted Tuesday to advance a bill that raises and realigns import fees that support New Hampshire's oil cleanup and prevention funds, following an actuarial review and testimony from the Department of Environmental Services and industry stakeholders.

Representative Mike Edgar, speaking as a member of the Oil Fund Disbursement Board, introduced House Bill 658 and described its effect on two funds: the Oil Discharge and Disposal cleanup fund (ODD) and the Oil Pollution Control fund (OPC). Robert Bishop, administrator of the Oil Remediation and Compliance Bureau at New Hampshire DES, told senators the statute consolidates several import fees that date back decades and that the current rates (for example, 1.5 cents per gallon on gasoline and diesel and 4 cents per gallon on motor oil) have not kept pace with costs since the 1990s.

An actuari…