Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Clean Fuels Fund topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
House broadens clean-fuels fund to include retrofits and fuel technologies
Summary
House passed House Bill 93 to expand the Clean Fuel Vehicle Fund's uses (including retrofits and new low-emission technologies), permit state matching for grants and allow DEQ to collect an administration fee; sponsors noted a roughly $22.4 million fund balance and said the changes do not interfere with existing uses. (Vote: 67–1)
House Bill 93, presented on Feb. 13 by Representative James Gallons, expands the state Clean Fuel Vehicle Fund to support retrofits, enhanced exhaust treatment (for example, school-bus retrofits) and a broader set of technologies that reduce air pollution, allows a state match for grant funding and gives the Department of Environmental Quality authority to collect a fee for program administration.
Representative Gallons said the fund balance was approximately $22.4 million as of December 2005 and that the bill would rename the account the "Clean Fuels and Vehicle Technology Fund" to reflect the expanded purposes. He said the changes "do not interfere with the existing uses of the fund" and that the bill allows DEQ to collect an administrative fee to maintain the corpus.
Members questioned whether the bill changes the original intent of the statute and whether the removal of a certification requirement alters how grants would be administered. Representatives also raised concerns about potential fiscal impact if the eligible technologies and applicants increase; the sponsor said the fund already exists and the bill's fiscal note is limited to the DEQ administration fee.
After discussion, the House passed the bill by recorded vote 67–1 and referred it to the Senate for further consideration.
Actions and next steps: House adopted the first substitute of House Bill 93 and transmitted it to the Senate by recorded vote.
