Vermont S 171: An act relating to the legal residency of a student following displacement by a natural disaster

Bill Text

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VT LEG #384977 v.1
S.171 1
Introduced by Senator White 2
Referred to Committee on 3
Date: 4
Subject: Climate change; air pollution; transportation; fuels 5
Statement of purpose of bill as introduced: This bill proposes to direct the 6
Commissioner of Environmental Conservation to adopt rules to implement the 7
Clean Fuels Program. 8
An act relating to the Clean Fuels Program 9
It is hereby enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Vermont: 10
Sec. 1. 23 V.S.A. chapter 43 is added to read: 11
CHAPTER 43. CLEAN FUELS PROGRAM 12
§ 4301. DEFINITIONS 13
As used in this chapter: 14
(1) “Greenhouse gas” has the same meaning as in 10 V.S.A. § 552. 15
(2) “Low carbon fuel standards” means standards for the reduction of 16
greenhouse gas emissions, on average, per unit of fuel energy. 17
(3) “Motor vehicle” has the same meaning as in section 4 of this title. 18

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§ 4302. CLEAN FUELS PROGRAM 1
(a) The Commissioner of Environmental Conservation shall adopt, by rule, 2
low carbon fuel standards for gasoline, diesel, and fuels used as substitutes for 3
gasoline or diesel, which shall be the basis of the Clean Fuels Program. 4
(b) The Commissioner may adopt the following related to the standards, 5
including: 6
(1) a schedule to phase in implementation of the standards in a manner 7
that reduces the average amount of greenhouse gas emissions per unit of fuel 8
energy of the fuels by 10 percent below 2018 levels by the year 2030 or by a 9
later date if the Commissioner determines that an extension is appropriate to 10
implement the standards; 11
(2) standards for greenhouse gas emissions attributable to the fuels 12
throughout their lifecycles, including emissions from the production, storage, 13
transportation, and combustion of the fuels and from changes in land use 14
associated with the fuels; 15
(3) provisions allowing the use of all types of low carbon fuels to meet 16
the low carbon fuel standards, including biofuels, biogas, natural gas, liquefied 17
petroleum gas, gasoline, diesel, hydrogen, and electricity; 18
(4) standards for the issuance of deferrals, established with adequate 19
lead time, as necessary to ensure adequate fuel supplies; 20

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(5) exemptions for fuels that are used in volumes below thresholds 1
established by the Commissioner; 2
(6) standards, specifications, testing requirements, and other measures as 3
needed to ensure the quality of fuels produced in accordance with the low 4
carbon fuel standards, including the requirements for motor fuel quality; and 5
(7) adjustments to the amounts of greenhouse gas emissions per unit of 6
fuel energy assigned to fuels for combustion and drivetrain efficiency. 7
(c) Before adopting standards under this section, the Commissioner shall 8
consider the low carbon fuel standards of other states, including Washington 9
and Oregon, for the purpose of determining schedules and goals for the 10
reduction of the average amount of greenhouse gas emissions per unit of fuel 11
energy and the default values for these reductions for applicable fuels. 12
(d) The Commissioner shall provide exemptions and deferrals as necessary 13
to mitigate the costs of complying with the low carbon fuel standards upon a 14
finding that the 12-month rolling weighted average price of gasoline or diesel 15
in Vermont is not competitive with the 12-month rolling weighted average 16
price in New England. 17
(e) The Commissioner shall adopt, by rule, provisions for managing and 18
containing the costs of compliance with the standards, including provisions to 19
facilitate compliance with the standards by ensuring that persons may obtain 20

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credits for fuels used as substitutes for gasoline or diesel and by creating 1
opportunities for persons to trade credits. 2
(f) The Commissioner shall exempt from the standards any person who 3
imports in a calendar year less than 500,000 gallons of gasoline and diesel fuel 4
in total. Any fuel imported by persons that are related or share common 5
ownership or control shall be aggregated together to determine whether a 6
person is exempt under this subsection. 7
(g)(1) The Commissioner, by rule, shall prohibit fuels that contain biodiesel 8
from being considered an alternative fuel under these standards unless the fuel 9
meets the following standards: 10
(A) Fuel that consists entirely of biodiesel, designated as B100, shall 11
comply with ASTM D6751 and shall have an oxidation stability induction 12
period of not less than eight hours as determined by the test method described 13
in European standard EN 15751. 14
(B) Fuel that consists of a blend of diesel fuel and between six and 15
20 volume percent biodiesel, and designated as biodiesel blends B6 to B20, 16
shall comply with ASTM D7467 and shall have an oxidation stability