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December 2, 2016 | www.npcainc.com
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YOUR WEEKLY MEMBER NEWS LETTER: is a service provided only to members of the Nebraska Petroleum Markers & Convenience Store Association (NPCA). If you have any key personnel that would like to be added at no additional charge, please feel free to reply to tkeigher@npcainc.com, katie@npcainc.com or call (402)-474-6691.
 
GAO RELEASES HIGHLY CRITICAL REPORTS ON RFS
Senate Holds Hearing on GAO Reports
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) announced the results of two reports this week which analyzed the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). One report concluded that the 15 billion gallon corn ethanol mandate is undermining the RFS's ability to achieve the targeted level of GHG reductions sought by Congress. The second report indicated that advanced biofuels' high production costs are hindering the ability of the RFS to meet its production targets.

Following the GAO news release, the Senate Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs and Federal Management summoned outgoing EPA Acting Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation, Janet McCabe, who defended the RFS, but did acknowledge that the RFS has fallen short of its ultimate goal of reducing CO2 emissions. In his opening statement, Sen. Lankford stated "with the release of the GAO reports we have an independent government auditor's findings that confirm the stances many in Congress, including myself, have come to hold - that is the RFS is not sustainable and will not meet its intended goals. This program yields few benefits but it inflicts substantial costs on consumers."

Click here to read the two reports.
Amazon Builds 'Drive-In' Grocery Store
The first brick-and-mortar location for the online retailer will resemble a 1950s drive-in diner rather than a traditional supermarket.

November 30, 2016

SEATTLE- Last month,  Amazon announced it would be opening a drive-in grocery store as well as convenience store locations in a move from online to on-the-ground. Now, in its hometown of Seattle, the online retailer prepares to open its first brick-and-mortar location, a drive-in grocery store that will harken back to a 1950s drive-in diner more than a regular supermarket, the Financial Times reports.
This location features a large awning to house customers, who will order groceries online, then drive to the pickup location, where someone will bring out their order. Amazon has been expanding its Amazon Fresh grocery delivery for a while; the service is now available in 17 markets. However, Amazon only has 1% of the U.S. grocery market.
"Grocery is the company's biggest potential for revenue upside," said John Blackledge, an analyst with Cowen. Blackledge estimated that Amazon is on track to increase its food and beverage sales from $9 billion in 2016 to $23 billion by 2021.
Despite the rapid growth of online sales, more than 80% of U.S. retail sales are from physical locations. "You can only grow faster than the market for so long before the law of large numbers catches up with you," said Scott Jacobson with Madrona Venture Group. "You have to go after a few different markets-and this is a different market."

VISA, MASTERCARD DELAY EMV DISPENSER PUMP LIABILITY SHIFT DATE TO 2020 
Yesterday, Visa and MasterCard announced that they are delaying the EMV liability shift date for retail dispensers from October 1, 2017 to October 1, 2020. Given the lack of EMV regulatory compliant hardware, both companies decided to delay the liability shift. EMV, which stands for Europay, MasterCard and Visa, is a global standard for credit and debit cards that are equipped with computer chips to authenticate chip-card transactions.

Click here to read Visa's statement and here for MasterCard's statement.
HEALTHCARE RELIEF IN SIGHT
 
The Small Business Healthcare Relief Act was recently added in a legislative bill known as the 21st Century Cures Act. Late Wednesday night, the House passed the 21st Century Cures Act with ease by a vote of 392-26. The bill now moves to the Senate where it is expected to be approved next week.

If passed, this legislation would allow businesses with fewer than 50 employees to once again reimburse employees for their premiums on a pre-tax basis for individual coverage without penalty. PMAA has been working the Small Business Legislative Council (SBLC) for months on this issue and we are pleased to see the progress it has made. 
A pilot program will run four months to see how taxing drivers by the mile instead of at the pump would work in practice.

November 16, 2016
DENVER, Colo. - Next month, Colorado will embark on a pilot program to test a tax-by-the-mile initiative, the Denver Post reports. The state is recruiting 100 drivers to track mileage for four months. While no money will exchange hands during its Road Usage Charge Pilot Program, the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) will base the mileage drive on a 1.2 cents per mile tax to see how it matches up with the current fuel tax of 22 cents per gallon paid at the pump.

"It would be similar to electricity and water-you pay for what you use," said Amy Ford, a CDOT spokeswoman. "This is about fairness."

Revenue from the state's portion of the fuel tax has flatlined the past 10 years. Ford refers to that as a "dying tax," because it can't keep up with inflation and higher construction costs, plus more fuel efficient vehicles on the road means fewer fill-ups. "That level of fairness about how we're using the road is going away," she said.

CDOT will have some challenges to overcome to implement a per-mile model, namely how to ensure drivers report accurate mileage and what to do about out-of-state drivers. For the pilot, volunteers can track mileage by reporting their odometer readings or attaching a device with or without GPS enabled.

Last year, Oregon tried a test per-mile tax program and discovered a 2014 Prius would pay more under the state's 1.5 cent per mile tax than with the current 30 cents per gallon tax; while a 2014 Ford F-150 would save a little under the per-mileage tax. 

EPA FINALIZES 2017 OBLIGATED BLENDING VOLUMES
The U.S. EPA finalized the volume requirements and associated percentage standards that apply under the RFS program in calendar year 2017 for cellulosic biofuel, biomass-based diesel, advanced biofuel, and total renewable fuel. The EPA also finalized the volume requirement for biomass-based diesel for 2018. The final standards meet or exceed the volume targets specified by Congress for total renewable fuel, biomass-based diesel, and advanced biofuel. Although the increase in obligated volume requirements represents a 10.7 percent across the board ethanol blend, PMAA believes that refiners will continue to use RIN credits to maintain E10 blended gasoline for the foreseeable future.
Renewable Fuel Volume Requirements for 2014-2018
 
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
Cellulosic biofuel (million gallons)
33
123
230
311
n/a
Biomass-based diesel (billion gallons)
1.63
1.73
1.9
2.0
2.1
Advanced biofuel (billion gallons)
2.67
2.88
3.61
4.28
n/a
Renewable fuel (billion gallons)
16.28
16.93
18.11
19.28
n/a

Total renewable fuel volumes grow by 1.2 billion gallons from 2016 to 2017, a 6 percent increase. Advanced renewable fuel, which requires 50 percent lifecycle carbon emissions reductions, grow by roughly 700 million gallons between 2016 and 2017. Non-advanced or "conventional" renewable fuel increases in 2017 meet the 15 billion gallon congressional target for corn ethanol fuel. The standard for biomass-based biodiesel, which must achieve at least 50 percent lifecycle greenhouse gas emission reductions compared to petroleum-based diesel, grows by 100 million gallons. The required volume of biomass-based diesel for 2017 is twice as high as the minimum Congressional target. Cellulosic biofuel, which must achieve at least 60 percent lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions reductions, grows by 35 percent over the 2016 standard. The advanced biofuel standard, which is comprised of biomass-based diesel, cellulosic biofuel, and other biofuel that achieves at least 50 percent lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions reductions, increases by 19 percent over last year's obligated volume. RINs prices on the open market rose significantly after the 2017 obligated volumes were announced as traders speculate on future demand required to prevent a move to E15 by obligated parties.

PMAA is disappointed but not surprised that the outgoing Obama Administration decided to raise the ethanol mandate. PMAA will now work with the incoming Trump Administration to cap the ethanol mandate at 9.7 percent of gasoline supply going forward. Capping the ethanol mandate at 9.7 percent will resolve UST compatibility concerns with E10 plus blends, reduce RIN prices which will result in lower RFS compliance costs for refiners and preserve the ability for position holders at the rack to blend. 

FDA "RE-CLARIFIES" MENU LABELING COMPLIANCE DATE
While FDA has delayed enforcement of the federal menu labeling standard until May 5, 2017, states like California may begin inspecting sites subject to the statewide standard as early as yesterday.

The compliance date of FDA's menu labeling rule has been pushed back a number of times since the rule was finalized in December 2014. The rule was originally supposed to take effect on December 1, 2015, but prior to that date, FDA agreed to extend the compliance date one year to December 1, 2016, in response to concerns from the convenience store, restaurant and grocery industries and to accommodate the issuance of clarifying guidance. Congress then attached a condition to its 2016 Omnibus Appropriations Bill which prohibited FDA from using any funding to implement, administer, or enforce the menu labeling requirements until May 5, 2017 (or one year after FDA finalized its guidance document). FDA has confirmed that, although the agency will not begin enforcing the menu labeling law until May 5, 2017, the official compliance date remains December 1, 2016.

PMAA has been pushing for the "Common Sense Nutrition Disclosure Act" to be included in the continuing resolution to be passed before the end of year. The legislation would modify the menu-labeling language in Obamacare to permit retailers to identify a single primary menu while not having to include nutrition labeling in other areas of the store. Furthermore, the bill clarifies that advertisements and posters do not need to be labeled and provides flexibility in disclosing the caloric content for variable menu items that come in different flavors or varieties, and for combination meals. Lastly, the bill ensures that retailers acting in good faith are not penalized for inadvertent errors in complying with the rule and stipulates that individual store locations are not required to have an employee "certify" that the establishment has taken reasonable steps to comply with the requirements.

Click here to write your Senator to cosponsor the bill. 
PMAA SENDS LETTER TO EPA REGARDING RFS POINT OF OBLIGATION
On Wednesday, PMAA joined seven other fuel-related associations in sending a letter to EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy opposing the efforts of petitioners to move the point of obligation from refiners/importers to position holders at the rack. Responsibility for complying with the RFS currently falls to refiners who must buy Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs) to prove their fuel has been blended with biofuel. Click here to read the letter
PETROLEUM MARKETERS HONOR THEIR HISTORY 
Last night, the Kentucky Petroleum Marketers Association held its 90th anniversary celebration at the Brown Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky and released the historical book made to commemorate the occasion. The Brown Hotel is the original site of the KPMA office in 1926.
FEDERATED INSURANCE'S WEBINAR: EMPLOYMENT INSIGHTS - POLICY AND DOCUMENTATION ON DECEMBER 15 AT 2:00pm EDT
Among the hidden dangers in employment law are outdated polices and insufficient documentation of actions employers take relating to their employees. This webinar will focus on the positive impact of having both current policies and consistent documentation within your organization, provide concrete examples, and walk through easily accessed Federated resources to help you with these issues.

The topics we will cover are:
  • Why and how to keep policies and handbooks updated
  • Documentation of Harassment and Discrimination Complaints and Investigations
  • Performance Issue Documentation
  • Social Media Policies and Trends
  • Workplace Bullying-and How it Relates to Existing Policies
  • Politics in the Workplace-Refreshing Your Organization's Policy
  Advance Registration is required. A recorded version of the webinar will be available on   federatedinsurance.com for 60 days approximately one week after the live session if you are interested, but unable to attend.

For additional information or to discuss this in further detail, please contact your Federated regional representative or PMAA's National Account Executive Jerry Leemkuil at 800.533.0472. Federated is a PMAA Corporate Platinum Partner.

NOVEMBER 2016 PMAA SMALL BUSINESS COMMITTEE (SBC) PAC CONTRIBUTIONS
PAC Co-Chairs Brad Bell and Tim Keigher are grateful for the PMAA Small Business Committee (SBC) PAC contributions from the following individuals during the November 1 - 30, 2016 time frame:

Illinois: John McGovern

Louisiana: Glenn Pumpelly

New Jersey: David Neill

North Carolina: T. Scott Aman, James Barnwell Jr., Brian Campbell, Dallas Campbell Jr., Louis Cox, John Fuquay, Olin Furr, Jimmy Garrell, James Harrell, Audrey Shearin, Kenneth Smith, John Strickland, John Waddell, Bobby Williams

Virginia: Norman Faulkner, Waylond T. Pond III

Washington: Steven Clark

ENS JOINS PMAA TO BRING SECURITY, MOBILITY AND FLEXIBILITY TO RETAIL POS IN THE PETROLEUM MARKET
The Officers, Executive Committee, and PMAA staff are pleased to welcome PMAA's new Bronze Corporate Partner: ENS (Engineered Network Systems). ENS is the premier provider of solutions that protect, store, secure, and mount technology for our customers. At ENS, we design and manufacture payment terminal stands, free-standing kiosks, carts, CPU and server cabinets, and modular mounting solutions for keyboards, printers, ?at panel monitors and tablets.

ENS joins the PMAA to support petroleum retailers to adapt to a rapidly changing environment where security, mobility and flexibility are key. We are an expert in providing solutions that can help you meet compliance standards including PCI, EMV and ADA. Additionally, ENS provides tablet stands, kiosks, monitor mounts and more products that mount technology to better engage your customer's and improve their loyalty to your business.

If you have technology that needs to be secured, stored, protected or mounted - we can help! To learn how ENS can put technology to use in your stores, visit our website at 
  www.ens-co.com or email us at   sales@ens-co.com

PMAA MDF CONTRIBUTORS FOR NOVEMBER 2016
PMAA's Marketer Defense Fund wants to thank the following individuals for their contributions during the November 1- 30 timeframe:

California: Michael Downs
Massachusetts: New England Fuel Institute
North Carolina: J. Banks Garrison Jr.
Washington: Steven Clark

Corporate donations are acceptable. MDF funds have been used for various studies, litigation and disaster relief dedicated to strengthening our lobbying efforts on Capitol Hill. Click here to donate to the PMAA MDF. 
PMAA MEMBER SERVICES SPOTLIGHT FEATURING: LABORCHEX 
An Important Message to All Members Hiring Anyone Who Drives a Vehicle ...and They Don't Have to be a Commercial Driver!

PLEASE think about this:


You hire sales representatives who are on the road making calls. The representatives use their own vehicles and pay for insurance. You reimburse theses employees for some expenses. One day the representative runs a stop sign while looking at a cell phone and causes an accident in which the driver and passenger in the car he/she hit are seriously injured. The investigating officer on the scene immediately learns that your employee has been driving with an expired, suspended, or revoked license.

Hope you are prepared for a damaging lawsuit that could shut down your business!
Many employers make the mistake of thinking that only commercial drivers or those who drive company vehicles need to have the driving record check when being considered for employment. That assumption is terribly wrong. Even the receptionist who simply drives her own car to a restaurant to pick up lunch for everyone MUST have a valid license AND a driving record that meets the standards of your insurance carrier.

It is vital that you check the driving record of anyone who will drive any vehicle for any business purpose. This is required by federal law for your commercial drivers at least once a year. The authorization signed by your applicants at time of hire remains effective during their time of employment with you, so there isn't any need to get a new one. Share the information with your insurance carrier to make sure the person is one they feel safe in allowing you employ.

Laborchex, a PMAA Vendor who has been serving clients nationwide since 1991, provides critical and important background screening services for PMAA members. For more information and to discuss your needs, please review PMAA's current program and email Steven J. Austin or call at 800.880.0366 x4574.

Nebraska Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association | (402) 474-6691 | www.npcainc.com |
1320 Lincoln Mall, Suite 100B
Lincoln, NE 68508