We are excited to get the OPMCA membership together for the 2020 Fall Outing hosted at the Shangri-La Golf Club and Resort located on Grand Lake! Members will once again enjoy two days of golfing, dinner and reception and a two-hour yacht charter. We have a special celebration planned to honor our incoming chairman Kurtis Hutchinson as well!

We hope you can join us in September!

OPMCA has received 3,000 cloth masks from the Department of Energy to distribute to our members and their employees for FREE! If you are interested, you MUST fill out the order form and return to Hannah at Hannah@opmca4you.com to receive the masks. Due to only having a limited amount, it is first come first served. We do ask that you please be considerate in the amount you order!

If you are interested, please click HERE to fill out the form.

Thank you to those that attended the 2020 Virtual OPMCA Annual Business Meeting! We had a great turnout and were still able to provide an OPMCA update to those who joined.

We were also able to award the 2020 OPMCA Employee of the year at the Annual Business Meeting, congratulations to Oklahoma Environmental Services' Terri Roberts, the first recipient of this award! With over 35 years of industry experience and continual dedication to OPMCA, Terri is very much deserving of this award. Thank you for all you do Terri!

State Questions 802: Medicaid Expansion

Please click HERE to view a resource page on the Oklahoma Medicaid expansion ballot initiative (SQ 802).

The Small Business Administration (SBA) announced on June 16th the reopening of the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) and the EIDL Advance program. The SBA’s existing EIDL emergency loan program was funded with an additional $20 billion to provide emergency relief and to ensure that EIDL loans available to small businesses experiencing economic impacts due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The EIDL program came to an abrupt halt in early May due to the inability of the SBA to process the millions of applications that came flooding in from applicants seeking emergency relief. The reopening means that small business petroleum marketers and heating fuel dealers have another opportunity to seek long term, low interest disaster loans and emergency grants from the SBA. Additionally, EIDL Advance will provide up to $10,000 ($1,000 per employee) of economic emergency relief to small businesses as a nonrepayable grant. The SBA said it has improved the application and loan closing process to make it easier and faster for applicants to receive funding.

Important Facts About EIDL Loans and EIDL Advance Grants:

The SBA is also assisting small businesses and non-profits with access to the federal forgivable loan program, the Paycheck Protection Program , which is currently accepting applications until June 30, 2020.

For additional information, please visit the SBA disaster assistance website at SBA.gov/Disaster .

Got Questions?

Contact: Mark S. Morgan Regulatory Counsel (202) 364-6767 or mmorgan@pmaa.org  

(PMAA)

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has issued a revised, borrower-friendly Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan forgiveness application. The new forgiveness form was part of the PPP Flexibility Act of 2020, signed into law June 5, 2020 and is designed to increase processing efficiency to make it easier for businesses to realize full forgiveness of their PPP loan.

In addition to revising the full standard forgiveness application, SBA also published a new EZ version of the forgiveness application that applies to borrowers who:

The EZ application requires fewer calculations and less documentation for eligible borrowers. Details regarding the applicability of these provisions are available in the instructions to the new EZ application form. Both applications give borrowers the option of using the original 8-week covered period (if their loan was made before June 5, 2020) or an extended 24-week covered period.

Click here to view the EZ PPP Forgiveness Application.

Click here to view the Standard PPP Forgiveness Application.

(PMAA)

The Pipeline and Hazardous Material Safety Administration (PHMSA) announced an extension of the agency’s March 24, 2020 enforcement discretion policy (waiver) regarding reoccurring hazardous material training and testing requirements for CDL drivers. While the waiver is in effect, PHMSA will take no enforcement action against any motor carrier or offeror who is unable to provide reoccurring hazardous material training and testing that all CDL HAZMAT drivers (and all HAZMAT employees) must undergo every three years. The original enforcement waiver expired on June 24, 2020. PHMSA’s announcement last week extends the waiver through October 31, 2020.

Click here for the full PMAA Regulatory Report.

(PMAA)

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has issued a three-month extension of the emergency waiver validating expiring commercial driver licenses (CDL), commercial learner’s permits (CLP), and driver medical qualification certificates that expires on June 30th. The new emergency waiver takes effect July 1 and ends on September 30, 2020. The waiver applies to both intrastate and interstate drivers. The FMCSA said the waiver extension is necessary due to the ongoing closures of state licensing agencies and certified medical examiners that prevent drivers from renewing their CDL, CLP and medical certificates. View the FMCSA waiver extension here.

Important! The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) issued an emergency waiver on April 2, 2020 extending expiring CDL hazardous material endorsements (HME) through July 31, 2020. PMAA is working with TSA to extend the HME waiver through September 30, 2020 as well.

Click here to read the full PMAA Regulatory Report.

(PMAA)

There are many moving parts for the next COVID-19 Relief Package. The big sticking points of the next COVID-19 relief package: reasonable COVID-19 liability coverage, state and local government funding, direct payments to middle/low income households, and extension of the $600 weekly unemployment benefit.

COVID-19 Liability Coverage:

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has conditioned any further COVID-19 relief package must include reasonable liability protections. Sen. Cornyn (R-TX) is expected to introduce a bill soon that would provide safe harbor provisions for businesses that meet safety guidelines as well as making it easier to force lawsuits into federal courts, and imposing caps on the damages that can be awarded. PMAA has been reaching out to the House Blue Dog democrats and to the Senate to encourage them to support reasonable COVID-19 liability protection.

The motor fuels, heating fuels and convenience store industries are at the forefront of COVID-19 response efforts and should not have to worry about future lawsuits for providing needed products and services to American consumers. Please click here to urge your lawmakers for liability protection in a future COVID-19 response bill.

State and Local Funding:

State and local governments received around $150 billion through the CARES Act to pay for unbudgeted expenses tied to COVID-19. There is a big push from state and local governments for hundreds of billions more, along with the ability to make up for lost revenue. Many differences over the size of the package, restrictions on states with pre-existing budget shortfalls, and allocations for smaller towns have yet to be worked out. States and cities would get another $915 billion in additional funding under the House democratic proposal, the Heroes Act (HR 6800). Half of the funds would be distributed within 30 days of enactment, based on each state’s share of COVID-19 cases and population size, and the rest would be paid out by May 3, 2021. Under the bipartisan SMART Act (HR 6954, S. 3752) an additional $500 billion would be allocated. Funds would be allocated based on each state’s population size, COVID-19 cases as of June 1, and revenue losses in 2020 compared with 2019. A third of state allocations would have to go to counties and municipalities. Republican leaders are leaning towards more aid, but not for problems that existed before the pandemic.

Direct Payments to Taxpayers:

U.S. Treasury Secretary Mnuchin said recently that the Trump Administration is considering whether to send another round of direct payments to taxpayers in a COVID-19 rescue package that could be approved next month. The Trump administration has privately discussed a $1 trillion measure to stimulate jobs growth.

Unemployment Benefits:

Extending unemployment benefits and creating “return-to-work” bonuses are among plans being floated for the next phase of relief legislation. The most controversial part of this discussion revolves around whether to extend the additional $600 weekly payments. The CARES Act law established the pandemic related unemployment benefit programs. The House Democrats Heroes Act bill would extend those programs, as well the additional $600 per week payment through Jan. 31, 2021. McConnell has made it clear that the additional $600 weekly payment is a non-starter. Senate Finance ranking member Ron Wyden (D-OR) has proposed automatically adjusting benefits depending on a state’s unemployment rate.

There are additional proposals for return to work bonuses, employee retention credits, and paycheck guarantees including Senator Rob Portman’s (R-OH) proposal to eliminate the current $600 per week unemployment benefit for furloughed employees and instead give them $450 per week if they returned to work.

Bottom Line:

Senate Republicans and the Administration want to determine whether existing relief programs are working before committing to another package, however, it is safe to say that there will likely be another COVID-19 relief package in late July/early August. Stay tuned.

(PMAA) 

Petroleum marketers interested in applying for a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Higher Blend Infrastructure Incentive Program (HBIIP) grant can join a free webinar detailing the benefits of the program and providing important tips on the grant application process. The USDA is offering up to $100 million in grants under the HBIIP to help transportation fueling and biodiesel distribution facilities convert to higher ethanol and biodiesel blends. The USDA will do this by sharing costs for installation of compatible fuel dispensers and related underground storage tank equipment and infrastructure.

The webinar is tailored to both retail fuel sites and bulk plant operations and will be held on June 30, 2020 at 2pm eastern time. Click here to access the webinar.

(PMAA)

Cannabis in the Workplace — Part 2

Tuesday, July 21, 2020, 12:00 p.m. CT

60 minutes | Advance registration required

This second of a two-part series on cannabis in the workplace will cover safety-sensitive positions, drug testing, and drug policies. Practical examples will provide fresh, up-to-date insight on how employers are meeting these challenges. We will review the latest legal challenges and provide practical tips your organization can use today.

This webinar is approved for one HR (General) recertification credit hour toward aPHR™, PHR®, PHRca®, SPHR®, GPHR®, PHRi™ and SPHRi™ recertification through HR Certification Institute® (HRCI®).

Recommended Participants: HR Professionals, Risk Managers, Managers, and Supervisors

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a Human Resources-related question and answer from independent HR legal professionals

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