• OPMCA Round Table Registration Reminder
• Now Open:  Registration for Oklahoma Super Trade Show Booths
• Reminder:  USDA Offering $100 Million in Matching Funds for Installation of Higher Blend Ethanol and Biodiesel Infrastructure
• Lawmakers Urge President Biden to Deny "California Car Mandate"
• Fed Finalizes Routing Choice Requirements for Online Payments
• EPA Likely to Allow RIN Credits for EV Charging Generated from Biogas and Cellulosic Biomass
• FDA Releases Tobacco Compliance Webinar
• What Does a $1 Million Electrical Cord Look Like?

OPMCA is back on the road and headed to a town near you this month! We will be traveling to various Oklahoma locations to meet and discuss current topics with the membership. Lunch is complimentary with a $20.00 personal donation (cash or check) to the OPMCA PAC.

REGISTER HERE

Dates and Locations

Wednesday, October 19, 2022

Weatherford

Lunch at Lucille's Roadhouse

1301 N. Airport Rd,

Weatherford, OK 73096

11:30AM - 1:00PM

Thursday, October 20, 2022

Tulsa

Lunch at Ti Amo Ristorante Italiano

6024 S. Sheridan Rd., Ste A

Tulsa, OK 74145

11:30AM - 1:00PM

Tuesday, October 25, 2022

Enid

Lunch at Oakwood Country Club

1601 N. Oakwood Rd,

Enid, OK 73703

11:30AM - 1:00PM

Wednesday, October 26, 2022

Oklahoma City

Lunch at Pearl's Oyster Bar (Diamond Room)

5641 N. Classen Blvd.

Oklahoma City, OK 73118

11:30AM - 1:00PM

Now Open: Registration for Oklahoma Super Trade Show Booths!

The 2023 Oklahoma Super Trade Show will take place on Tuesday, May 23, 2023, at the Oklahoma City Convention Center.   

Take a look at the new 2023 layout to make your booth selection and get your contract in today!

We look forward to your participation at the 2023 Oklahoma Super Trade Show! 

REMINDER! USDA Offering $100 Million in Matching Funds for Installation of Higher Blend Ethanol and Biodiesel Infrastructure

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced in August the availability of approximately $100 million in competitive grants to eligible entities for activities designed to expand the sales and use of renewable fuels under the Higher Blends Infrastructure Incentive Program (HBIIP). A USDA representative attended the Energy Marketers of America’s fall meeting in Las Vegas last week to encourage marketers to take advantage of the HBIIP grants.

According to the USDA, cost-share grants of up to 50 percent of total eligible project costs but not more than $5 million will be made available to assist transportation fueling and fuel distribution facilities with converting to higher blend status for ethanol (i.e., greater than 10 percent ethanol) and biodiesel (greater than 5 percent biodiesel) by sharing the costs related to the installation, and/or retrofitting, and/ or otherwise upgrading of dispenser/ pumps, related equipment, and infrastructure. The $100 million is currently available to support a variety of fueling operations, including filling stations, convenience stores and larger retail stores that also sell fuel. The funds will also support fleet facilities including rail and marine, and fuel distribution facilities, such as fuel terminal operations, midstream operations, distribution facilities as well as home heating oil distribution centers.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE USDA HBIIP

Lawmakers Urge President Biden to Deny “California Car Mandate”

Last week, 158 lawmakers sent a letter to the President urging him to reject California’s forthcoming request for a waiver that would require 35 percent of all new light-duty vehicle sales to be electrified by 2026, followed by a 100 percent requirement by 2035. This means that by 2035, automakers would be prohibited from selling new vehicles that contain conventional internal combustion engines (ICEs). For this ban to go into effect, California will need to obtain from the U.S. EPA a waiver of Clean Air Act (CAA) preemption provisions. They urged the president to reject California’s forthcoming request for the CAA waiver due to widespread concerns for the negative impact it will have on the electric grid, the need for additional power generation, the overreliance on foreign adversaries for critical minerals, and the right of Americans to choose for themselves which vehicles they wish to drive.

Every American will be impacted by this ban, whether they are in one of the 15 states that copies California vehicle laws or whether they are a consumer looking to buy an affordable new pickup truck in the next few years. California needs a waiver from EPA to enact this regulation and ban gasoline and diesel vehicle sales. EPA needs to deny this waiver.

If California’s ban moves forward, it will:

• Outlaw the sale of new clean internal combustion engine vehicles (even hybrids) in up to 15 states and the District of Columbia
• Raise the price and reduce the availability of gasoline and diesel cars in other states
• Increase Americans’ utility bills to subsidize a massive expansion of the electricity grid for EV charging
• Threaten the viability and jobs of small business energy marketers around the country, whether they deliver gasoline and diesel or renewable fuels like ethanol, biodiesel and renewable diesel.

Court Action to Stop the “California Car Mandate”

EMA has been actively engaged in the fight against banning gasoline powered vehicles since California Governor Gavin Newsom authorized the ban in a 2020 executive order. On May 13, 2022, EMA filed a petition with a federal Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., asking the court to review the Biden Administration’s restoration of the Clean Air Act waiver allowing California to set its own air standards. That waiver was revoked by the Trump administration in 2019. The EMA petition was filed to challenge the restoration of the waiver on various grounds, including that California does not require the more stringent standards to meet any extraordinary or compelling conditions that are unique to California as the Clean Air Act requires. If the court overturns the waiver as requested by EMA, California is likely to lose the authority it claims to ban gasoline powered vehicles in the State. If that happens, any state attempting to adopt the California ban will lose their authority to act as well.

Separate from the current court action, EMA opposes California's waiver request for gasoline-powered vehicle ban. If EPA does not have the authority under the Clean Air Act to ban gasoline-powered vehicles, it is difficult to see how it can allow California to exercise such authority under the statute.

In the meantime, CLICK HERE to reach out to your lawmakers and urge them to contact EPA and recommend that California’s waiver be denied to protect motorists and small business energy marketing companies! 

Fed Finalizes Routing Choice Requirements for Online Payments

This week, the Federal Reserve Board finalized updates to the Board's rule concerning debit card transactions. Pursuant to statute, the updates specify that debit card issuers should enable at least two payment card networks to process all debit card transactions, including "card-not-present" transactions, such as online payments.

By law, the Board is required to make rules ensuring that debit card issuers give retailers the opportunity to choose between at least two unaffiliated networks when routing debit card transactions. When the Board initially issued the rule in July 2011, the market had not developed solutions to broadly support multiple networks for card-not-present debit card transactions. Since that time, technology has evolved to address these barriers. However, some debit card issuers have not yet enabled at least two unaffiliated networks for merchants to choose between when routing such transactions. This issue has become increasingly pronounced because of continued growth in online payments.

EMA is a member of the Merchants Payments Coalition (MPC), which represents retailers, supermarkets, restaurants, drug stores, convenience stores, gas stations, online merchants, and other businesses focused on reforming the U.S. payments system to make it more transparent and competitive. Click here for more information.

EPA Likely to Allow RIN Credits for EV Charging Generated from Biogas and Cellulosic Biomass

The EPA is expected to submit its proposed 2023 and 2024 renewable fuel standards (RFS) to the White house for final review this week. The proposed RFS standards will likely be similar to those finalized for 2022. However, there is one significant change in the proposed standards that will almost certainly have a significant impact on the liquid petroleum industry. EMA has learned that the EPA is expected to expand RFS by creating a new RIN for electric vehicles charged by electricity generated from biogas and cellulosic biomass. The EPA has the authority to expand the RFS program to include new renewable fuel sources since the statutory volumetric blending mandates imposed by Congress ended in 2022. It is reported the new “e-RIN” would generate a D3 credit under the current RFS regulatory framework.

It remains unclear whether the EPA will establish renewable fuel obligations for electric utilities similar to blending mandates that currently apply to motor fuel refiners. It is possible that automobile manufacturers could wind up generating RINS for electric car production under the new RFS standard. More likely, the agency will allow e-RINS to generate credits and be traded alongside existing RINs without any volumetric blending mandate, similar to RIN generation for renewable heating oil blends. Whichever path the EPA choses, the creation of e-RINs is certain could give a boost to EV sales and new EV charging infrastructure. The EPA is under a consent decree to issue 2023 RFS standards no later than November 16.

FDA Releases Tobacco Compliance Webinar

The Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Center for Tobacco Products announced a new webinar to help retailers with tobacco appliance which provides a brief overview of the various resources available to retailers to prevent the sale of tobacco products to individuals under the age of 21. Additionally, the webinar covers recent updates to federal law for tobacco products containing nicotine not derived from tobacco. Click here for the details.

What Does A $1 Million Electrical Cord Look Like?

Recommended partner Federated Insurance® is asking: What does $1 million electrical cord look like? The answer is exactly like your electrical cords, except burnt. In recent years, we’ve seen a sharp increase in the number of devastating workplace fires among your industry peers. We don’t want you to experience the same fate. Fortunately, most fires are preventable and Federated Insurance has resources to help. Learn more.