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As always, your support of the Oklahoma Petroleum Marketers & Convenience Store Association is greatly appreciated!

DOE is pleased to announce the release of an updated set of State and Regional<https://www.energy.gov/ceser/state-and-regional-energy-risk-profiles> Energy Sector Risk Profiles. Encompassing all 50 U.S. States, Washington D.C. and 10 FEMA Regions, the risk profiles examine the causes, frequency, impacts, and history of energy disruptions at a state and regional level. They present both natural and man-made hazards with the potential to disrupt electric, petroleum, and natural gas infrastructure. The State, Local, Tribal, and Territorial Program worked with the Argonne National Lab to update the data and enable states to make well-informed decisions about their resilience strategies, energy security policies and investments. In the past, DOE’s risk profile data and maps have been used in state Energy Assurance Plans, stakeholder presentations and tabletop exercises.

Last week, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued updated guidelines on cleaning and disinfecting facilities, relaxing recommendations for some types of cleaning when COVID-19 risks aren’t elevated.

In the event a sick person or someone who tested positive for COVID-19 was in a facility within the past 24 hours, retailers should clean and disinfect the space. Click here for further details on the new guidelines related to cleaning and disinfecting facilities.

To learn more about ways c-stores achieve clean, read “Cleaning Solutions” in NACS Magazine.

NACS e-learning partner Ready Training Online (RTO) has created a free seven-minute training module on how to help prevent the spread of illness and disease at businesses.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has listed EPA-registered surface disinfectant products in its Disinfectants for Use Against SARS-CoV-2 list. The EPA notes that coronaviruses are enveloped viruses, meaning they are one of the easiest types of viruses to kill with the appropriate disinfectant product. 

Last week, Visa declined to extend the upcoming mid-April EMV liability shift deadline for another six months that EMA requested. Click here to read Visa’s response to EMA President Rob Underwood and click here for more information about the Visa Transaction Advisor.

The Energy Marketers of America (EMA) along with NACS, SIGMA and NATSO requested that the card networks extend the EMV liability shift deadline for one final time through October 2021 to ensure small business fuel retailers have time to fully comply. EMA recently heard from its state association member companies that major equipment and service providers are booked through this summer for EMV projects. For example, Arkansas retailers are experiencing a six-to-ten-week lead time for EMV equipment to arrive plus another two to three weeks for installation. Rural small business retailers are also experiencing delays due to lack of technicians and equipment.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the card networks extended the deadline from October 1, 2020 to mid-April 2021. Specifically, the AMEX, Discover and Mastercard deadline is April 16th while VISA’s deadline is April 17th. Given Visa’s refusal to extend the deadline, EMA urges retailers to be fully EMV compliant as soon as possible. 

At the beginning of April, President Biden announced the first of a two-part infrastructure proposal, the American Jobs Plan, which includes the Made in America Tax Plan. According to the Administration’s fact sheet, the 8-year, $2.25 trillion proposal includes $621 billion in transportation and infrastructure improvements aimed to modernize 20,000 miles of roads and renovate at least 10,000 bridges. The plan would direct $174 billion to promote adoption of electric vehicles (EV) and creates grants and incentives for private industry and state and local governments to install 500,000 EV charging stations over the next ten years. In addition, the Biden Administration recommends extending key clean energy tax credits expected to cost $300 billion over the next decade. To finance the plan, the Biden Administration would raise corporate taxes from 21 percent to 28 percent and increase taxes on companies’ foreign earnings.

While the Biden Administration released a framework, Congress must draft and pass the legislation where it will face an uphill battle in the divided Senate and could face challenges in the House where Democrats hold a very slim vote margin. Congressional Republicans quickly voiced opposition to the plan and associated tax increases. Several Democratic Representatives from the northeast stated they would not vote for a package that includes tax changes unless Congress also repeals the State and Local Tax (SALT) caps. Recognizing the likely need to move the package without bipartisan support, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) asked the Senate Parliamentarian to allow Democrats to move the bill under reconciliation, which would allow Senate Democrats to pass the measure on strict party lines. Success of this route, if permitted, is dependent on support from moderate Senate Democrats like Sens. Manchin (D-WV), Sinema (D-AZ), and Kelly (D-AZ) who urged a bipartisan path forward.

In addition to policy priorities, various incentives, and proposed tax credits – the Administration proposes funding levels for key programs including: $300 billion for housing-related investment including $27 billion for a Clean Energy and Sustainability Accelerator, intended to “mobilize private investment into distributed energy resources; retrofits of residential, commercial and municipal buildings; and clean transportation;” $35 billion for clean energy technology and jobs, including $5 billion for climate-focused research and $15 billion for climate demonstration projects (including “utility-scale energy storage, carbon capture and storage, hydrogen, advanced nuclear, rare earth element separations, floating offshore wind, biofuel/bioproducts, quantum computing, and electric vehicles”).

President Biden is proposing $2 trillion in corporate tax increases over 15 years to help offset the cost of the of the infrastructure components of the plan. Broadly speaking, the revenue-raising side of the Made in America Tax Plan reverses many changes included in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) passed in 2017, and closely tracks with President Biden’s campaign proposals. Among other tax provisions, the plan raises the corporate tax rate to 28 percent (from 21 percent); increases a minimum tax on multinational corporations by doubling its rate to 21 percent and requiring companies to calculate that tax on a country-by-country basis; and imposes a 15 percent minimum tax on companies’ book income (which is the income corporations use to report their profits to shareholders). The American Jobs Plan also eliminates tax breaks available for oil companies, makes it more difficult for businesses to deduct expenses associated with offshoring jobs, and boosts IRS funding for enforcement actions against corporations. President Biden did not propose an increase in motor fuels excise taxes or a change towards a vehicle mile traveled (VMT) tax.

The legislative strategy for President Biden’s plan remains unknown, as key Democratic Congressional leaders, including House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Peter DeFazio (D-OR), would prefer to bundle an infrastructure package with surface transportation, which expires September 30, 2021. More details on process are expected to come when Congress returns to session.

Looking ahead to the American Families Plan, we expect President Biden to announce proposals affecting taxes on high-income individuals’ income, capital gains, estate taxes, step-up in basis and a potential extension of the expanded child tax credit. 

Every four years, the U.S. DOT’s Pipeline and Hazardous Material Safety Administration (PHMSA) publishes an updated version of its Emergency Response Guidebook (ERG) required for use by CDL drivers hauling hazardous materials. The latest version of the emergency response guide, ERG 2020, is now available. ERG 2020 updates and replaces the ERG 2016 edition currently in use by energy marketers. The ERG guidebook is intended for use by first responders during the initial phase of a transportation incident involving hazardous materials.

Click here to read the full Regulatory Report.

Recently, the IRS issued new guidance for employers on the rules that will apply to the Employer Retention Tax Credit (ERTC) for the first two quarters of 2021.

As EMA previously reported, the ERTC provides businesses that have experienced a significant decline in revenue (as defined in the rules) or that were fully or partially closed due to a government order with a refundable tax credit based on qualifying wages paid to eligible employees.

Originally a business could not obtain both a PPP loan and the ERTC – but that rule was eliminated and now businesses can take advantage of both programs provided that wages paid with PPP funds are excluded for the purpose of calculating the ERTC. Businesses that may qualify for the ERTC are strongly encouraged to work with their advisors to ensure that they are maximizing their potential benefit under this program.

Changes to the Employee Retention Credit for the first two calendar quarters of 2021 include:

A copy of the new guidance may be found here.

Last week, EMA, along with organizations representing hundreds of thousands of mostly small businesses, urged Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to reject proposals to carve out any exceptions to the longstanding ban on commercial rest areas that would allow state departments of transportation to compete against the private sector by selling food and fuel, including electric vehicle charging, or other commercial services at Interstate rest areas. Click here to read the letter.

Employers of workers within the critical infrastructure sectors are essential to reducing vaccine hesitancy within their workforce by becoming messengers of accurate, reliable, and timely information. That is why this DHS, CISA Insight [CISA Insights: COVID-19 Vaccination Hesitancy within the Critical Infrastructure Workforce] provides an overview of COVID-19 vaccination hesitancy and steps that critical infrastructure owners and operators can take to reduce the risk and encourage vaccine acceptance across their critical sectors’ workforce.

To reduce the risks of low vaccination rates, it is important employers become messengers of accurate and reliable information within their workplaces and across their industries. According to the CDC, employing some or all these measures may help to increase vaccine acceptance:

While COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy within the critical infrastructure workforce represents a risk to our National Critical Functions and critical infrastructure companies and operations, CISA recognizes that this critical infrastructure workforce can also serve as a key stakeholder in encouraging the rest of the population to get vaccinated and help the return to everyday life. If vaccine acceptance is low across these populations, others within a community may also be reluctant to accept the vaccine when it becomes available to them. Employers of frontline essential workers have an opportunity to encourage and lead their critical infrastructure workforce in COVID-19 vaccine acceptance. Building and sustaining public trust and confidence in immunization systems is essential and the critical infrastructure workforce can play a vital role.

For additional resources see the CDC’s Essential Workers COVID-19 Vaccine Toolkit.