Early Registration Rates Expire July 17

There's still time to register for the Great Lakes Propane Convention before the early registration rates expire on July 17. Join us July 26-28 at the JW Marriott in Grand Rapids, Michigan for this unique event that will only be offered every other year. After July 17, registration rates increase.

When the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) announced a meeting this week with an agenda that included Line 5, supporters of Line 5 and the Great Lakes Tunnel hoped for a MPSC decision on the Tunnel construction. Instead, the MPSC announced that it was ordering the case reopened so that Enbridge Energy LP would provide more data and more information related to critical matters of engineering, safety and construction of the proposed Tunnel. The Commission reopened the record and directed Enbridge to file information, documents and any other relevant information to develop a full and complete record on matters including tunnel engineering and safety, electrical equipment and risk of fire and/or explosion, and the safety of the current dual pipelines, including leak detection systems and shut-down procedures.

The Commission decision this week is not a final ruling on the Tunnel or Line 5.

Instead, the Commission deferred scheduling for the filing of testimony, exhibits, and rebuttal evidence, including an opportunity for cross-examination, to the administrative law judge in this case, consistent with the process adopted by the Commission throughout this proceeding. The Commission’s decision also does not impact the process or timeline involved for the consideration of other necessary permits, including those under review by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Both the Michigan Propane Gas Association and the National Propane Gas Association remain parties to the MPSC case under review on Line 5 and the proposed Tunnel.

by Meteorologist John Bagioni, Fax-Alert Weather Service, LLC

If nothing changes and the western upper-level ridge continues to periodically surge eastward, then the summer will continue to produce noteworthy hot periods across the Midwest. But something almost always changes! It is incredibly difficult for a large-scale jet stream pattern to stay relatively stable for a 3-month period. The question is, assuming a change occurs, how does it play out? If the ridge continues to stay relatively flat or even shifts a bit eastward, the OH/IN/MI areas will continue to experience a hotter than normal summer with the risk of a couple of intense hot periods. 

Click here for the complete July forecast update.

Meteorologist John Bagioni | FAX-ALERT WEATHER SERVICE, LLC 

(860) 675-9091 | john@faxalertweather.com

Congressman Bob Latta (OH-5), along with twelve other Members of Congress, sent a letter to the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) asking the agency to explain how they calculated funding levels for the Clean School Bus Program. In April, EPA announced its intent to provide $375,000 for an electric school bus while only providing $30,000 for propane buses as part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). The IIJA directed EPA to award funds based on the lowest overall cost of the bus and technologies that reduce the most emissions – propane is better than electric in most instances on both of these requirements. In the letter, these Members ask EPA to explain their calculations and ask the Agency to reconsider the funding amounts. Find the full letter HERE.

If you have any questions, please reach Andrew Healey, Manager of Legislative Affairs.

The IPGA offers training for those employed in the propane industry or looking to obtain propane training certification. Consider registering to send your employees to this valuable training.

To make training more accessible to everyone, classes are held in multiple locations across the state:

• July – Classes available in Kokomo
• August – Classes available in Fort Wayne

Registration deadline is two weeks prior to the start of each class.

On June 29, lawmakers announced they will convene on July 25 to address the automatic taxpayer refund and abortion. House Speaker Todd Huston and Senate President Pro Tem Rod Bray released the following statement via email:

“In coordination with Gov. Eric Holcomb, House Speaker Todd Huston and Senate President Pro Tem Rodric Bray plan to convene state lawmakers at the Statehouse for a special session on July 25. In light of the historic Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, legislative leaders are anticipating a multi-week special session versus one or two days. Due to this extended session and to minimize logistical issues, leaders worked with the governor to push the start date to July 25.

Bray and Huston also expect to address the state’s budget surplus and provide financial relief for Hoosiers during the special session. Bray and Huston also expect state legislators to take action to further protect life, and support new and expectant mothers. Statehouse leaders said the General Assembly will vet bills through the full legislative process, including committee hearings and public testimony.

Currently, the special session will begin on July 6, but state law allows legislators to use up to 40 calendar days to complete their work. Further details about the special session and potential legislation have not yet been announced, but updates will be posted to iga.in.gov.”



We will continue to provide updates as they become available. If you have questions, or if we can provide any additional information, please do not hesitate to contact us.

NPGA responded to a proposal by the Occupational Health & Safety Administration (OSHA) that would change workplace injury and illness reporting requirements for the propane industry, among other industries. OSHA proposed to expand Section 1904.41(a) to more industries with a minimum of 100 employees or more, and the creation of a publicly accessible, searchable website sharing case-specific, company-specific injury and illness information. Section 1904.41(a) would require annual electronic submission of Form 300 Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses (employee information, date and location of injury or illness, and outcome), Form 301 Injury and Illness Incident Report (additional details about each case recorded on the Form 300 including treatment, how the incident occurred, etc.), and Form 300A Summary of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses (employers required to post at workplace, and electronically submit to OSHA under company name).

NPGA argued that the additional data collection is merely to enable OSHA to publish more details about workplace injuries and illnesses for more companies on the proposed public website. We condemned the public website as an unprofessional shaming tactic to instigate improvement in workplace safety. In the proposal, OSHA acknowledged that the agency does not have the resources to investigate all injury and illness information it is proposing to collect, but it intends for the public website to cause a change by influencing public opinion and investors’ decision-making. We challenged this tactic as ineffective, outside the bounds of the agency’s general authority to issue rulemakings to improve safety, and raised past rulemakings that were successfully litigated against OSHA.

NPGA also requested that the agency address any possible connection to the failed vaccination or testing mandate that NPGA successfully litigated earlier this year. In this proposal, OSHA presents changing the employee threshold to 100 or more employees, which deviates from past threshold numbers but correlates with the employee threshold used in the vaccination or testing mandate emergency temporary standard.

Questions? Contact NPGA Vice President, Regulatory & Industry Affairs, Sarah Reboli.

On the heels of last week’s West Virginia v. EPA decision by the Supreme Court of the United States, NPGA and regulatory counsel dived into the technicalities of the opinion to analyze how it may shape agency actions. While we continue to evaluate the potential advantages of the Court’s decision, our regulatory counsel with expertise in agency efficiency and environmental rulemaking has provided an overview memorandum for our members to review. The memorandum is available on the Member Dashboard under the Regulatory tab.

At a high level, the decision weakens federal agencies and strengthens reviewing courts on actions pertaining to agency rulemaking.

The Court’s decision may bolster NPGA’s advocacy to the U.S. Department of Energy regarding several on-going rulemakings to set product efficiency standards. For example: While the Department of Energy’s statutory authority to set efficiency standards is defined in the Energy Policy and Conservation Act, NPGA will argue that it does not clearly define the agency’s authority to regulate certain product types like decorate fireplace logs or outdoor propane products.

Questions? Contact NPGA President, Steve Kaminski, or NPGA Vice President, Regulatory & Industry Affairs, Sarah Reboli.

Clean, cost-effective propane-powered school buses are often the simplest path to begin selling autogas or grow that market for your business. The Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Clean School Bus Program funding opportunity is now available and offering up to $30,000 per vehicle making it easier than ever to help grow our nation's fleet of over 22,000 propane autogas school buses already on the road today.

The Propane Education & Research Council (PERC) proudly highlights new and emerging technologies with the Propane Presents Technology Series -- our webinar series focusing on propane innovations that are in use today.

We invite you to join us on Thursday, July 21, 2022 at 2 p.m. ET for our latest webinar in this series to learn how to best position your company to sell year-round autogas gallons while serving the school districts and children in your community. Jennifer Goldbach of Rhodes Energy, Tim Gordon with Bluebird, Steve Lake with Southwest Allen County Schools, and Jim Bunsey of Superior Energy Systems will join PERC's Director of Autogas Business Development, Steve Whaley, to provide perspective on how to approach a school district and make a sale, how to work with school bus manufacturers to get vehicles on the road, and why propane autogas's simple, cost-effective infrastructure can be a crucial part of the deal. The time is now to start taking advantage of the range, reliability, and performance of today's crop of propane-powered school buses.

Register Here