The Senate on Dec. 19 passed the $1.4 trillion domestic spending bill that included a provision to retroactively renew the $1 per-gallon biodiesel tax credit and extend it through 2022.
After a 71 to 23 vote, the 2020 domestic spending bill now heads to President Donald Trump, who has indicated that he will sign it. The final bill must be signed by midnight Dec. 20 to avoid a government shutdown.
Extending the biodiesel tax credit represents a major victory for NATSO and the entire retail fuels community, which have operated amid uncertain market conditions since the biodiesel tax credit lapsed at the end of 2017.
For two years, NATSO and the entire retail fuels community have urged lawmakers to renew this important tax credit to encourage producers and blenders to make forward-looking infrastructure investments and ensure that they can sell fuel at the lowest possible cost to consumers.
NATSO extends a thank you and appreciation to all of its members who engaged on this issue over the past two years. While the biodiesel tax credit isn’t officially over the finish line until it is signed into law by the President, it would not be at this stage without the hard work of NATSO’s members.
Among the bill’s many provisions, the package included a reinstatement of the oil spill liability tax that expired at the end of 2017. The oil spill liability tax would not be retroactive but instead would go into effect on Jan. 1, 2020.
Of interest to travel center operators, a section of the spending package will increase the minimum age to purchase tobacco products from 18 to 21 across the country. Within 180 days of enactment, the Department of Health and Human Services must issue a final rule that updates all references to the minimum age to purchase tobacco products in the Federal Code to 21. Once a final rule is published, it must go into effect within 90 days (meaning a maximum of 270 days from enactment). The enforcement and penalty mechanisms in the Tobacco Control Act remain the same.
Of note, among the provisions that did not make it into the House-passed bill was an extension of the $7,500 electric vehicle tax credit.
NATSO will update its members again once the measure has been signed.
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