October 21, 2002

CONGRESS GOES HOME BUT DOESN’T ADJOURN OR RECESS

In one of the strangest “ends” to a Congress ever, this Congress has gone home to campaign while still “pretending” to be in session. That’s probably the best way to describe it. Both the House and Senate have passed a “Continuing Resolution” to fund the government until Nov. 22 at last year’s funding levels. While officially still in session, those sessions will only be “pro forma” from now until Nov. 12, when the full House and Senate will return for a “lame duck” session. It is likely they will then meet for one week, to act on budget and appropriation bills and anything coming out of conference committee. They will likely then recess again to come back for a December lame duck session as well.

By remaining in session instead of recessing, three objectives are achieved: 1) in case of an emergency, Congress would be able to move immediately to take action without waiting for a special session to be called; 2) if any of the bills currently tied up in conference committees (such as the energy bill) get worked out, they could at least theoretically be acted on prior to the election; and 3) both House Republicans and Senate Democrats (but mostly the latter) inoculate themselves against charges of failing to complete their work – they can say “we are still working on that”.

What does this do to the prospects for the Energy Bill? It is unclear. Few observers seriously expect an agreement to be reached on the Energy Bill between now and the election, although staff members continue to work on it. Whether it will see the light of day after the election is also debatable. The leadership on both sides of the aisle and on both ends of Capitol Hill (Senate and House) very much want a bill, but want one on their own terms. Some of the leaders insist they will get a bill eventually, but the same issues that have been hangups since August or earlier remain unresolved.

Some other issues of interest to marketers did see some action in the week prior to the current “pro-forma non-recess” of Congress:

• Terrorism insurance legislation seems to be moving toward solution in conference committee, largely because the Administration withdrew its demands for tort reform as part of the bill. Passage of such a bill should have an indirect favorable impact on marketers through reduced casualty insurance premiums in the long term.

• The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee filed its report on S. 1850, Sen. Chafee’s (R-RI) underground storage tank reform bill. This passes it on to the full Senate for consideration, probably during one of the lame duck sessions. Prospects for similar action in the House are tough, but should not be ruled out. The best chance for enactment of tank legislation supported by SIGMA would appear to be as part of an energy bill, if one begins to move again.

• An attempt by Senate Democrats to bring up Sen. Kennedy’s (D-MA) proposed minimum-wage increase was blocked by an objection by Sen. Gregg (R-NH).

Meanwhile, the election is just two weeks from tomorrow (Nov. 5). Depending on the election outcome, one party or the other may become interested in “cutting a deal” on some of the contentious issues in the current Congress rather than leaving them for the new Congress to deal with. We’ll have to wait and see. 

HAZMAT FEES TO DROP?

PMAA reports that it has prevailed in a lawsuit by several associations against the Dept. of Transportation (DOT) on the subject of Hazmat Transporter Fees. These are fees paid by anyone who transports or “offers” hazardous materials, including gasoline, for transport in commerce. DOT’s Research and Special Projects Administration (RSPA) increased those fees significantly about 3 years ago, with a result that more money was collected than is allowed by law. Many marketer groups, including SIGMA, protested that the fees should be reduced to be in compliance with the law. Initially, DOT and RSPA agreed, and proposed a decrease, but then backed off. Their strategy for the past year-and-a-half has been to keep the higher fees, hoping that Congress will authorize them to collect the higher amounts. Congress has not done so. Although SIGMA was not a party to the PMAA-led suit by many hazmat transport associations, we commend their efforts. We are told that DOT has agreed to settle the lawsuit with PMAA, and will work out the details in a meeting today (Monday, Oct. 21). 

LOW-SULFUR DIESEL

If you market on-road diesel fuel and haven’t done so already, please sign up right away for the EPA-Industry Highway Diesel Rule Implementation Workshop. It’s scheduled from the morning of Nov. 20 to early afternoon of Nov. 21 in Houston, Texas. For complete information and a registration form, go to www.npradc.org. SIGMA is a co-sponsor of the workshop. 

STATE DEVELOPMENTS

Texas’s Alcoholic Beverage Commission has ruled that card scanning devices may be used for enforcement of underage drinking laws, but the devices may not retain or market any data read by the device, nor may the data be scanned or collected for any purpose other than complying with the ABC code . . . EPA has approved changes to the Massachusetts Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) program designed to keep it in line with the so-called “California Car”. However, in a case of administrative “split personality”, the Dept. of Justice has filed a friend-of-the-court brief in another lawsuit, where the government argues that the California ZEV rules should be invalidated. Will the real administration policy on ZEVs please stand up?