NEON: NEFI Energy Online News

OFFICIAL BIOHEAT^® WEBSITE, TOLL-FREE HOTLINE EDUCATES DEALERS AND CONSUMERS
The National Biodiesel Board (NBB) this week announced the launch of the official Bioheat^® website designed to educate customers and fuel dealers on the amazing potential that is Bioheat^®--a new-age, environmentally-friendly home heating fuel of traditional and reliable heating oil blended with pure home-grown biodiesel. Additionally, a toll-free "hotline" has been created to give fuel dealers and wholesalers direct support with technical issues and other inquiries.

Bioheat® Online: www.bioheatonline.com
This intuitive and educational site is a "two-sided coin" with information for both home heating oil dealers and prospective Bioheat^® consumers. With a simple, video-based approach, www.bioheatonline.com features personable hosts who walk visitors through the basics of biodiesel and Bioheat^® while explaining the benefits for our country, our environment, and our homes. For heating oil dealers, the site provides technical resources and clear, concise information about blending, marketing and selling Bioheat^®. The site also encourages heating oil dealers to register online to become Bioheat^® dealers. Once registered, dealers are given access to professionally produced advertising and marketing materials, customizable for their market, with the help of the Shaw Company, the campaign's creator and authorized facilitator.

Bioheat^® Toll-Free Hotline: 877-B5-1-LINE
Also, the NBB has set up a toll-free hotline for heating fuel dealers, OEM's and fuel wholesalers who wish to call and discuss technical issues or to address other issues of concern or interest with biodiesel industry professionals. The hotline has been coordinated by Advanced Fuel Solutions, Inc., NBB's liaison to the industry. The number is 1-877-B5-1-LINE or 877-251-5463. Please note that the hotline is operational during business hours only (EST).

NEFI members should feel free to share the above information with their customers and clients to begin acclimating them to the new wave in home heating fuels. If you have any additional questions regarding the new website, the hotline or Bioheat^® in general, contact Paul Nazzaro at (866) 213-3219 or email paulsr@fuelsolution.com. We welcome your comments!!!

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NEFI CONTACT: Jim Collura, VP for Public Policy (jimcollura@nefi.com)

Congress is in recess until after the November 4th election, at which time they may hold a special session to address the economic crisis. If not, they will remain adjourned until January 3rd.

2008 ELECTION PROJECTIONS FAVOR CONGRESSIONAL DEMOCRATS
With merely two weeks to go before the November 4th Presidential Election, nearly all political analysts concede that momentum favors Congressional Democrats. There is little dispute that the that Democrats will maintain control of both chambers, the only question being exactly how many seats the party will be able to add to their majority. In the U.S. House of Representatives, Democrats currently hold 235 of 435 seats. Congressional Quarterly (www.cqpolitics.com), a non-partisan Capitol Hill news service that rates Congressional races, sees Democrats picking up at least two seats. Of the 200 seats held by Republicans this past Session, 23 are seen as hotly contested and are classified as "toss-ups" by CQ. The larger the majority in the House, the easier it will be to pass items requiring a 2/3 vote, including overturning of Presidential vetoes and passing legislation under suspension of the rules (which circumvents the committee process, limits debate, and bars amendments). In the Senate, Democrats are eyeing the 60 seats they need in order to prevent Republican filibusters. Currently they have 51 seats (with Independents Sanders, VT and Lieberman, CT), and CQ expects a gain of at least five seats. An additional four seats are hotly contested, putting a total of nine races solidly up for grabs--putting the Democrat's goal of 60 seats within reach. NEFI is monitoring the Congressional elections, and the impact that the outcome might have on the national legislative agenda.

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ALL $5.1 BILLION IN FEDERAL LIHEAP FUNDING RELEASED
On October 16, 2008, President Bush instructed Secretary Leavitt of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to release all $5.1 billion in federal funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). This amounts to the largest federal LIHEAP allocation in history, and is being hailed as a major victory for NEFI and its LIHEAP coalition allies, who have been calling for the $5.1 billion funding level since the funding level was authorized by Congress in 2005. It is essentially double the average $2 billion in funding the program has received since its inception in 1982. The $5.1 billion in federal money includes both $4.51 billion released using the state allocation formula, and $598 million released using the HHS contingency funding release formula. The funding was included in the FY09 Continuing Resolution, which was passed by Congress and signed into law by the President in late September. The law required all $5.1 billion be released within 30 days of enactment. For a breakdown of allocation by states, see last week’s NEFI alert.

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Contact: Mark Morgan, NEFI Regulatory Counsel (mark@nefi.com)

ASTM PUBLISHES LONG AWAITED BIODIESEL BLEND QUALITY SPECIFICATIONS
The American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) has published long awaited quality specifications for biodiesel blends. The new ASTM specifications are important to petroleum marketers because they ensure the availability and high quality of biodiesel blends and can be used for guidance in fuel blending, blend standardization, quality control as well as bid and purchasing contracts. The new biodiesel blend specifications include:

• ASTM D975-08a, Specification for Diesel Fuel Oils
This specification, used for both highway and off-road diesel engine use, has been revised to include requirements for biodiesel blends up to B-5.

• ASTM D396-08b, Specification for Fuel Oils
This specification used for home heating and boiler applications, has been revised to include blends up to five percent biodiesel. This is a victory for the industry, because it means Bioheat^® now enjoys ASTM equivalency with biodiesel.

• ASTM D7467-08, Specification for Diesel Fuel Oil, Biodiesel Blend (B-6 to B-20)
This is a completely new specification that applies to finished fuel blends of between 6% biodiesel (B-6) and 20% biodiesel (B-20) for both highway and off-road diesel engine use.

ASTM also approved revisions to existing ASTM D6751 specifications for pure biodiesel (B-100) prior to blending with diesel fuel. NEFI is working with the IRS to ensure that the new ASTM specification and revisions meet the definition of biodiesel under the IRS code for purposes of obtaining the $1.00 per gallon federal biodiesel tax credit. The new specifications are available for purchase from ASTM at www.ASTM.org.

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MASS OILHEAT COUNCIL COMMENTS TO FEDS ON BOSTON HAZMAT ROUTING ISSUES

On Friday, October 17, the Massachusetts Oilheat Council submitted comments to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) in support of the American Trucker's Association's (ATA) application for a preemption determination on the City of Boston's Hazmat routing and transportation procedures. The ATA is protesting the City of Boston's creation of new Hazmat routes, asserting that the due process required by federal regulation was ignored. Under 49 CFR 397.71, affected parties, including neighboring jurisdictions, impacted carriers and shippers, must be afforded the opportunity to provide input on proposed Hazmat routing designations before implementation. The purpose is to ensure that the safest and most efficient routes are chosen without placing undue burden or risk on the transporters of these commodities and neighboring municipalities. R ead MOC's letter to the FMCSA. For more information, contact Alisha Frazee at Massachusetts Oilheat Council at (781) 237-0730 or 800-722-0623.

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GAO FAULTS SLOW PACE OF TWIC ENROLLMENT FOR DRIVERS SEEKING ENTRY TO PORTS
The U.S. General Accountability Office (GAO) recently criticized the slow pace of enrollment in Transportation Security Administration's (TSA) Transportation Worker Identity Credential (TWIC) program. The GAO is concerned that the TWIC program is taking too long to get up and running. The TSA deadline by which all persons, including drivers requiring access to designated ports must obtain TWIC identification is April 15, 2009. However, the GAO reports that nearly 18 months into the application process, more than half of the estimated 1.2 million U.S. transportation workers have yet to apply for their TWIC ID. The TSA purposely adopted an extended, three year rolling enrollment period for TWIC applicants to avoid the backlog in processing that hampered the agency's security background check program for hazardous material drivers and delayed CDL license renewal for months. The TSA also moved back the original September 25, 2008 mandatory enrollment deadline by six months in order to ensure that applications would all be filed and processed before TWIC IDs were required for entry into designated ports.

Despite these efforts, only 498,000 applications have been filed (just 40% of those required to obtain TWIC IDs) and fewer than 320,000 of those applicants have received an activated TWIC card. As a result, the remaining 60% of those who have not yet enrolled and the nearly 170,000 awaiting processing may not have their TWIC ID by the April 15 enrollment deadline. Despite these daunting statistics, the TSA said it can still meet the enrollment deadline but urged the 800,000 remaining applicants, primarily drivers, to apply now to avoid delays. The TSA warns that those who wait until the last minute to enroll will likely have the longest processing time. It is important for petroleum transporters to make certain their drivers who require access to designated ports enroll in TWIC as soon as possible to prevent unnecessary delay. To determine where TWIC IDs are required and for the location of enrollment centers, visit www.tsa.gov/what_we_do/layers/twic/index.shtm.

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EPA SET TO FINALIZE RULE REVISING EPCRA TIER II REPORTING FOR BULK PLANTS
The US EPA announced it is set to publish a final rulemaking revising the Tier II hazardous chemical reporting regulations under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA). Petroleum marketers with bulk plants, and those with UST storage capacity over certain gallon thresholds (100,000 gallons for diesel fuel and 75,000 gallons for gasoline) are required to submit Tier II forms to state emergency response authorities every year by March 1. The rule was first proposed over ten years ago, but has been languishing at the EPA ever since. The delay was largely due to a new provision that requires reporting of certain hazardous chemicals contained in a mixture. It is not yet known if the different hazardous chemicals contained in gasoline, diesel fuel and other petroleum products must be reported individually or as part of a larger mixture, as has been allowed since the inception of the EPCRA program.

The final rule includes clarifications on how to report hazardous chemicals in mixtures and revises and amends Tier II reporting forms. Changes on the Tier II form include a new provision that requires facilities to report the applicable North American Industrial Classification number (NAICS) in place of the former SIC code and use only the chemical name provided on the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) rather than using a common or generic name. An in-depth Compliance Bulletin outlining the new EPCRA Tier II provisions will follow once the rule is published. For more information on EPCRA Tier II reporting go to www.epa.gov/oem/content/epcra/tier2.htm.

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TEXAS JOINS PMAA – The Petroleum Marketers Association of America (PMAA) has announced this week that the Board of Directors at the Texas Petroleum Marketer and Convenience Store Association has approved a measure for the association to join PMAA effective January 1, 2009.
TAX ENFORCEMENT – As states across the country face falling revenues, tax administrators are launching concerted efforts to make certain that taxes owed are fully collected. According to the Federation of Tax Administrators (FTA), ramped up enforcement will be used as state tax authorities across the country struggle to close gaping tax shortfalls. This issue is important to petroleum marketers because state tax administrators will likely target payroll, excise and income tax laws for stricter enforcement efforts. The FTA says that when economic times get tough, these three targeted areas are most likely to see the highest rate of tax evasion. States are trying a variety of new enforcement strategies that range from self disclosure to encrypted cigarette stamps that are harder to counterfeit. Additional strategies include more frequent undercover sting operations, clamping down on illegal internet sales and more site audits.
BROWNFIELDS – The US EPA released a report last week detailing a major new initiative to address clean-up of sites contaminated with petroleum commonly known as brownfields. The report, Petroleum Brownfields Action Plan: Promoting Revitalization and Sustainability, focuses primarily on abandoned gasoline stations which have historically been difficult to redevelop because they are typically small and dispersed widely throughout communities. One key initiative in the report calls for multi-purpose brownfield grants that can be used for site evaluation and remediation. In another part of the plan, EPA said it would seek to develop partnerships with private-sector entities, communities, economic development and community planning agencies, state regulators, and other federal programs to explore techniques for assessing, cleaning up, and monitoring petroleum sites.
EPA's Petroleum Brownfields Action Plan: Promoting Revitalization and Sustainability.
OPEC EMERGENCY MEETING – The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries plans to conduct an emergency meeting on November 8 in Vienna to discuss "the global financial crisis, the world economic situation, and the impacts on the oil market." An OPEC spokesperson making the announcement said the cartel is determined to ensure that "oil market fundamentals are kept in balance and market stability is maintained." At OPEC's last meeting in September, member countries agreed to adhere to production quotas, which trim output by about 500,000 barrels per day. OPEC is likely to take up the issue of production quotas in the emergency meeting as a number of member countries seek deeper cuts.

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SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION (SBA) GUIDANCE DOCUMENT: The Legislative & Regulatory Action Center has provided a guidance document for fuel dealers who wish to apply for SBA 7(a) loans in order to obtain additional capital to meet the increased cost of product; to make infrastructure improvements; to expand or diversify your business; or for other reasons. This document details various types of loans available and their acceptable uses. NEFI members can obtain a copy at www.nefiactioncenter.com under the "Federal Regulations" page (log-in required). If you need any assistance, contact Dave Huffman at (617) 923-5022 or dave@nefi.com.
NEFI ACTION CENTER SITE PROBLEMS RESOLVED: Upon sending an email with links to the above SBA Loan Guidance Document, the www.nefiactioncenter.com site experienced technical difficulties. The problem has been resolved and the site is functioning.
NEFI OUT IN FRONT ON DIESEL EXHAUST FLUID: NEFI's Regulatory Counsel, Mark S. Morgan, Esq., will be representing NEFI at the Diesel Exhaust Fluid Forum in California next month. Diesel exhaust fluid (aka 'urea') will be required in diesel engine vehicles starting next year. NEFI wants to keep members as up-to-date as possible on this hot issue, and is planning a related webinar sometime early next year (date TBA).