NCWM TO VOTE ON DIESEL GALLON EQUIVALENT STANDARD—UPDATE

Several weeks ago, we told you that the National Conference of Weights and Measures (NCWM) will decide later this summer whether LNG and CNG may be sold in DGE units. NCWM’s Publication 16 is now available and, as expected, it includes the DGE issue as a voting item for this summer’s Annual Meeting in Detroit, Michigan. The full agenda and other materials relating to this issue and upcoming meetings are available at www.ncwm.net. Publication 16 also is available on the NCWM website; the DGE unit is addressed in items 237-2 and 337-2. The natural gas industry and many other trade allies support items 237-2 and 337-2 since they provide retailers with the ability to dispense CNG and LNG in DGE units, and they retain the existing standard that allows CNG to be sold in GGE units. Despite the fact that the DGE standard has now been officially proposed as a voting item, this issue is far from resolved. For the standard to become law, it must receive favorable support from 27 states this summer. State regulators who do not support this standard could still move to amend items 237-2 and 337-2. Therefore, it is important that you continue to express your views on this issue by contacting your state weights and measures officials to let them know that you support adoption of the DGE standard and retaining the GGE standard.

The Annual Meeting will be held in July, but there are two important regional meetings at which this issue will be discussed before then, and state regulators will be formulating their positions on this issue in the coming weeks. Information on those meetings is found below. Also, the contact information for state weights and measures officials is located here.

Information on upcoming regional meetings:

Northeastern Weights and Measures Association
5–8
Manchester, New Hampshire
Radisson Hotel Manchester Downtown 700 Elm Street
Manchester, NH 03101

Central Weights and Measures Association
May 19–22
St. Louis Union Station Hotel 1820 Market Street
St. Louis, Missouri 63103

NCWM Annual Meeting
July 13–17
Detroit, Michigan

What you can do:
• Attend a regional meeting and the summer meeting to express your support for DGE standard;
• Write to state officials now that Publication 16 is available and express your support for approval of the DGE standard for CNG and LNG (Items 237-2, and 337-2)
• Meet with your state weights and measures officials in advance of these meeting to let them know that you support the DGE measure for CNG and LNG
• Provide us with copies of letters sent and, if possible, feedback on how your state plans to vote on these measures

For background information on the DGE proposal, visit the Clean Vehicle Education Foundations website.