NGVAmerica Champions Introduce $1.00 RNG Motor Fuel Tax Credit Bill in U.S. House
Sanchez/Fitzpatrick House Bill Supports RNG Vehicles and Promotes Economic Growth
Washington, DC – NGVAmerica applauds the introduction by Representatives Linda Sanchez (D-CA) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) of H.R. 2448, the Renewable Natural Gas Incentive Act of 2023, a bipartisan effort to provide a $1.00 per gallon tax credit for motor vehicles that use renewable natural gas (RNG) to further support clean and efficient transportation across America.
The new bill updates legislation introduced in the 117th Congress by the two U.S. House NGV leaders last year – H.R. 9396, legislation that complemented a similar Senate bill – S. 4568 – introduced by then Senator Richard Burr (R-NC) and Senator Mark Warner (D-VA).
“If we want clean air, we need ultra clean trucks and buses,” said NGVAmerica President Daniel Gage. “This introduction signals how important clean and carbon-negative renewable natural gas vehicles are to growing our economy, improving our air quality, and enhancing our energy security while reducing our carbon footprint. We are fortunate to have bipartisan, and soon bicameral support in getting this credit passed into law in the 118th Congress.”
The Renewable Natural Gas Incentive Act of 2023 would create a $1.00 per gallon tax credit for dispensers of renewable natural gas used for transportation, thereby encouraging commercial truck and transit fleets to convert their vehicles from diesel to zero emission equivalent RNG, or biomethane. Full text of the updated bill can be found HERE.
Renewable natural gas vehicles are powered by American fuel, American technology, and American innovation. No commercially available, reliable, and scalable heavy-duty powertrain solution runs cleaner than renewable natural gas, or biomethane.
Captured above ground from organic material in agricultural, wastewater, landfill, or food waste, RNG can produce carbon-negative results when fueling on-road vehicles like short- and long-haul trucks, transit buses, and refuse and recycling collection vehicles. Most recent California Air Resources Board data confirms that the average carbon intensity (CI) value of California’s bio-CNG vehicle fuel portfolio in its Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) program is below zero at -111.7 gCO2e/MJ – the only carbon negative clean transportation fuel in the entire CA LCFS program.1
In 2021, 64 percent of all on-road fuel used nationwide in natural gas vehicles was from a renewable source2. That number is expected to rise to close to 70 percent for 2022.
NGVAmerica’s natural gas vehicle fleet and fueler members eagerly support the bill’s introduction:
“The use of RNG is integral to UPS’s strategy to reduce our environmental impact and invest in our future,” said Mike Kiely, UPS President of U.S. Government Affairs. “This legislation will help to support the use of methane-reducing RNG and encourage clean and efficient transportation while building energy security. It’s a winning solution for the logistics industry.”
“WM supports this thoughtful approach to investing in vehicles and trucking fleets running on Renewable Natural Gas,” said John Skoutelas, Vice President, Government Affairs & Legal, WM (Waste Management). “WM is focused on working towards a more sustainable tomorrow through our action and investments to create a near-zero-emission fleet. This piece of legislation is critical towards helping the heavy-duty vehicle sector shift away from diesel vehicles and transition to a cleaner greener future.”
“Because RNG captures harmful greenhouse gases at the source – like dairies and other agriculture facilities – and at the vehicle, it is rated the cleanest fuel in the world, many times cleaner than electric vehicles,” said Andrew Littlefair, CEO and President of Clean Energy Fuels Corp. “The bipartisan approach to this legislation demonstrates the win-win-win nature of RNG – addressing climate change, providing an affordable alternative fuel for U.S. fleets, and helping our farmers.”
With this credit, America’s transit agencies can continue to invest in cleaner, commercially available and proven renewable natural gas buses without reducing service or increasing fares, school districts can provide exhaust-free rides to school by replacing their dirty legacy fleets, and freight haulers and package delivery companies can afford to replace aging diesel trucks with cleaner renewable natural gas trucks.
Read the Sanchez/Fitzpatrick press release HERE. Progress of the new bill – H.R. 2448 – will eventually be trackable HERE.
More on how natural gas is a NOW commercial transportation solution can be found at: https://transportproject.org/rng-is-how/.
1 California Air Resources Board, Low Carbon Fuel Standard Program, Certified Fuel Pathways. Q3, 2022. Data release 1/31/23. Available at: https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/resources/documents/lcfs-pathway-certified-carbon-intensities.
2 2021 RNG Volumes Report, NGVAmerica and Coalition for RNG, May 2, 2022. Available at: https://transportproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/NGV-RNG-Decarbonize-2022-5.2.22.pdf.
###
NGVAmerica is a national trade association of sustainability solutionists and experts in the clean transportation field. Our roughly 200 members are dedicated to the development of a growing, profitable, and sustainable market for vehicles, ships and carriers powered by natural gas and biomethane. NGVAmerica member companies produce, distribute, and market natural gas and biomethane across North America, manufacture and service natural gas vehicles, engines, and equipment, and operate fleets powered by clean-burning gaseous fuels. Find out more at: www.ngvamerica.org.
NGV news & insights