CONGRESS PASSES OMNIBUS SPENDING BILL

This week, the House and the Senate agreed to and passed an omnibus spending bill for fiscal year 2014 (FY 2014). The new legislation provides the spending levels for the federal government’s programs until September 30, 2014. The bill includes several items of interest to the NGV industry. The bill includes directions by Congress to the U.S. DOE to conduct research on alternative or dual fueled HD Class 8 trucks. In addition, although no specific funding for the Clean Cities program was provided in the legislation, funding for the Clean Cities program is expected to remain similar to that of the last couple of years at $26.4 million. The bill, however, does not address the status of the recently expired tax credits.