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| January 3, 2020 [WR-20-01] |
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Sponsored by BP Products, North America
who generously supports PMAA’s work in our Nation’s Capital. |
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| Quick Links to Articles for January 3, 2020 |
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Mandatory Use of FMCSA Online Database for Managing CDL Driver Drug and Alcohol Test Records Starts January 6, 2020
2020 Federal Motor Fuel Excise Tax Rates
T21 Effective Immediately
FDA Releases Final Guidance on Flavored E-Cigarettes, Flavored Cigars and Hookah Tobacco
December 2019 PMAA Small Business Committee (SBC) PAC Contributions
December 2019 Contributors to PMAA MDF
PMAA Corporate Platinum Partner Spotlight Featuring: Renewable Energy Group, Inc.
PMAA’s Marketer Defense Fund Names Top 2019 Association Contributors |
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| Articles for January 3, 2020 |
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Mandatory Use of FMCSA Online Database for Managing CDL Driver Drug and Alcohol Test Records Starts January 6, 2020
Reminder! The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) new online CDL driver drug and alcohol Clearinghouse database requirements take effect January 6, 2020. Petroleum marketers who are subject to the FMCSA drug and alcohol testing requirements must register with the Clearinghouse and use it to manage employee drug and alcohol testing records. Drivers must register with the Clearinghouse to provide electronic consent for those who must have access to his/her drug and alcohol testing records. Registration for both employers and drivers must occur before generating any new drug and alcohol testing records after January 6, 2020. Full compliance information on petroleum marketer’s responsibilities under the drug and alcohol Clearinghouse rule can be found here.
The Clearinghouse is a secure online, searchable electronic database where all CDL driver drug and alcohol violations will now be posted. The Clearinghouse will provide employers, CDL drivers, medical review officers (MRO), substance abuse professionals (SAP), state driver licensing agencies (SDLA) and enforcement authorities real-time information about CDL drivers drug and alcohol program violations. The Clearinghouse will contain records of violations of drug and alcohol prohibitions, including positive drug or alcohol test results, test refusals, completion of return-to-duty (RTD) process and follow-up testing plan. CDL drivers, employers, MROs, SAPs and SDLAs must all register to use the database.
TThe Clearinghouse mandate does not change any current U.S. DOT drug and alcohol testing regulations or procedures other than to require use of the online database to comply with existing drug and alcohol record keeping requirements. Employer use of the Clearinghouse database is required for pre-employment CDL driver record investigation; annual drug and alcohol investigations for all current CDL employees; to upload driver drug and alcohol violations; and return to duty status records. Congress required the FMCSA to create and implement the Clearinghouse under the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (Pub. L. 112-141, 126 Stat. 405).
2020 Federal Motor Fuel Excise Tax Rates
The federal Oil Spill Liability Tax (OSLT) that expired on December 31, 2018 has been reauthorized prospectively (not retroactively) beginning January 1, 2020. Refiners are the only parties in the petroleum distribution chain liable for the OSLT. The OSLT rate is $0.09 cents per barrel of crude oil. Refiners pass the OSLT downstream as a cost rolled into the per gallon price of finished product and adjusted downward based on the volume of any non-crude blend stock added at the terminal such as ethanol and biodiesel. Additionally, please click on the link below that list the latest federal motor fuels excises tax rates.
Click here to read the full PMAA Compliance Bulletin.
T21 Effective Immediately
The Tobacco21 (T21) provision in the government spending/tax extenders bill that the President signed into law recently required that within 180 days of the bill’s enactment, the Department of Health and Human Services must issue a final rule that changes all references to the minimum age to purchase tobacco products in the Federal Code from 18 to 21. It also stated that the final rule must go into effect within 90 days from when it is published.
However, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced last week that the T21 law is effective immediately, meaning it is now illegal for stores to sell tobacco products, including cigarettes and e-cigarettes, to anyone under the age of 21. We understand this has created a lot of confusion among retailers who have been given no formal notice or direction from the FDA or a reasonable time frame to transition stores and employees. As a result, PMAA has joined NACS and SIGMA, as well as other trade groups, in sending a letter to the FDA and HHS last Friday asking them to announce that they will not enforce T21 until the implementing regulations are written and finalized.
Specifically, the letter states that our trade groups are “asking that FDA make clear to the regulated community that it understands this transition will take some time. FDA should announce that the new age 21 restriction on tobacco product sales will not be enforced until FDA has had a chance to write new implementing regulations and for those regulations to go into effect. That way everyone can work to ensure that this transition is handled the right way and that FDA regulations are followed.” Click here to view the letter.
PMAA will stay on top of this issue and keep you updated as we learn more. In the meantime, it is important that all retailers comply with the law and not sell any tobacco products to anyone under the age of 21.
FDA Releases Final Guidance on Flavored E-Cigarettes, Flavored Cigars and Hookah Tobacco
The FDA issued a Final Guidance yesterday titled “Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS) and Other Deemed Products on the Market Without Premarket Authorization.” The Final Guidance document describes the enforcement policy that the FDA will take relative to certain flavored e-cigarettes, flavored cigars and flavored hookah tobacco.
The final guidance document does not appear to single out convenience stores, but rather focuses on specific kinds of electronic nicotine products (i.e., certain flavored cartridge-based electronic nicotine products). In a statement from FDA, it said that “this Final Guidance prioritizes enforcement with respect to any flavored, cartridge-based ENDS products (other than a tobacco and menthol-flavored ENDS product) without regard to the location or method of sale.” After the FDA’s Draft Guidance was released in March, PMAA and other like-minded associations opposed the FDA provision allowing sales of flavored e-cigarettes in stores that are considered adult-only, such as vape shops, while prohibiting them from being sold in convenience stores.
Below is a summary of the additional provisions in the Final Guidance document courtesy of the National Association of Tobacco Outlets:
- The Final Guidance would take effect thirty days after the Final Guidance document is published in the Federal Register. The Final Guidance document should be published in the Federal Register in the next day or two.
- The FDA will prioritize enforcement against those companies that manufacture, distribute or sell flavored cartridge-based electronic nicotine delivery products (except tobacco-flavored, menthol-flavored and non-flavored cartridge-based electronic nicotine delivery products) that have not received a premarket authorization order from the FDA.
- Flavored cartridge-based electronic nicotine delivery products (except tobacco-flavored, menthol flavored, and non-flavored cartridge-based products) would need to be removed from the market, including from retail stores, within 30 days after the Final Guidance document is published in the Federal Register. The FDA states in the Final Guidance document that these products are not being completely banned from the market but could come back on the market if manufacturers file premarket authorization applications by May 12, 2020 and the FDA subsequently approves the application.
- The FDA also intends to prioritize enforcement against those cartridge-based products for tobacco-flavored, menthol-flavored, or non-flavored electronic nicotine products and any non-cartridge flavored electronic nicotine products if they lack a premarket authorization order from the FDA and the manufacturer has not taken or is not taking adequate measures to prevent minors’ access to these products.
- The FDA also intends to prioritize enforcement against any electronic nicotine products targeted to, or whose marketing is likely to promote use by, underage persons. Examples include electronic nicotine products with labeling or advertising that resembles kid-friendly foods and drinks (e.g., juice boxes, candy or kid-friendly cereal), or with youth-appealing cartoon or animated character advertising or marketed on popular children’s YouTube channels and television shows.
- The FDA also intends to prioritize enforcement of any electronic nicotine product (either cartridge-based or non-cartridge based product) that is offered for sale after May 12, 2020, and for which the manufacturer has not submitted a premarket authorization application (or after a negative action by FDA on a timely submitted application).
- The FDA will not at this time take enforcement action against “open system” electronic nicotine products nor small manufacturers such as vape shops that mix e-liquids on-site and primarily sell non-cartridge-based electronic nicotine products, unless they market to youth, fail to take adequate measures to prevent youth access, or do not file a premarket authorization.
- The FDA has decided not to prioritize enforcement against flavored cigars and flavored hookah tobacco products before May 12, 2020 because underage use of these tobacco products is significantly lower than cartridge-based electronic nicotine products. However, the FDA reiterates in the Final Guidance document that flavored cigars and flavored hookah tobacco are required to submit premarket authorization applications to the agency for those products by May 12, 2020. The FDA acknowledges that there are a number of “grandfathered” flavored cigars that are lawfully marketed and would remain available to consumers regardless of FDA’s enforcement of premarket authorization requirements.
Click here to view the full FDA Final Guidance document.
December 2019 PMAA Small Business Committee (SBC) PAC Contributions
PAC Co-Chairs Brad Bell and Tim Keigher are grateful for the PMAA Small Business Committee (SBC) PAC contributions from the following individuals during the December 1-31, 2019 time frame:
Connecticut: John Bowman, David Chu, Chris Herb, Peter Russell, David Sousa
Hawaii: Brad Bell, Edsel Eshima, Robert Fung, Tom Grimes, Gene Inglesby, Karl Ishigaki, Daren Kawakami, Mike Meyer, Paul Oliveira, Beau Oshiro, Rob Underwood, Steve Wetter, Gordon Wong, Jim Yates, Keith Yoshida
Michigan: Randall Avery, Robert Cleary, James Linton, James O’Connor
Mississippi: Philip Chamblee
Montana: James Kenneally
New Jersey: Eric DeGesero, Lawrence Ray
New Mexico: Gary Harrell
North Carolina: David Alexander, Dallas Campbell Jr., James Harrell, Gary Harris, Henry Walter Holt Jr., Doug Howey, Hal Johnson, Eugene McLaurin II, Chris Neal, Audrey Shearin, James Young
North Dakota: Chris Fitterer, Lee Fitterer, Andy Fjeldahl, David Froelich, Deanne Schatz
Pennsylvania: David Harris, Becky Umbaugh
South Carolina: Sam Bell
Washington: Steven Clark, Todd Deck, David Ducharme, Chris Eerkes, Sean Mason, Rodney Smith, Steve Snider, Aaron Wilcox, Laura Yellig
December 2019 Contributors to PMAA MDF
PMAA’s Marketer Defense Fund wants to thank the following individuals for their contributions during the December 1- 31 timeframe:
Colorado: Randy McFarland
Kansas: Dennis McAnany
New Jersey: Susan Hammond
North Carolina: Neill A. McDonald III
Corporate donations are acceptable. MDF funds have been used for various studies, litigation and disaster relief dedicated to strengthening our lobbying efforts on Capitol Hill. Click here to donate to the PMAA MDF.
PMAA Corporate Platinum Partner Spotlight Featuring: Renewable Energy Group, Inc.
Biodiesel Tax Credit Extended through 2022
On Friday, December 20, 2019 President Trump signed legislation including a retroactive reinstatement and extension of the $1-per-gallon Biodiesel Tax Credit (BTC) from January 1, 2018 through December 31, 2022. Let's Blend readers will recall that REG has been following this story closely throughout 2018 and 2019. With the tax credit now reinstated and extended for five years, we are excited to share the following statement from REG President & CEO CJ Warner, issued December 23, 2019.
"Friday’s news represents a big win for the environment, for agriculture, and for US motorists. For too long the biomass-based diesel industry has been held back from showing its real potential due to the recurring uncertainty around the BTC. Now, thanks to the work of biodiesel champion lawmakers, we can accelerate our strategy and further deliver at scale the enormous benefits of biodiesel and renewable diesel.
"We are grateful to so many who made this a reality for the biodiesel industry. Senator Chuck Grassley is a tireless biodiesel champion and his intrepid leadership helped build the industry from the beginning. Senator Maria Cantwell’s years of persistence on the industry’s behalf as a fighter for lower carbon fuels was crucial. Senator Joni Ernst played a key role in securing President Trump’s support for the BTC and we sincerely thank all of these pivotal leaders. Thank you to all of the biodiesel advocates in the House, including Iowa members Abby Finkenauer and Cindy Axne and Washington State Congressman Derek Kilmer.
"As we look to the future with this supportive policy, we are committed to delivering value to our stakeholders, including our customers and shareholders, through a balanced approach to capital allocation focusing on high quality, high returning investments, including share and bond repurchases that will strengthen the company and our ability to deliver high quality, low carbon fuels. The proceeds from the BTC provide tremendous, predictable resources to support achievement of these goals."
For additional information about Renewable Energy Group, Inc., please visit or contact Steve Klein. Renewable Energy Group is a PMAA Corporate Platinum Partner.
PMAA’s Marketer Defense Fund Names Top 2019 Association Contributors
PMAA would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the Top Three Associations for their achievement to their state’s contributions to our 2019 Marketer Defense Fund (MDF):
- Wisconsin Petroleum Marketers & Convenience Store Association (WPMCA) who raised $5,265
- Tennessee Fuel & Convenience Store Association (TFCA) who raised $4,414
- Mississippi Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Stores Association (MPMCSA) who raised $4,330
This national program does not set annual state goals like PMAA’s Small Business Committee Political Action Committee (SBC PAC.) Unlike PAC funds, the MDF Program does not make donations to candidates. Therefore, corporate donations are accepted and the monies raised for this special fund have been used to hiring a technical consultant staff to represent PMAA at several regulatory agencies, to bring petroleum marketers to testify before EPA, continuing to lead the way in disaster response efforts by reforming the waiver process, clearing regulatory hurdles, minimizing delays at weigh stations and speeding wait times at water borne terminals and other causes dedicated to strengthening our lobbying efforts on Capitol Hill.
PMAA values every donation we receive and will continue to appreciate any additional support. Click here to donate and find out more about this program. Please contact Susan Isard at 703-351-8000 with any additional questions. |
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