Renewable Energy Tax Credits Stalled
Renewable energy tax extender legislation will no longer be included in a Senate bill as was expected. The tax credits were to be part of a must-pass bill reauthorizing the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). These investment tax credits for fuel cells, geothermal and biomass resources were not included in the tax extenders legislation passed last year.
Passage of the FAA bill with the tax provisions was expected to be difficult in the House, but the breakdown on the Senate side came as a surprise to most. Democrats had been pushing to include the renewable energy tax credits, but relented once Republican opposition threatened to stop the FAA bill entirely. Action on a future tax credit bill by Democrats is still expected, possibly in the lame duck session after the 2016 election.
Bottle Bills under Consideration
Consideration of bottle bill laws is on the legislative calendar in both Massachusetts and New Jersey this year. Massachusetts, which has had a bottle bill in place for 33 years, is considering alternative strategies, while a New Jersey General Assembly committee has voted in favor of imposing the state’s first bottle deposit bill.
The legislature in Massachusetts is considering a bill that would eliminate the five-cent deposit consumers pay, and instead replace it with a three-year, one-cent-per-container fee that would be paid by beverage distributors and wholesalers. The 2014 defeat of a ballot measure that would have expanded the deposit program, along with considerations of new recycling methods and a drop in public participation in the program, have led the legislature to reconsider the current model.
Meanwhile, in New Jersey, a bill imposing a 10-cent deposit on containers smaller than 24 ounces, and a 20-cent deposit on larger ones passed out of committee. Beverage retailers would be responsible for taking back the containers. No date is set for the full chamber’s vote.
Slow Down to Get Around
SWANA Members in New York and Massachusetts are supporting efforts to pass laws increasing the penalties against motorists who hit waste collection workers or vehicles, or do not slow down when passing a stopped collection vehicle.
In Massachusetts, House Representative James Arciero recentlyintroduced a bill in the statehouse that would set a 15 mph speed limit for passing garbage and recycling trucks. AÂ bill in New York State would add the presence of sanitation workers to the list of situations in which drivers must reduce their speed.
Biogenic Framework to be Re-submitted
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced that it will again be updating the draft report on the accounting framework for biogenic carbon emissions. The biogenic framework is intended to account for carbon emissions released from the burning of bioenergy.
The report draft, originally published in February, was reviewed by the Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) which recommended further changes and re-submission to the SAB. The panel concluded that the best way to calculate the amount of carbon emissions released from biomass, while also taking into consideration the rate at which it regenerates, is to account for all of the carbon stocks present in an ecosystem. The panel also suggested calculating emissions for a 100-year period
A timeline for revision and re-submission of the framework has not yet been established.
For more information, visit www.swana.org.