Brief ⁽¹⁾

SB 3, as amended, would require that all bulk purchases of motor-vehicle fuels by any state agency be of a 10 percent ethanol blend, unless the price difference from regular unleaded fuel exceeds 10 cents per gallon.

Also, retail purchases for state vehicles would be required to be of at least 10 percent ethanol blend when available under current state purchasing agreements.

Background

As introduced, the bill would have required that at least 80 percent of the motor-vehicle fuel purchased for use in state vehicles be a 10 percent ethanol blend.

The Department of Administration noted that it would have problems complying with that requirement, because the ethanol blend is not available at all retail outlets, and most fuel for state vehicles is purchased from retail outlets. The Department of Administration suggested that the requirement apply to bulk purchases, with a limit on the price difference, and noted that it intended to encourage purchases at retail of the ethanol blend.

The Committee amended the bill to make it apply to bulk purchases by all state agencies, with the price difference not to exceed 10 cents, and to retail purchases when at least a 10 percent ethanol blend is available.

The fiscal note on the original bill indicated that the cost would be $80,182 for FY 2002 and between $85,000 and $90,000 in each of the following three fiscal years.

1. *Supplemental notes are prepared by the Legislative Research Department and do not express legislative intent. The supplemental note and fiscal note for this bill may be accessed on the Internet at http://www.ink.org/public/legislative/fulltext.cgi