Oklahoma Congressman Markwayne Mullin’s pairing with Democratic U.S. Rep. John Larson of Connecticut in introducing the National Gas Parity Act of 2018 is drawing praise from the natural gas industry. It’s a move to put national gas powered vehicles on the same tax incentive ground as electric cars.
Their bill, H.R. 5959 would ensure fair treatment in the tax code, federal acquisition policy and research and developing funding for vehicles fueled by natural gas and related alternative sources. The government has a tax incentive for electric vehicles but not one for those fueled by natural gas.
Rep. Mullin, a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee joined forces with Larson who sits on the House Ways and Mans Committee.
Their Act would extend the expire Alternative Fuels tax Credit of 50-cents a gallon through 2022. They contend it would provide greater certainty for businesses, municipalities and fleet managers interested in investing in alternative fuel transportation options.
The Act would also encourage investment in new natural gas technologies by providing a partial exclusion from the federal excise tax imposed on heavy-duty natural gas truck purchases.
Mullin and Larson say their act would also bring parity to the purchase of natural gas motor vehicles on par with the federal government’s $7,500 tax credit for the purchase of new light-duty electric vehicles. The act includes a new tax credit for medium and heavy-duty natural gas trucks.
The act drew support from NGVAmerica, a national organization of more than 200 companies, environmental groups and government organizations.
“Current federal incentives and regulatory rules do not encourage the use of super clean and efficient natural gas for transportation. With the introduction of this legislation, Representatives Mullin and Larson recognize that the world’s cleanest heavy-duty engines run on natural gas,” said NGVAmerica President Dan Gage.
The head of Clean Energy Fuels Corp., Andrew J. Littlefair joined in the praise of the two congressmen.
“There has never been a better time for Congress to support the adoption of natural gas vehicles (NVGs) as a proven transportation model, one that has already been successfully adopted by municipalities across the U.S. It’s important that Congress provide incentives for the utilization of domestically-available energy sources—including the use of natural gas in Federal government fleets—and provide funding for natural gas research to accelerate the advancement of natural gas engines and vehicles.”
Clean Energy Fuels Corp. is the leading provider of natural gas fuel and renewable natural gas fuel for transportation in North America.
