June 19 Senate Energy Bill markup:  Propane is in big time!

Following close on the heels of Propane Days, NPGA is pleased to report major positive developments in lobbying for favorable tax treatment for propane.

The Senate Finance Committee today (June 19) is in the process of marking up (voting on) the energy tax provisions that will be made part of the energy bill now being considered on the Senate floor.

As a result of Committee Chairman Max Baucus’ (D-MT) chairman’s amendment, the "Energy Advancement and Investment Act of 2007" now includes several critical propane-specific provisions.

They are:

• Extension through 2012 of the alternative fuel tax credits for vehicles, fuel and infrastructure. ALL of these credits have been extended through 2012.
• Inclusion of bio-propane as a qualifying fuel.
• Technical correction fixes (a) allowing the filing for the fuel tax credit multiple times during the year rather than just at the end of the year (this has also been extended to bio-propane) and (b) clarifying that the infrastructure tax credit can be taken per facility and not just one credit per year for a single facility.

This Senate Finance Committee bill is a major step in the overall process of passing a bill of this massive size.  Nevertheless, considering that these amendments were contained in the Chairman’s amendment, NPGA is confident that these industry-friendly provisions will not be tinkered with on the Senate floor when the entire bill is voted on later this month.

Other Congressional committees, most notably the powerful House Ways & Means Committee, are also marking up their version of the energy legislation this week.  NPGA will continue to work with these committees to ensure maximum favorable tax treatment for propane is included.

There will be more about this good news in the June 20, 2007 edition of NPGA Reports.