NAT GAS Act Introduced to Increase Natural Gas Use in Vehicles

(Photo by Andrew Walsh on Flickr)

A trio of House members introduced a bill on April 1st that would accelerate the transition nationwide from vehicles powered by fossil fuels to CNG vehicles. Rep. Dan Boren (D-OK), Rep. John Sullivan (R-OK) and Rep. John Larson (D-CT) co-sponsored the New Alternative Transportation to Give American Solutions (NAT GAS) Act or HR 1835 to demonstrate bipartisan support for alternative fuels. HR 1835 was referred to the House Science and Technology, Oversight and Government Reform and Ways and Means Committees for further review in the near future.

 

The cornerstone of the NAT GAS Act is the continuation of tax incentives encouraging natural gas usage on American roads. HR 1835 would extend three incentives for an additional 18 years if passed including a provision to reduce taxes for individuals and businesses using natural gas as primary fuels for their vehicles. The 18-year extension would also broaden tax incentives for those looking to purchase CNG cars, trucks and SUVS and install fueling stations for CNG vehicles. Boren, Sullivan and Larson included a provision in the legislation to focus tax incentives on local, county and state agencies interested in CNG fleet purchases. The bill’s sponsors are anxious to get HR 1835 passed as all three tax breaks would lapse by the end of 2010.

 

The NAT GAS Act may focus largely on the consumer end of natural gas usage but its sponsors wanted to encourage manufacturers to develop new vehicles and infrastructure. In addition to the reduction in costs for consumers, the NAT GAS Act would provide grants to developers of cars, pickup trucks, construction machinery and heavy equipment running entirely on natural gas.  HR 1835 would also encourage the Big Three and foreign automakers working on American soil to create natural gas vehicles with targeted tax incentives based on the production of CNG and hybrid vehicles.

 

The testing ground for the implementation of the NAT GAS Act may be the federal government based on the bill’s language. House and Senate approval of HR 1835 would force the federal government to ensure that 50% of its new vehicle purchases are powered by natural gas, creating a demand for thousands of vehicles in the foreseeable future. While the committee process can be cumbersome, a bill like HR 1835 seems innocuous enough to move quickly through a Democratic House. As the debate has moved from ethanol to natural gas, we can only hope that more attention will be paid to EV infrastructure, solar power and other forms of energy to create a diversified transportation system.