LANSING – A package of bills aimed at boosting production and use of ethanol and bio-diesel fuels by providing for lower taxes on those fuels and encouraging greater use by state vehicles won unanimous approval by the Senate Thursday.
The six-bill package – SB 1074, SB 1075, SB 1076, SB 1077, SB 1077, SB 1078, SB 1079 – now goes to the House.
The only question raised on the package was an unsuccessful effort by Sen. Liz Brater (D-Ann Arbor) to block use of the grain mash left over from the production of ethanol in concentrated animal feeding operations in newly designated renaissance zones in rural areas.
Those operations defy the intent of the package, which is to both save oil and improve the environment, Brater said.
But Sen. Bruce Patterson (R-Canton) said if ethanol producers are limited in who they can sell their product to, then ethanol will not be produced.
The package passed shortly after the state announced that Meijer Corporation was expanding the number of pumps at its fueling stations that handle E85 ethanol. The state currently has one ethanol production plant, with plans for four more to open.
Under SB 1074, the state would temporarily impose a 12-cents-a-gallon tax on at least 70 percent ethanol, lower than the current 19-cents-a-gallon imposed on gasoline, and 5 percent biodiesel fuel.
SB 1075 requires the state to install fueling infrastructure at state motor transport facilities so that state vehicles able to use the fuels have easy access.
SB 1076 requires the Strategic Fund to establish a service station grant program to provide incentives to stations to add E85 pumps.
SB 1077 creates a “Fuels of the Future Commission” in the Department of Agriculture to promote the use of alternative fuels in the state.
SB 1078 allows up to 10 additional renaissance zones in the state for creation of “renewable energy facilities.”
And SB 1079 requires all outlets selling alternative fuels to register with the state.
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