HR 3038 Introduced – Transportation Authorization Extension

Yesterday Rep Ryan (R,WI) introduced HR 3038, the Highway and Transportation Funding Act of 2015, Part II. The bill would extend the current short term extension {HR 2353 (Public Law No: 114-21)} of the transportation funding authorization from July 31^st to December 18^th. Spending would be authorized at the current rates.

Revenue Enhancements

There are a couple of ‘revenue enhancements’ included in Title II of the bill. The one of possible interest to readers of this blog will be found in §2008, Equalization of Highway Trust Fund Excise Taxes on Liquefied Natural Gas, Liquefied Petroleum Gas, and Compressed Natural Gas. It takes the already established idea of energy equivalency based upon the amount of energy in a gallon of gasoline set for CNG {26 USC 4041(a)(3)} and transfers it directly to LPG and indirectly to LNG (uses diesel instead of gasoline as the basis). It then establishes the excise rate for LPG and CNG at 18.3 cents per energy equivalent (5.75 lbs of LPG or 5.66 lbs of CNG). The rate for LNG is set at 24.3 cents per energy equivalent of a gallon of diesel (6.06 lbs).

Moving Forward

The House Rules Committee is currently meeting to formulate the rule for the consideration of HR 3038. This rule will probably allow a limited number of amendments (or perhaps none). We will see this bill considered either tomorrow or Thursday to allow the Senate a chance to consider and pass the bill before the current authorization runs out on July 31^st.