By VDC staff
A pair of bills sponsored by the chairs of energy committees in both House and Senate would further regulate and tax the sale of fossil fuels in Vermont.
Committee sponsorship virtually guarantees a bill may be brought to a committee vote, the first major step towards passage into law.
Fuel Sales registry bill returns – H.740, sponsored by House Energy & Digital Technology Chair Katherine James (D-Manchester), would create a new fuel-sales registry, requiring suppliers to report gasoline, diesel, heating oil, kerosene, and propane sales, reports Matt Cota in The Intersection,Vermont Transportation Energy Network newsletter.
The proposal would spend roughly $800,000 on a data-collection system that mirrors the abandoned Clean Heat Standard registry. H.740 would also require data on motor fuel sales to be reported by county, which is not currently tracked by the hundreds of heating and motor fuel suppliers operating in and around Vermont.
Fuel sales tax on Second Homes – Another proposal would compel oil and propane dealers to verify their customers’ residency. Under legislation proposed by AM Washington County Sen. Anne Watson, Chair of the Senate Natural Resources Committee (S.274), heating fuel sellers would be required to charge the 6% sales tax if a property is not the customer’s primary residence.
If enacted into law, the bill would force dealers, before making a delivery, to check a state-maintained tax list to determine whether a home qualifies as a primary homestead, and, if so, whether to collect and remit the tax.