Ag Fuel Overcharge Pt 1
From the Ag Information Network, I’m Bob Larson. Those in Washington agriculture could be paying higher fuel prices than they are supposed to be. The Climate Commitment Act went into effect January 1st, establishing A cap on emissions and creating a carbon “tax” of around 40 cents per gallon.
But as written in the Act, Bre Elsey, Director of
Governmental Affairs at Washington Farm Bureau, says ag is exempt …
ELSEY … “I very recently began getting calls from farmers and those other interested parties saying that their fuel prices had gone up. And, sure enough, some of their invoices were showing this carbon price fee.”
A month into the new year, Elsey wants to know how this happened …
ELSEY … “Why wasn’t agriculture notified that there was a problem? Why was this program ever allowed to be launched knowing what they knew about the lack of implementation? What is the problem in the petroleum world that is causing these reimbursements to be impossible?”
Elsey the Department of Ecology’s fuel process is a tangled web …
ELSEY … “So, without clear guidance from the department how would a distributor even know what to do? How would he know how to charge this, how not to charge it? What kind of form he needs to use, how he remits payment to the end-user? There’s all kinds of these questions that have gone unanswered.”
Elsey says if you think you’re being charged this fee incorrectly, call the Department of Ecology and let them know.
Tune in tomorrow for more …
