8A.362 - FLEET MANAGEMENT -- POWERS AND DUTIES -- FUEL ECONOMY REQUIREMENTS. - Iowa Statutes

8A.362 FLEET MANAGEMENT -- POWERS AND DUTIES -- FUEL ECONOMY REQUIREMENTS. 1. The director may provide for the assignment to a state officer or employee or to a state agency, of one or more motor vehicles which may be required by the state officer or employee or state agency, after the state officer or employee or state agency has shown the necessity for such transportation. The director may assign a motor vehicle either for part-time or full-time use. The director may revoke the assignment at any time. 2. The director may cause all state-owned motor vehicles to be inspected periodically. Whenever the inspection reveals that repairs have been improperly made on the motor vehicle or that the operator is not giving the motor vehicle the proper care, the director shall report this fact to the head of the state agency to which the motor vehicle has been assigned, together with recommendation for improvement. 3. a. The director shall provide for a record system for the keeping of records of the total number of miles state-owned motor vehicles are driven and the per-mile cost of operation of each motor vehicle. Every state officer or employee shall keep a record book to be furnished by the director in which the officer or employee shall enter all purchases of gasoline, lubricating oil, grease, and other incidental expense in the operation of the motor vehicle assigned to the officer or employee, giving the quantity and price of each purchase, including the cost and nature of all repairs on the motor vehicle. Each operator of a state-owned motor vehicle shall promptly prepare a report at the end of each month on forms furnished by the director and forwarded to the director, giving the information the director may request in the report. Each month, the director shall compile the costs and mileage of state-owned motor vehicles from the reports and keep a cost history for each motor vehicle and the costs shall be reduced to a cost-per-mile basis for each motor vehicle. The director shall call to the attention of an elected official or the head of any state agency to which a motor vehicle has been assigned any evidence of the mishandling or misuse of a state-owned motor vehicle which is called to the director's attention. b. A gasoline-powered motor vehicle operated under this subsection shall not operate on gasoline other than ethanol blended gasoline as defined in section 214A.1, unless under emergency circumstances. A diesel-powered motor vehicle operated under this subsection shall not operate on diesel fuel other than biodiesel fuel as defined in section 214A.1, if commercially available. A state-issued credit card shall not be valid to purchase gasoline other than ethanol blended gasoline, if commercially available, or to purchase diesel fuel other than biodiesel fuel, if commercially available. The motor vehicle shall also be affixed with a brightly visible sticker which notifies the traveling public that the motor vehicle is being operated on ethanol blended gasoline or biodiesel fuel, as applicable. However, the sticker is not required to be affixed to an unmarked vehicle used for purposes of providing law enforcement or security. 4. a. The director shall provide for the purchase of all motor vehicles for all branches of the state government, except the state department of transportation, institutions under the control of the state board of regents, the department for the blind, and any other state agency exempted by law. The director shall purchase new vehicles in accordance with competitive bidding procedures for items or services as provided in this subchapter. The director may purchase used or preowned vehicles at governmental or dealer auctions if the purchase is determined to be in the best interests of the state. b. The director, and any other state agency, which for purposes of this subsection includes but is not limited to community colleges and institutions under the control of the state board of regents, or local governmental subdivisions purchasing new motor vehicles, shall purchase new passenger vehicles and light trucks so that the average fuel efficiency for the fleet of new passenger vehicles and light trucks purchased in that year equals or exceeds the average fuel economy standard for the vehicles' model year as established by the United States secretary of transportation under 15 U.S.C. § 2002. This paragraph does not apply to vehicles purchased for law enforcement purposes or used for off-road maintenance work, or work vehicles used to pull loaded trailers. c. Not later than June 15 of each year, the director shall report compliance with the corporate average fuel economy standards published by the United States secretary of transportation for new motor vehicles, other than motor vehicles purchased by the state department of transportation, institutions under the control of the state board of regents, the department for the blind, and any other state agency exempted from the requirements of this subsection. The report of compliance shall classify the vehicles purchased for the current vehicle model year using the following categories: passenger automobiles, enforcement automobiles, vans, and light trucks. The director shall deliver a copy of the report to the office of energy independence. As used in this paragraph, "corporate average fuel economy" means the corporate average fuel economy as defined in 49 C.F.R. § 533.5. d. The director shall assign motor vehicles available for use to maximize the average passenger miles per gallon of motor fuel consumed. In assigning motor vehicles, the director shall consider standards established by the director, which may include but are not limited to the number of passengers traveling to a destination, the fuel economy of and passenger capacity of vehicles available for assignment, and any other relevant information, to assure assignment of the most energy-efficient vehicle or combination of vehicles for a trip from those vehicles available for assignment. The standards shall not apply to special work vehicles and law enforcement vehicles. The standards shall apply to the following agencies: (1) State department of transportation. (2) Institutions under the control of the state board of regents. (3) Department for the blind. (4) Any other state agency exempted from obtaining vehicles for use through the department. e. As used in paragraph "d", "fuel economy" means the average number of miles traveled by an automobile per gallon of gasoline consumed as determined by the United States environmental protection agency administrator in accordance with 26 U.S.C. § 4064(c). 5. a. Of all new passenger vehicles and light pickup trucks purchased by the director, a minimum of ten percent of all such vehicles and trucks purchased shall be equipped with engines which utilize alternative methods of propulsion including but not limited to any of the following: (1) A flexible fuel, which is any of the following: (a) E-85 gasoline as provided in section 214A.2. (b) B-20 biodiesel blended fuel as provided in section 214A.2. (c) A renewable fuel approved by the office of renewable fuels and coproducts pursuant to section 159A.3. (2) Compressed or liquefied natural gas. (3) Propane gas. (4) Solar energy. (5) Electricity. b. This subsection does not apply to vehicles and trucks purchased and directly used for law enforcement or purchased and used for off-road maintenance work or to pull loaded trailers. 6. All used motor vehicles turned in to the director shall be disposed of by public auction, and the sales shall be advertised in a newspaper of general circulation one week in advance of sale, and the receipts from the sale shall be deposited in the depreciation fund to the credit of the state agency turning in the vehicle; except that, in the case of a used motor vehicle of special design, the director may, instead of selling it at public auction, authorize the motor vehicle to be traded for another vehicle of similar design. If a vehicle sustains damage and the cost to repair exceeds the wholesale value of the vehicle, the director may dispose of the motor vehicle by obtaining two or more written salvage bids and the vehicle shall be sold to the highest responsible bidder. 7. The director may authorize the establishment of motor pools consisting of a number of state-owned motor vehicles under the director's supervision. The director may store the motor vehicles in a public or private garage. If the director establishes a motor pool, any state officer or employee desiring the use of a state-owned motor vehicle on state business shall notify the director of the need for a vehicle within a reasonable time prior to actual use of the motor vehicle. The director may assign a motor vehicle from the motor pool to the state officer or employee. If two or more state officers or employees desire the use of a state-owned motor vehicle for a trip to the same destination for the same length of time, the director may assign one vehicle to make the trip. 8. The director shall require that a sign be placed on each state-owned motor vehicle in a conspicuous place which indicates its ownership by the state. This requirement shall not apply to motor vehicles requested to be exempt by the director or by the commissioner of public safety. All state-owned motor vehicles shall display registration plates bearing the word "official" except motor vehicles requested to be furnished with ordinary plates by the director or by the commissioner of public safety pursuant to section 321.19. The director shall keep an accurate record of the registration plates used on all state-owned motor vehicles. 9. All fuel used in state-owned automobiles shall be purchased at cost from the various installations or garages of the state department of transportation, state board of regents, department of human services, or state motor pools throughout the state, unless the state-owned sources for the purchase of fuel are not reasonably accessible. If the director determines that state-owned sources for the purchase of fuel are not reasonably accessible, the director shall authorize the purchase of fuel from other sources. The director may prescribe a manner, other than the use of the revolving fund, in which the purchase of fuel from state-owned sources is charged to the state agency responsible for the use of the motor vehicle. The director shall prescribe the manner in which oil and other normal motor vehicle maintenance for state-owned motor vehicles may be purchased from private sources, if they cannot be reasonably obtained from a state motor pool. The director may advertise for bids and award contracts in accordance with competitive bidding procedures for items and services as provided in this subchapter for furnishing fuel, oil, grease, and vehicle replacement parts for all state-owned motor vehicles. The director and other state agencies, when advertising for bids for gasoline, shall also seek bids for ethanol blended gasoline.          Section History: Recent Form 2003 Acts, ch 145, §52; 2006 Acts, ch 1142, §57, 58, 83; 2007 Acts, ch 115, §8; 2008 Acts, ch 1169, §36, 42; 2009 Acts, ch 108, §4, 41 Referred to in § 8A.111, 8A.366, 262.25A Marking vehicles generally, §721.8 "Official" plates, §321.19, 321.170