15G.203 - RENEWABLE FUEL INFRASTRUCTURE PROGRAM FOR RETAIL MOTOR FUEL SITES. - Iowa Statutes

15G.203 RENEWABLE FUEL INFRASTRUCTURE PROGRAM FOR RETAIL MOTOR FUEL SITES. A renewable fuel infrastructure program for retail motor fuel sites is established in the department under the direction of the renewable fuel infrastructure board created pursuant to section 15G.202. 1. The purpose of the program is to improve retail motor fuel sites by installing, replacing, or converting infrastructure to be used to store, blend, or dispense renewable fuel. The infrastructure shall be ethanol infrastructure or biodiesel infrastructure. a. (1) Ethanol infrastructure shall be designed and used exclusively to do any of the following: (a) Store and dispense E-85 gasoline. (b) Store, blend, and dispense motor fuel from a motor fuel blender pump, as required in this subparagraph division. The ethanol infrastructure must provide for the storage of ethanol or ethanol blended gasoline, or for blending ethanol with gasoline. The ethanol infrastructure must at least include a motor fuel blender pump which dispenses different classifications of ethanol blended gasoline and allows E-85 gasoline to be dispensed at all times that the blender pump is operating. (2) Biodiesel infrastructure shall be designed and used exclusively to do any of the following: (a) Store and dispense biodiesel or biodiesel blended fuel. (b) Blend or dispense biodiesel fuel from a motor fuel blender pump. b. The infrastructure must be part of the premises of a retail motor fuel site operated by a retail dealer. The infrastructure shall not include a tank vehicle. 2. A person may apply to the department to receive financial incentives on a cost-share basis. The department shall forward the applications to the underground storage tank fund board as required by that board for evaluation and recommendation. The underground storage tank fund board may rank the applications with comments and shall forward them to the infrastructure board for approval or disapproval. The department shall award financial incentives on a cost-share basis to an eligible person whose application was approved by the infrastructure board. 3. The infrastructure board shall approve cost-share agreements executed by the department and persons that the infrastructure board determines are eligible as provided in this section, according to terms and conditions required by the infrastructure board. The infrastructure board shall determine the amount of the financial incentives to be awarded to a person participating in the program. In order to be eligible to participate in the program all of the following must apply: a. The person must be an owner or operator of the retail motor fuel site. b. The person must apply to the department in a manner and according to procedures required by the infrastructure board. The application must contain all information required by the infrastructure board and shall at least include all of the following: (1) The name of the person and the address of the retail motor fuel site to be improved. (2) A detailed description of the infrastructure to be installed, replaced, or converted, including but not limited to the model number of each installed, replaced, or converted motor fuel storage tank if available. (3) A statement describing how the retail motor fuel site is to be improved, the total estimated cost of the planned improvement, and the date when the infrastructure will be first used. (4) A statement certifying that the infrastructure shall only be used to comply with the provisions of this section and as specified in the cost-share agreement, unless granted a waiver by the infrastructure board pursuant to this section. 4. A retail motor fuel site which is improved using financial incentives must comply with federal and state standards governing new or upgraded motor fuel storage tanks used to store and dispense the renewable fuel. A site classified as a no further action site pursuant to a certificate issued by the department of natural resources under section 455B.474 shall retain its classification following modifications necessary to store and dispense the renewable fuel and the owner or operator shall not be required to perform a new site assessment unless a new release occurs or if a previously unknown or unforeseen risk condition should arise. 5. An award of financial incentives to a participating person shall be on a cost-share basis in the form of a grant. To participate in the program, an eligible person must execute a cost-share agreement with the department as approved by the infrastructure board in which the person contributes a percentage of the total costs related to improving the retail motor fuel site. A cost-share agreement shall be for a three-year period or a five-year period. A cost-share agreement shall include provisions for standard financial incentives or standard financial incentives and supplemental financial incentives as provided in this subsection. The infrastructure board may approve multiple improvements to the same retail motor fuel site for the full amount available for both ethanol infrastructure and biodiesel infrastructure so long as the improvements for ethanol infrastructure and for biodiesel infrastructure are made under separate cost-share agreements. a. (1) Except as provided in paragraph "b", a participating person may be awarded standard financial incentives to make improvements to a retail motor fuel site. The standard financial incentives awarded to a participating person shall not exceed the following: (a) For a three-year cost-share agreement, fifty percent of the actual cost of making the improvement or thirty thousand dollars, whichever is less. (b) For a five-year cost-share agreement, seventy percent of the actual cost of making the improvement or fifty thousand dollars, whichever is less. (2) The infrastructure board may approve multiple awards of standard financial incentives to make improvements to a retail motor fuel site so long as the total amount of the awards for ethanol infrastructure or biodiesel infrastructure does not exceed the limitations provided in subparagraph (1). b. In addition to any standard financial incentives awarded to a participating person under paragraph "a", the participating person may be awarded supplemental financial incentives to make improvements to a retail motor fuel site to do any of the following: (1) Upgrade or replace a dispenser which is part of gasoline storage and dispensing infrastructure used to store and dispense E-85 gasoline as provided in section 455G.31. The participating person is only eligible to be awarded the supplemental financial incentives if the person installed the dispenser not later than sixty days after the date of the publication in the Iowa administrative bulletin of the state fire marshal's order providing that a commercially available dispenser is listed as compatible for use with E-85 gasoline by an independent testing laboratory as provided in section 455G.31. The supplemental financial incentives awarded to the participating person shall not exceed seventy-five percent of the actual cost of making the improvement or thirty thousand dollars, whichever is less. (2) To improve additional retail motor fuel sites owned or operated by a participating person within a twelve-month period as provided in the cost-share agreement. The supplemental financial incentives shall be used for the installation of an additional tank and associated infrastructure at each such retail motor fuel site. A participating person may be awarded supplemental financial incentives under this subparagraph and standard financial incentives under paragraph "a" to improve the same motor fuel site. The supplemental financial incentives awarded to the participating person shall not exceed twenty-four thousand dollars. The participating person shall be awarded the supplemental financial incentives on a cumulative basis according to the schedule provided in this subparagraph, which shall not exceed the following: (a) For the second retail motor fuel site, six thousand dollars. (b) For the third retail motor fuel site, six thousand dollars. (c) For the fourth retail motor fuel site, six thousand dollars. (d) For the fifth retail motor fuel site, six thousand dollars. 6. A participating person shall not use the infrastructure to store and dispense motor fuel other than the type of renewable fuel approved by the board in the cost-share agreement, unless one of the following applies: a. The participating person is granted a waiver by the infrastructure board. The participating person shall store or dispense the motor fuel according to the terms and conditions of the waiver. b. The renewable fuel infrastructure fund created in section 15G.205 is immediately repaid the total amount of moneys awarded to the participating person together with a monetary penalty equal to twenty-five percent of that awarded amount. The amount shall be deposited in the renewable fuel infrastructure fund created in section 15G.205. 7. A participating person who acts in violation of an agreement executed with the department pursuant to this section is subject to a civil penalty of not more than one thousand dollars a day for each day of the violation. The civil penalty shall be deposited into the general fund of the state.          Section History: Recent Form 2006 Acts, ch 1142, §30; 2007 Acts, ch 126, §9; 2007 Acts, ch 211, §46; 2008 Acts, ch 1032, § 128; 2008 Acts, ch 1169, § 4--9, 30; 2009 Acts, ch 41, §263 Referred to in § 15.104, 15G.202, 15G.205          Footnotes Award of financial incentives for participation in renewable fuel infrastructure program for certain retail motor fuel sites; application deadline; 2008 Acts, ch 1169, § 28