Virginia House Of Delegates Warned Of Disadvantages Placed Against Diesel

Members of the Virginia House of Delegates were informed on February 21 that the proposed diesel tax disparity created by the transportation funding package would likely affect almost 250,000 diesel car and light duty trucks in Virginia by 2020. In the letter to the Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates and other members, Diesel Technology Forum Executive Director Allen Schaeffer explained the options now under final consideration may create an unfair and substantial disparity between gasoline and diesel fuel and as a result "directly penalizes Virginians who drive fuel-efficient clean diesel passenger vehicles and is a disincentive to investing in clean diesel cars in the future."

"It seems illogical to impose a higher tax at the pump on an increasingly popular technology that is 30 percent more energy efficient and has lower emissions than gasoline, but that is exactly where we’re headed with this plan," Schaeffer explained in his letter to the Delegates. "Diesel fuel is no longer a fuel used only by commercial trucks yet this plan effectively treats it as one and the same, and that price at the pump disparity will discourage consumers from investing in these cleaner more fuel efficient vehicles."

The Conference Report to the Transportation Funding package establishes a 3.5 percent wholesale tax on gasoline and a 6 percent tax on diesel fuel. The funding scheme seeks to justify the higher diesel tax rate to reflect greater use and damage to roads by diesel-powered commercial trucks.

Schaeffer claimed that according to the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles, there today there are over 81,000 registered diesel cars and light duty trucks. This number might increase to almost 250,000 registered diesel vehicles in Virginia by 2020 as industry analysts project diesel sales to triple throughout the U.S.

"Replacing 15 percent of the fleet with diesels would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 190 million tons over the estimated vehicle lifetime and save 17 billion gallons of fuel," Schaeffer told the Finance Committee.

"We are concerned that the fuel tax disparity proposed in the final transportation funding package could have the unintended consequence of discouraging the purchase of fuel-efficient clean diesel vehicles that are already reducing fuel consumption and improving air quality throughout Virginia," Schaeffer said.

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