U.S. Legislative Issues

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has finalized pathways for production of renewable fuel from giant reed (Arundo donax) and napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum) as feedstocks. These pathways are for cellulosic biofuel, for purposes of the RFS. In response to comments on the proposal concerning the potential for these crops to behave as invasive species, EPA is adopting additional registration, recordkeeping, and reporting requirements that were developed to address the potential for GHG emissions related to these concerns.


On July 3, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) formally submitted a recommendation to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) to consider extending the commercial driver licensure (CDL) requirement to vehicles with a GWVR below 26,001 pounds. On June 17, 2013, the NTSB adopted its safety study, Crashes Involving Single-Unit Trucks that Resulted in Injuries and Deaths. The study looked at the safety record of single-unit trucks, including both fatalities and injuries. According to the study, each year during 2005-2009, an average of 1,800 people died in single-unit truck crashes. Further, of crashes involving large trucks, single-unit truck crashes resulted in nearly one-half of the serious injuries and hospitalizations.

As a result of this study, the NTSB issued the following recommendations to the FMCSA:

• Conduct  an  assessment  of  the  frequency  with  which  single-unit  truck  drivers  are operating with invalid licenses, together with the associated risks of invalid licensure, and publish the findings.
• Evaluate the potential benefits of extending commercial driver licensure requirements to the  operation  of  single-unit  trucks  with  gross  vehicle  weight  ratings  below  26,001 pounds.
• If the evaluation indicates a benefit from extending commercial driver licensure, require commercial driver licenses for drivers of single-unit trucks in gross vehicle weight rating classes for which benefits have been shown.