The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee has announced a diverse group of natural gas producers, distributors, utilities, environmental groups, regulators, consumers, and exporters who will share their perspectives on natural gas issues at a series of forums. The committee is holding three public listening sessions in May to gather information from stakeholders with an interest in ensuring federal policy evolves to take into account the new supplies of natural gas that have become accessible in recent years. The sessions will be held in a roundtable format to encourage open discussion and allow flexibility to find areas of agreement. Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Ranking Member Lisa Murkowski, (R-AK) have pledged to approach the forums without a predetermined outcome or legislation in mind other than to maximize the economic and environmental benefits of the nation’s natural gas reserves.


The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has recommended to states that they lower the blood-alcohol content that constitutes drunken driving. Currently, all 50 states have set a BAC level of .08, reflecting the percentage of alcohol, by volume, in the blood. If a driver is found to have a BAC level of .08 or above, he or she is subject to arrest and prosecution. The NTSB is advising states to lower the Blood Alcohol Level that defines drunk driving from .08 to .05, which they say is the level at which many drivers' vision can be affected.


The U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has issued a revenue procedure (Revenue Procedure 2013-27) which provides: (1) the maximum value of employer-provided vehicles first made available to employees for personal use in calendar year 2013 for which the vehicle cents-per-mile valuation rule for computing personal use  is $16,000 for a passenger automobile and $17,000 for a truck or van; (2) the maximum value of employer-provided vehicles first made available to employees for personal use in calendar year 2013 for which the fleet-average valuation rule may be applicable is $21,200 for a passenger automobile and $22,300 for a truck or van.

If an employer provides an employee with a vehicle that is available to the employee for personal use, the value of the personal use must generally be included in the employee’s income and wages. If the employer meets certain requirements, the employer may elect to determine the value of the personal use using certain special valuation rules, including the vehicle cents-per-mile rule and the fleet-average value rule. Both the vehicle cents-per-mile rule and the fleet-average value rule provide that those rules may not be used to value personal use of vehicles that have fair market values exceeding the specified maximum vehicle values on the first day the vehicles are made available to employees. These maximum vehicle values are indexed for inflation and must be adjusted annually by referring to the Consumer Price Index.