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Tuesday, 02 March 2010 19:18 |
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The U.S. Department of Transportation issued three final rules on February 25, 2010 that affect petroleum marketers who must comply with federal drug and alcohol testing requirements for CDL/HAZMAT drivers. While the rules do not impose new regulatory burdens, they adopt changes that are required for full compliance.
U.S. DOT Issues Changes to Driver Drug and Alcohol Testing Program
1. The first rulemaking adopts in total an Interim Final Rule authorizing employers to disclose to State commercial driver licensing (CDL) authorities the drug and alcohol violations of CDL/HAZMAT drivers when a State law requires such reporting. This rule does not create an affirmative duty to report test results. It only allows such reporting if a state so requires. This is a technical amendment removing previous language that prohibited transfers of drug and alcohol testing results unless the employer first obtained written consent from the driver. Under the new rule, if a state requires reporting of drug and alcohol test results, the employer is not required to obtain consent from the driver to comply. The rule is available here.
2. The second final rulemaking makes technical changes to U.S. Department of Transportation driver drug and alcohol program forms. Both the U.S. DOT Alcohol Testing Form (ATF) and the Management Information System (MIS) Data Collection Form are updated. Petroleum marketers use these forms to comply with U.S. DOT drug and alcohol program testing and reporting requirements. The DOT recognizes that employers and alcohol testing technicians may currently have a large supply of the old ATF forms. Instead of discarding these forms, the DOT will permit their use until supplies are exhausted or employers may begin using the new forms immediately. Either way, only the updated forms may be used beginning August 1, 2010. Since the MIS is a single-page form that is an annual submission usually done electronically via the Internet, (at http://damis.dot.gov), it is less likely employers have a large number of these forms on hand. Therefore, employers may not use existing supplies of MIS forms for the next reporting deadline of March 15, 2010. Instead, the new MIS forms must be used. Both revised forms with instructions can be found here. The final rule can be viewed here.
3. The third final rule adopts an Interim Final Rule (IFR) that allows certain pre-screening devices for alcohol testing. When the federal alcohol testing rules for CDL/HAZMAT drivers were finalized on February 15, 1994 [54 FR 7302 et seq.], a provision was included requiring breath testing be conducted using evidential breath testing devices (EBTs). However, the DOT subsequently added flexibility in testing methods by allowing the use of non-evidential alcohol screening device (ASD). Regulations updating the types of ASD allowed for non-evidential screening purposes were made in an IFR on January 11, 2007 IFR [72 FR 1298]. The final rule adopts the IFR as written and can be viewed here.
Should you have any questions about these new forms or drug and alcohol testing requirements, please feel free to contact the Association Office. |
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Monday, 01 March 2010 00:00 |
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According to the Washington Post, in a recent meeting with prominent environmental lobbyist, Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said "cap and trade is dead." In 2009, the House of Representatives passed cap and trade legislation which, if enacted, would have severe repercussions for gasoline and diesel marketers and their customers. "The Waxman/Markey cap and trade bill would have pushed gasoline over four dollars a gallon and likely over five dollars," said Oregon marketer Jason Powell, who chairs PMAA's Climate Change Task Force.
The pronouncement by Senator Graham is significant because Graham has been working closely with Senator John Kerry (D-MA) and Senator Joe Lieberman (I-CT) searching to write climate legislation that moderate Senators could support. Both Kerry and Lieberman have been highly visible in their effort to curb greenhouse gases, which they believe are the primary source of climate change. Many scientists agree that greenhouse gases contribute to climate change but often disagree on exactly how much carbon emissions contribute.
PMAA has been very opposed to the Waxman/Markey cap and trade bill because it unfairly burdens consumers of liquid fuels such as gasoline, diesel and heating oil. Senator Graham indicated that he and Senator Kerry plan to introduce legislation in March that will apply different carbon controls to individual sectors of the economy. While many experts believe global carbon restrictions are needed, the recent global conference in Copenhagen revealed that many countries are unwilling to accept binding agreements to restrict carbon.
The cap and trade concept has become more controversial in recent months because of its potential for massive bureaucracies and credit trading influence. Giving Wall Street a new avenue to speculate on carbon credit value is not attractive to many legislators.
While the new Kerry/Lieberman/Graham legislation will likely impose unnecessary price increases on liquid fuels, the measure will be better than cap and trade. |
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Friday, 22 January 2010 02:37 |
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WV Oil Marketers & Grocers Association Calls on Governor to Remove the State of Emergency Classification on Fuel
Charleston, WV (January 2010) – The West Virginia Oil Marketers & Grocers Association (OMEGA) is calling upon Governor Manchin to lift the State of Emergency classification on fuel in West Virginia so that transportation and heating fuel providers can continue to have adequate supply.
President Obama issued a State of Emergency declaration for the states due to the prevalence of the H1N1 Virus and West Virginia has been under the State of Emergency since Oct. 23, 2009.
Jan Vineyard, President of OMEGA, said, "Because of regulations our members must follow during a State of Emergency situation and conflict with laws and business practices in surrounding states, we have experienced instances of outages of heating fuel and diesel fuel for emergency service vehicles. These unintended consequences need to be reconciled with State law and we intend to work with the legislature this Session to address these issues. The changes we’ll seek will keep West Virginia citizens supplied with fuel, while offering them consumer protections as it pertains to price."
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Saturday, 09 January 2010 17:31 |
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Maintain Constructive Reforms
We applaud Governor Manchin and the legislature for their previous actions and want to stress that we maintain the reforms on these measures:
Workers' Compensation
Insurance
Tax
Bottle Bill
We oppose this legislation. Forced deposits do little to help the environment and essentially impose a hidden, regressive tax on consumers. Forced deposits are costly to operate and administer and introduce a significant health and safety risk. OMEGA believes that comprehensive recycling programs are better investments and comprehensive litter control outperforms forced deposits.
Fair Competition & Border Stability
OMEGA is comprised of hometown employers and entrepreneurs contributing to our communities. We believe that advantages should not be given to large out-of-state companies or that our surrounding states should have advantages over us. We continue to seek an even playing field to conduct business. Differences in excise tax rates across jurisdictions create incentives for consumers to cross the border and purchase in lower tax jurisdictions. There are certain commodities that consumers shop price for and among these are gasoline, cigarettes, soft drinks and beer. It is estimated that fifty percent of West Virginia residents live near a border, therefore being competitive on those borders is important to West Virginia retailers. We know that when consumers go across the border for these items that they make other purchases.
Governmental/Regulatory Cooperation
OMEGA members provide both employment and valuable services to West Virginia. OMEGA members interact with numerous governmental and regulatory agencies on a daily basis. We desire fair and consistent treatment and an environment that is business friendly.
Unemployment Compensation
Last session business and government stepped up to fund unemployment compensation in West Virginia. Unemployment compensation is still being misused and abused. Because these abuses are drains on the fund, we are hopeful that they will be monitored and managed.
Civil Justice Reform & Judicial Reform
OMEGA is very happy with the work done by the Governor’s Independent Commission on Judicial Reform for their thoughtful and appropriate recommendations, which will serve as a foundation for important reform of the West Virginia court system. The option for state businesses to appeal judicial decisions affecting their operations is not only fair, it sends a positive message to other businesses considering locating in West Virginia.
We urge the West Virginia Legislature to codify the Judicial Commission’s recommendation on the automatic right to appeal.
One area of success in West Virginia has been medical malpractice reform. The reforms granted to the medical community – providing a measure of certainty in non-economic damages and holding a defendant accountable only for his or her own actions – are grounded in fairness, and deserve to be extended to the public at large, including the business community. We urge these reforms, and believe they will go a long way toward proving West Virginia’s is, in fact, “Open for Business”. |
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Thursday, 24 September 2009 21:40 |
Charleston, WV (September 24, 2009) The West Virginia Oil Marketers & Grocers Association (OMEGA), an organization representing convenience stores, independent grocers and petroleum marketers across West Virginia, in conjunction with the Make-A-Wish Foundation®, raised $190,650 to help grant the wishes of children diagnosed with life-threatening conditions, association representatives announced today.
Jan Vineyard, President of OMEGA, said, OMEGA has been conducting statewide philanthropic campaigns for the past seven years and this is the most weve ever raised. I want to thank our customers and the members of OMEGA. They really got behind this effort and their donations will truly make a difference in the lives of many deserving children.
Vineyard said that all the funds raised through the campaign will go to the southern and northern West Virginia Chapters of the Make-A-Wish Foundation and will be used solely to grant childrens wishes.
Wish stars were sold for one dollar at nearly 1,000 OMEGA-member convenience and grocery stores across the state from July 28 Aug. 30. Little General Stores sold more than 31,500 wish stars, alone.
In addition, a golf outing was held at Glade Springs Resort on Thursday, September 24 where many corporate sponsors, such as Little General Store, Inc., ExxonMobil, Petroleum Products Company/One Stop, Sledd Company, Par Mar Oil Company and Prima Marketing LLC donated tens of thousands of dollars to the cause.
Travis Chandler, Regional Manager for Make-A-Wish Southern West Virginia, said, When we meet a wish child, we ask them, If you could go anywhere, be anything, meet anyone, or have anything
what would it be? When a child answers this question, a wish is born. Through OMEGAs help, many more children in our region will have the opportunity to answer those questions and experience the hope, strength and joy that comes with them. We are so incredibly thankful for OMEGAs support.
For additional information, contact Jan Vineyard at (304) 343-5500
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Friday, 22 May 2009 07:52 |
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