SEARCH SITE
VIRGINIA LAW PORTAL
- Code of Virginia
- Virginia Administrative Code
- Constitution of Virginia
- Charters
- Authorities
- Compacts
- Uncodified Acts
- RIS Users (account required)
SEARCHABLE DATABASES
- Bills & Resolutions
session legislation - Bill Summaries
session summaries - Reports to the General Assembly
House and Senate documents - Legislative Liaisons
State agency contacts
ACROSS SESSIONS
- Subject Index: Since 1995
- Bills & Resolutions: Since 1994
- Summaries: Since 1994
Developed and maintained by the Division of Legislative Automated Systems.
2008 SPECIAL SESSION II
083989616WHEREAS, federal law allows a state to petition the United States Environmental Protection Agency to consider whether maintaining the Renewable Fuel Standard in a given year would "severely harm the economy or environment of a State, a region or the United States"; and
WHEREAS, the EISA increased the ethanol mandate to 9 billion gallons of corn for 2008, an increase of more than 25 percent over the amount of ethanol used in 2007; and
WHEREAS, intended and actual corn planting in the U.S. was reduced in 2008 versus 2007; and
WHEREAS, corn ethanol does not operate in a free market, as it is subsidized by a 51 cents-per-gallon federal ethanol blending credit fuel, an import tariff, and the Renewable Fuel Standards mandate for usage; and
WHEREAS, such subsidies are a significant factor in generating increased demand for corn in ethanol and further puts traditional uses of corn, such as food and feed, at an economic disadvantage in purchasing corn; and
WHEREAS, the Virginia Cooperative Extension Service of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University noted in Publication Number 442-884, posted May 2007, that all blend of ethanol reduce gasoline mileage; and
WHEREAS, the Environmental Protection Agency's model year 2006 Fuel Economy Guide documents the fuel economy and driving range values for ethanol flexible-fuel passenger cars, which are designed to operate on gasoline, E85 (a mixture of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline), or any mixture of the two fuels; and
WHEREAS, for all automobile models tested, the miles per gallon (city and highway) was significantly less and the annual fuel cost was greater for ethanol flexible-fuel vehicles than for cars using gasoline; and
WHEREAS, the Renewable Fuel Standard prescribed demand for ethanol production has been a major factor in the increased price of corn for animal feed as well as the higher price of food for human consumption; and
WHEREAS, with corn- and soybean-based feed costing twice what it did last year, stockyards are passing the additional expense to Virginia's cattle producers, in the form of considerably lower cattle prices—almost $100 less for a 950-pound cow, according to Virginia cattlemen; and
WHEREAS, the higher cost of feed has severely impacted Virginia's broiler and turkey production; and
WHEREAS, a bushel of corn (approximately 56 pounds) cost about $2.50 in 2006, but has now reached an historic high of $8, and over the same period the price for a bushel of soybeans increased from $5.50 to more than $15; and
WHEREAS, because of the recent floods in the Midwest, weather has to be considered a significant factor in the amount of productive corn acreage and the end price of corn; and
WHEREAS, as demand for corn for ethanol grows, the resulting increases in corn and other commodity prices are expected to lead farmers, including those in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, to put more acres of land into corn; and
WHEREAS, corn uses large amounts of fertilizer and pesticides compared to other crops, resulting in an expected increase in nitrogen and phosphorus runoff to streams and rivers throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed; and
WHEREAS, most experts acknowledge that without subsidies, corn-based ethanol does not represent a long-term solution but a mere transition period until new technologies and the associated infrastructure are developed; and
WHEREAS, the United States Environmental Protection Agency, per a notice in the Federal Register on May 22, 2008, is seeking comments, under the agency's authority under Section 211(o)(7)(A) of the Clean Air Act, with regard to the authority of the Administrator of the United States Environmental Agency to grant a waiver of the implementation of the national Renewable Fuel Standard requirements; and
WHEREAS, the standard for such a waiver is that full implementation of the Renewable Fuel Standard "would severely harm the economy or environment of a state, a region, or the United States; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly memorialize the United States Environmental Protection Agency to grant a temporary waiver from the Renewable Fuel Standard under the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007; and, be it
RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates transmit copies of this resolution to the Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency, and to the Virginia Congressional delegation and the Governor so that they may be apprised of the sense of the General Assembly of Virginia in this matter.