Providing for infrastructure to store and dispense certain types of ethanol blended gasoline, appropriating moneys for deposit in the renewable fuel infrastructure fund for use in installing motor fuel blender pumps, and including effective date provisions

GENERAL. This bill amends provisions establishing the renewable fuel infrastructure program (program) administered by the department of agriculture and land stewardship (DALS), by allowing the state to finance, on a cost-share basis, payments to support retail motor fuel sites when installing facilities that store and dispense gasoline designated as at least E-15 or higher but is not E-85 gasoline, which the bill defines as E-15 plus. The bill appropriates moneys from the general fund to DALS to be deposited in the renewable fuel infrastructure fund for the 2019-2020 fiscal year to be used to install motor fuel blender pumps capable of dispensing gasoline designated as E-15 plus. The moneys are to remain available for expenditure for the 2020-2021 fiscal year. BACKGROUND. Motor fuel and motor fuel pumps are regulated by DALS, including blender pumps that dispense a combination of two or more types of gasoline which may be stored in different tanks, including ethanol blended gasoline (Code chapters 214 and 214A). The program supports the improvement of retail motor fuel sites that install, replace, or convert motor fuel storage and dispensing infrastructure associated with ethanol blended gasoline. Ethanol blended gasoline is classified according to its designation in which E-xx is the volume percent of ethanol in the ethanol blended gasoline.