Clean Fuel News

Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Official wants to up vehicles’ use of CNG

BATON ROUGE — Secretary of the Department of Environmental Quality Chuck Brown wants to make the use of compressed natural gas the go-to fuel for fleets of trucks and buses across the state. Pointing out the bus system in Lafayette and the waste management trucks in Baton Rouge and New Orleans already run on the cleaner burning fuel, Brown noted these fleets have their own fueling stations. He said the Capitol Area Transit System in Baton Rouge wants to add natural gas-fueled buses to its fleet. “We are going to be groundbreaking in mainstreaming compressed natural gas,” Brown said. “The only drawback to folks using CNG is that is there aren’t many available fueling stations. When you see a Racetrack or a Pilot truck stop, I want them to be able to fill up with compressed natural gas.”

The department, which regulates fuel tanks, air emissions and well and aquifer water quality, is supporting Senate Bill 257 by Sen. Mike Walsworth, R-Monroe, which allows the department to use a greater amount of the state’s fuel tank trust fund from oil and gas taxes.
Currently, the department is limited $20 million a year from the fund.
Brown said he would use the added funding to increase the number of natural gas stations throughout the state. This fuel burns with fewer emissions and disperses more quickly and less harmfully should it be spilled.

Brown told the Senate Environmental Quality Committee he also hopes to increase the amount of money the department charges in non-compliance fees to help with funding.

Those fees, he said, have not been increased in 13 years.

He added that the state’s current $100 fee is eight times smaller than Texas.

The committee also expressed concerns about clean drinking water for the state, given alarms raised with lead being discovered in water systems around the nation.

Sen. Conrad Appel, RMetairie, said in order to keep Louisiana’s water supply clean the state should require each parish to test its drinking water and to check for the use of lead pipes.

These regulations be monitored by both the departments of Health and Hospitals and Environmental Quality. The former has responsibility for water from taps, while the latter agency has jurisdiction over ground water.

“We have an aging (water system) infrastructure throughout the state,”
Brown said. “We need to start by systematically updating our infrastructure.”

Read the full article here, http://lafayettedailyadv.la.newsmemory.com/?token=6fcf8bfdc9115dd63fa3c81634a21caa&cnum=2881846&fod=1111111STD&selDate=20160330&licenseType=none&