Legislation Looks To Lower Oregon’s Carbon Fuel Assessment

Since 2015, fuels in Oregon have had an additional charge, thanks to the Low Carbon Fuel standard enacted by lawmakers.

Representative Shelly Boshart Davis said when the standard was enacted over a decade ago, a charge on fuel at 10% below the 2015 carbon emission levels was assessed.  However, efforts in Salem have pushed that assessment to 37%, which results in an additional 22 cents per gallon of fuel purchased within the state.

And Boshart Davis saidmost Oregonians are unaware they’re paying this additional fee.

“So, this isn't what you see on the pump when you see, you know, feds are getting this much, the state is getting this much," Boshart Davis said.  "And so you're paying 40 cents a gallon on in federal and state gas taxes. We know that we see that at the pump. But what we don't know is that this low carbon fuel standards is also applying an extra 22 cents and that changes. But right now, the 22 cents per gallon in a hidden gas tax.”

Because of that, Boshart Davis has introduced House Bill 4129, which would return the assessment to the original 10%.  Boshart Davis added it’s very difficult to determine how these funds are being used by the state.

“We're finding out from the DEQ a few different things," the Albany area farmer noted.  "One is how much money has this program brought in? Two is how much due to this program? What has been the metric as far as how many tons or how much carbon emissions has this program allegedly done, you know, for the environment to your point. And then the third one is what are the programs that it is using in order to do that? So we're basically asking them to show their math. And this is something that's really not talked about and you don't see it out there like this is what this low carbon fuel standard goes to.” 

Boshart Davis said her legislation returning the assessment to 10% will have a hearing Thursday, February 12th, in the Environment Committee.

Click Here to learn more about HB 4129.

Click Here to offer testimony on HB 4129.

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