Levy hopes diesel bill will die in committee
By Terry Murry on Tuesday, March 16th, 2021 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
SALEM – State Rep. Bobby Levy (R-Echo) is watching the calendar hoping a bill that would ban petroleum diesel stays right where it is in the Transportation Committee.
“It will economically cripple our state to switch to biodiesel by 2024, and the by 2028 it will be illegal to sell diesel in the state of Oregon,” Levy said.
Levy’s calendar watch is because thousands of bills have been introduced in the 2021 session, and deadlines are approaching.
“As of Friday the 19th, if you have not had your bill heard in committee, then it’s considered a dead bill,” she said.
House Bill 3035 is sponsored by Rep. Karin Power (D-Milwaukie). No other representatives have signed on as co-sponsors at last report. The bill proposes a staggered end to the state’s use of petroleum diesel.
Beginning in 2023, government fleets and government contractors in the metropolitan Portland tri-county area would not be allowed to use petroleum diesel. The next year diesel sales would end for commercial truckers in the same region, and it would be followed by all other petroleum diesel sales in 2026. Also in 2026, the process would start anew in the rest of the state, first with government and government contractors, next with commercial truckers, and with all other petroleum diesel sales by 2028. The bill is the product of an idea brought forward by Keith Wilson, the president of Portland-based trucking company, Titan Freight Systems.
