Murphy Pivot to the Center? Reminder On General Air Permits What’s Going on in the Marketplace? Reminder – There’s Still Time to Change Your Healthcare! Murphy Pivot to Center This week we saw, in both New Jersey state and national news, debates play out over the future of gas stoves, or more importantly, the use of natural gas altogether. In New Jersey, Senate Minority Leader Steven Oroho (R-Sussex) and Senator Joe Pennachio (R-Morris) will introduce a bill to prevent any plans to prohibit the sale, installation, or operation of gas stoves from being implemented in New Jersey, despite plans by some Democrats to eventually eliminate all natural gas. This bill also comes shortly after the federal Consumer Product Safety Commission said publicly that the agency was considering banning gas stoves in America. While Governor Murphy has not commented on this specific piece of legislation yet, he has noted his intentions to move the state away from natural gas in the state Energy Master plan that was released in 2019. That plan states that it is the official goal of the state to eliminate the use of all natural gas, including for cooking in homes and restaurants and for heating homes and businesses. It also says the goal is to eliminate the use of gasoline powered vehicles. Those are just goals, however, not requirements (in the way your New Years’ resolution is a goal). For years many, especially in the business community, have been afraid that the governor would follow up with regulations that mandate action to attain the goals he invented. Instead, we may be seeing signs of the exact opposite. This week, the governor put a pause on public hearings scheduled for late January about updating and implementing this plan, adding to the uncertainty about his ambitious clean-energy agenda as it moves forward. The administration has been repeatedly criticized for its lack of transparency over the cost and scale-up of the transition to a 100% zero-carbon economy, as well as its push to phase out use of fossil fuels entirely. The administration says the longer timeline for rolling out the Energy Master Plan will allow the state to do more modeling and testing of what climate strategies to pursue, and speculation is growing that he will walk back the most aggressive and expensive aspects of the plan. In fact, the Governor has been criticized extensively in the last few weeks by many of the most far-left advocacy groups, groups that in his first term he was the closest ally of. The governor as of late has taken a pause on his usually more progressive and left-leaning agenda and is making moves towards the middle, concerning many of his biggest supporters. In the last month, Murphy has pledged no new taxes for the next fiscal year, vowed to make "significant" tax cuts, agreed to kill a corporate tax surcharge on large corporations, and touted generous rebate checks heading to voter mailboxes later this year. This attitude has generally been echoed by the Democratic leadership in the Legislature in 2022, after both they and the Governor narrowly survived the 2021 elections by a far closer margin than they had anticipated, and as they look toward this coming November when all 120 legislators will be on the ballot and Republicans are in the best position they have been in since 2013 to potentially take control of one or both houses of the Legislature. We would certainly welcome this shift to the center by the Governor, although there is little chance he would roll back his previous moves (he publicly celebrated the January 1st minimum wage increase, for example). Years ago he said he wanted to make New Jersey the “California of the East Coast”, perhaps the California model no longer looks so appealing to him. REMINDER ON GENERAL AIR PERMITS A few years ago, NJGCA was sending regular updates to members reminding them of the December 23, 2020 deadline to decommission any remaining Stage II Vacuum Assist Vapor Recovery systems operating statewide. As part of the decommissioning process, station owners were required to file for a Stage I air permit. That is to say, those stations that decommissioned were to forgo their then-required Stage II air permit (GP-004A), and file for the proper Stage I associated air permit (GP-004B) after the upgrades were completed. We’ve written on the above extensively in the Road Warrior and in our On The Road publications during the transition period before/after the December 2020 deadline. Recently, we were contacted by DEP officials who stated that department field personnel were still coming across stations maintaining the old (and now improper) Stage II-associated air permit (GP-004A). Technically these stations are out of compliance, and the failure to obtain the proper permit may invite complications (fines, or other scrutiny) from DEP staff. Knowing this, and if you haven’t done so already, please confirm your air permit to avoid any potential complications. To be clear, there is no benefit to purposefully purchasing the wrong permit. There is no “gaming” the process, as both permits are the same price. However, if you do purchase the appropriate permit, there is the additional “benefit” that it is “easier” to comply with. In that, we’d point out that the correct Stage I GP-004B air permit requires three equipment tests (with a pass for each), while the old Stage II GP-004A air permit mandates four. We forwarded the link to the 2023 Compliance Calendar out recently. If you missed that update, CLICK HERE to download a copy of the calendar. If you look on page nine of the calendar, you’ll note that Stage I facilities (with the proper permit) must perform a Static Pressure Performance Test, Pressure Vacuum Valve Test, and Torque Test. These are done at least once every 12 months, depending on your specific equipment specifications and hardware upgrades/improvements. If you’re now a Stage I facility (but you’re currently maintaining the old permit), on paper you are still mandated to have your Dynamic Backpressure Performance Test done – even if your Stage II vapor recovery system has been physically decommissioned. This is obviously a “records requirement vs. real world reality” distinction, but why give state officials an invitation to trouble you or put yourself in a position to explain why you didn’t get the appropriate air permit at the time of decommissioning? That alone is a reason to make sure you have the proper permit. Go check and put it out of your mind. If you have any questions, please reach out to Nick (nick@njgca.org) with any questions. Marketplace Update Gas prices have been increasing throughout the month of January, driven in part by an increase in the price of oil. Rack prices have gone up around 35¢ over the course of this month, but the average retail price is only up around 10¢; so margins have been cut significantly. In December gross margins were about 60¢ a gallon, though lately they are around 20¢. We always advise our members to hold their margins in conditions like this. Pay attention to your profit margins. At the end of the day, it’s not about how many gallons you sell, but how much money you made. Between credit card fees, the annual increase in the minimum wage, the overall decline in volume, and the tax and regulatory burden that business owners in this state are subjected to, we lose enough profit as it is. It’s not like anyone in the public is running around thanking you for cutting your margins for them this month! Also, historically, prices tend to significantly increase between March and April; so now is the time to hold on and prepare for what’s to come. Healthcare An important reminder to our members that just because we’ve rolled into a new calendar year, it doesn’t mean that it’s too late to look into or switch your health insurance. With healthcare expenses increasing, it certainly doesn’t hurt to make sure you are getting the most coverage you need for the least amount of money, and you can change your plan anytime throughout the year. If you act now, your new plan can take effect as soon as March 1, 2023. We already know of several businesses that are saving big with this new plan: Auto repair – single employee – saved over $11,500 a year Gas station – single employee & employee with spouse – saved over $6,000 a year Auto repair – employee with family – saved over $10,000 a year Gas & Repair – employee with family – saved almost $4,000 a year Gas & Repair – 2 single employees & employee with spouse – saved over $18,000 a year Gas station – single employee & employee with family – saved almost $7,000 a year Auto Repair – single employee – saved over $17,000 a year That is a lot of money saved! Learn more about the program and see how much you can be saving HERE. Be Well- Your Association Staff |
