WHEREAS, the Energy Policy Act (Act) was passed by Congress on October 24, 1992, with the goals of enhancing our nation's energy security and improving environmental quality; and

WHEREAS, parts of the Act were designed to encourage use of "alternative fuels" not derived from petroleum that could help reduce dependence on imported oil for transportation; and

WHEREAS, Congress established several regulatory activities within the Act that focused on building an inventory of alternative fuel vehicles in large, centrally fueled fleets in metropolitan areas; and

WHEREAS, the Act established requirements for purchasing alternative fuel vehicles for certain entities operating fleets of light-duty vehicles, including state governments and alternative fuel providers; and

WHEREAS, an "alternative fuel provider" is covered under the Act if its principal business generally involves producing, refining, storing, generating, transporting, distributing, importing, or selling alternative fuel at wholesale or retail; and

WHEREAS, the State and Alternative Fuel Provider Program is authorized under sections 501 and 507 of the Act and requires state government and alternative fuel provider fleets to purchase alternative fuel vehicles as a percentage of their annual light-duty vehicle acquisitions; and

WHEREAS, the program applies only to fleets with more than fifty light-duty vehicles located in one of the one hundred twenty-five designated metropolitan areas, including Honolulu; and

WHEREAS, the State relies heavily on imported oil as ninety per cent of its energy source; and

WHEREAS, with a war with Iraq looming, a fragile economy, and the need to improve environmental quality, the State must embrace alternative fuel policies such as the Energy Policy Act; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-Second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2003, that state government and alternative fuel provider fleets adopt the goals of the Energy Policy Act to purchase alternative fuel vehicles as a percentage of their annual light-duty vehicle acquisitions without regard to the requisite minimum fleet size of fifty vehicles; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Departments of Accounting and General Services; Agriculture; Attorney General; Business, Economic Development, and Tourism which shall in turn transmit copies to businesses that are alternative fuel providers; Budget and Finance; Commerce and Consumer Affairs; Defense; Education; Hawaiian Homelands; Health; Human Services; Labor and Industrial Relations; Land and Natural Resources; Public Safety; Taxation; Transportation; the University of Hawaii; the City and County of Honolulu; the County of Maui; the County of Kauai; and the County of Hawaii.

Report Title:

State and Alternative Fuel Provider Fleets; Energy Policy Act of 1992