News 14 Carolina - Political Connections

Gov.'s office just sent a release that's an interesting factoid you may not know that existed about alternative energies and vehicles...the release is below.

"RALEIGH - Gov. Mike Easley today signed into law Senate Bill 1272, "An act to exempt biodiesel that is produced by an individual for personal use in a private passenger vehicle from the motor fuel excise tax." The new law exempts biodiesel produced by an individual, for use in their own private vehicle, from the motor fuel excise tax. State law defines biodiesel as "any fuel or mixture of fuels derived in whole or in part from agricultural products or animal fats or wastes from these products or fats."
"Individuals across the state and country are looking for ways to decrease their consumption of traditional fuels and one of the ways is through the use of biodiesel," said Easley. "This legislation encourages our citizens to use alternative fuels without unfairly taxing them."
North Carolina is one of several states to pass legislation exempting biodiesel fuel from the motor fuel excise tax for some users. Illinois, Texas and Rhode Island partially or fully exempted biodiesel from the motor fuels tax while Indiana passed legislation similar to North Carolina's, exempting individuals who produce and consume biodiesel fuel for their own purposes.
This law directs the Revenue Laws Study Committee and Joint Legislative Transportation Oversight Committee to study the issue of providing adequate funding for transportation infrastructure development and improvement since the Highway Fund will not collect money from biodiesel users. The law further directs the committees to discuss ways to ensure the costs of road construction are paid for by all motorists as usage shifts from traditional motor fuels to new fuels.
The primary sponsor of the legislation is state Sen. John Snow (D-Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Jackson, Macon, Swain, Transylvania).
The act becomes effective October 1, 2007, and the study provision becomes effective when the act becomes law. The legislation passed the Senate 46-0 and was approved in the House of Representatives by a 108-4 vote."