NWRA sends letter supporting Renewable Natural Gas Incentive Act

The National Waste & Recycling Association (NWRA), Arlington, Virginia, as part of a coalition of associations representing small businesses, clean energy advocates, and local governments, sent a letter to House Financial Services Committee leaders and Senate Finance Committee leaders urging them to pass the Renewable Natural Gas Incentive Act, or HR 2448.

The bill would create a $1 per gallon tax credit for renewable natural gas (RNG) used for transportation. This is in line with the $1 per gallon tax credit for renewable diesel fuel users.

Letter signees include the Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA), Silver Spring, Maryland, and Houston-based WM.

“RNG is a clean, affordable, reliable and domestic source of fuel,” NWRA Interim President and CEO Jim Riley says. “Captured from sources like landfills, RNG can produce carbon-negative results when fueling vehicles like waste and recycling collection vehicles, municipal transit buses and other similar vehicles.”

The letter says that with this bill, transit agencies can continue to invest in commercially available RNG buses without reducing service or increasing fares and package delivery companies can replace aging diesel trucks with RNG trucks.

This credit builds on the alternative fuel tax credit (AFTC), which provides a 50-cent credit for natural gas used in transportation, currently available through 2024. The letter maintains that a similar credit exclusive to renewable gas supports air pollution and greenhouse gas reduction efforts while also supporting the creation of clean energy jobs.

“Increasing the value of RNG as a transportation fuel will expand nationwide production of RNG, incentivizing farmers and ranchers to capture the methane from animal waste that would otherwise be emitted into the atmosphere,” the letter says.