REDUCING CREDIT CARD INTERCHANGE FEES IMPOSED ON MERCHANTS
NEW LEGISLATION ADDRESSING DISPOSAL OF SCRAP TIRES
DIFFICULTIES IN SECURING INSURANCE FOR 40 YEAR OLD UST
2016 MEMBER BENEFIT PARTNER SURVEY IS IN THE MAIL AND ONLINE!

In the past I've mentioned NJGCA’s efforts to pass legislation which would bring about a reduction in the credit card interchange fees that the major credit card companies and issuing banks impose on merchants and retailers.  We have recently been working diligently behind the scenes to gather more support from legislators.  NJGCA is working with the Fuel Merchants Association to lead a coalition of other business organizations including department stores, grocery stores and merchants of all types. If passed, this legislation would be first in the nation to lower the costs of credit card fees by forcing major credit card companies like Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover, and the issuing banks, to compete with each other.
 
We are encouraged by the fact that there is fierce competition in the credit card processing segment of the industry. Credit card processors are always competing for your business and trying to get you to sign up with them. As a result, if you look at your credit card statements from around 10 years ago, your total fees probably averaged around 3.2%, while today your average total credit card fees are probably closer to 2.5%.  If you process $100,000 of credit cards sales in a month that .5% equals $500. We believe that forcing the same competition in fees charged by the major credit card companies will eventually lead them to lower their fees.
 
Discussions about this legislation have been part of the lobbying efforts that Eric and I have made in recent months, while meeting with legislators to hammer out a favorable gas tax proposal and have conversations about self-serve. We are starting to see some progress on this, and apparently the big banks and credit card companies are noticing, because two days ago this article appeared, making merchants seem very greedy and interested only in pocketing whatever potential savings the change might produce. Their real fear is that they don’t want to compete on their fees the same way that you compete on gasoline prices and repair services. They in essence have an oligopoly, and you’re captive because it is so rare for a merchant to NOT accept major credit cards. That would be essentially equal to not accepting cash.
 
I will keep you posted on this as things progress, but since it wasn’t us that brought this issue into the press, obviously our efforts in the past few months are being noticed. We have been working on this for 2 years and we have been saying all along that once we start making progress the big banks will notice and start coming after legislators with ferocity. It seems that the war has begun.
 
Next, I have an update on scrap tires.  A piece of legislation was recently introduced and there was a hearing last week in Trenton. We’re keeping our eye on it because we want to make sure that it does not add burdens to you in the disposal of scrap tires. I’m confident that you have been disposing of tires properly and according to the law for many years and some of you may even pay to have them removed from your property. It is critical, whether you are paying the scrap hauler or if a tire supplier is collecting them for free, that you have a receipt for how every tire was disposed. The legislation will require proper licensing of anyone who collects scrap tires and documentation of how those tires were ultimately disposed of.
 
We’re monitoring this in an effort to avoid the potential that you will be burdened with a responsibility of documenting and keeping a manifest of an inventory of scrap tires such as where they came from (did you take them off a customer’s car or did someone drop them off at your station?) and who hauled them from you, with documentation as to what they did. We want to make sure that the ultimate responsibility for disposal once you have paid a hauler to take them from you doesn’t come back and get placed on your shoulders if the hauler does not properly dispose of them.  We will monitor this very closely and keep you updated.
 
Next, I have been receiving calls from many members who are being notified by their UST insurance companies that their policies will not be renewed because their tanks are 40 years old or more. As of now, our insurance specialist, Dana Tank Insurance, who performs miracles and has had success in getting companies to cooperate in difficult situations, has been unable to get any insurance carrier to insure tanks that are 40 years old or older. Your choices are limited, because you can’t operate even for one day without insurance on your USTs, or DEP will be unforgiving and have no mercy. The fine is $1,500 per day, per tank, every single day that you operate without insurance. So again, you have limited options because you will have to take those tanks out of service, which in and of itself is an expensive undertaking because the tanks have to be completely emptied and removed and then any contamination found at the time of removal will have to be remediated.
 
There’s also a catch that is very important.  You have 6 months after the policy non-renewal date to discover any of that contamination, which means that tanks should be removed immediately. The EPA’s tank regulations require tank insurance policies to include a “6-month after the policy non-renewal date” provision to report a claim.  The insurance company lists a clause in every policy as it’s called the “Extended Report Period (ERP)”.
 
If your tank insurance is getting non-renewed, members of the “40-year and out UST club” should be aware that EPA and DEP regulations grant you a six month window to report a claim once the policy ends.  So if your tank insurance policy expires for good in mid-October 2016, you’ll have until mid-April 2017 to find if there was a leak from your tanks or pipes AND to report the contamination to the insurance company. To find a small leak, you may have to look for it, so don’t wait. If you’re removing your tank systems, have a plan to do it soon, rather than have time run out in six months.
 
If you are unsure about anything, please call the office. This is not a situation that you should ignore, because chances are if you have 40 year old tanks, there is a very good chance there will be some contamination found when the tanks are pulled. Unfortunately, 40 year old tanks are found in smaller, low volume stations, where the economics of replacing the tanks make it that much more difficult to recoup your investment.
 
Finally, be on the look-out for NJGCA’s 2016 Member Benefit Partner SURVEY coming in the mail this week.  It will come in a 9x12 envelope and will contain another copy of the 2016 MBP Brochure for your reference.  This survey is an integral part of NJGCA evaluating the companies that we choose to promote and include in our MBP program.  If you are happy or unhappy, we need to know about it.  We take our job very seriously when we interview companies, but only YOU know how they treat their customers.  Are they prompt in returning your phone calls, do they have fair prices, is their quality of goods or services acceptable?  We need this feedback from you so that we can continue to give our members the best recommendations possible. YOU CAN FILL OUT THE SURVEY ONLINE IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO DO IT BY HAND AND MAIL IT BACK.  Please click HERE to access the online version.  Finally, if you have questions or concerns about the survey, please do not hesitate to call Jacy at 732-256-9646.

Thanks for reading -- See you all next week!

Sal Risalvato
Executive Director

8/17/2016:
Christie orders funding for emergency NJ road projects as gas tax fight continues
With the state's Transportation Trust Fund "days away from exhausting all of its available funds," Gov. Christie ordered officials to free money in the state budget to pay for any emergency road or rail work. Christie's executive order comes in the second month of a statewide construction shutdown of non-essential projects he ordered to ration the money left in the fund, which technically expired at the end of June.  Lawmakers have been unable to agree on a new funding scheme, which Christie said in a statement forced him to take this action. "No evident progress has been made by the Legislature to pass a single, viable bill to reauthorize the (Transportation Trust Fund Authority)," he said. "A well-maintained transportation infrastructure is essential to the operation of New Jersey's economy and the people who rely upon it in all aspects of their daily lives.  "The current situation will persist until the Senate and the General Assembly pass an acceptable TTFA funding bill. Until they do so, the State must use money from the General Fund for emergency road, bridge, and mass transportation work," he continued.
 
8/17/2016:
Smoke-Free Campuses Triple across US               
With Michigan State University going tobacco-free this week, the number of colleges and universities banning tobacco products, including e-cigarettes and vaporizers, has tripled since 2010.  Starting in 2012 with the emergence of the Tobacco-Free College Campus Initiative, the movement for smoke-free and tobacco-free campuses has grown, in the face of an increase in young-adult smokers, according to the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), Chicago.  Backers of that 2012 initiative included the American College Health Association, Hanover, Md.; the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Mich.; and the Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, D.C.  Of the 4,000 campuses in the United Sates, the number that have adopted smoke-free rules has tripled from 446 to 1,493 between 2010 and 2016.  Of those 1,493 smoke-free campuses, 1,137 are completely free of all tobacco products.
 
8/16/2016:
Gas prices may soon go up in New Jersey
An expert says New Jersey gas prices are “wobbling” -- but they seem to be “wobbling” higher. Tom Kloza, global head of energy analysis for the Oil Price Information Service, said crude prices climbed last week by $4 or $5 bucks-a-barrel. “I would not be surprised to see lower crude oil for a brief period in the fall. And then we will move higher,” he said. How much higher? He’s predicting about 10 to 15 cents. Right now in New Jersey, the average pump price is a $1.90, down a penny-a-gallon from a week ago. But Kloza said these happy days for drivers may soon be gone. “This may be the last period (for the next 10 months or so) that we really see prices of $1.67 to $1.90,” he said. On the demand front, Kloza said, demand in the U.S is probably as high as it has ever been. “Certainly, people are traveling more than they have been. The record year was 2007, and we will probably match that or exceed it slightly,” he said. But he also says this about so-called “demand-driven rallies” in gasoline: after Labor Day, and as the days get shorter, driving drops off by about 4 or 5 percent. Kloza also said the uncertainty of the November election will have an impact on crude and gasoline prices.