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October 18, 2018

Dear NJGCA Member:

Thank you for reading this week's NJGCA Road Warrior!

Here is what you will find in this edition:

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S MESSAGE:

• Reminder: Seeking Lukoil Information; Marketplace Update; Future Fuels: Repair Shops Pay Attention Too; Electric and Hydrogen; Paid Sick Leave; Important Minimum Wage Increase January 1; NJGCA Compliance Information On Our Website

NJGCA CLASSIFIEDS
- Monmouth County: Gas Station and Repair Shop Business Since 2001
- Bergen County: Shell Gas Station with 6-Bay Repair Shop for Sale

NEWS AROUND THE STATE

• The 2015 Underground Storage Tank Regulation Went Into Effect On October 13
• Republicans Take Gas Tax Repeal Message To The Pump In California
• Unseasonably High Gas Prices Start to Decline

• Gas Station Fire Shows Full-Serve Isn’t Safer (Opinion)
• Minimum Wage Rising To $8.85; Poll Says Go Further, But Not $15

?????• New Jersey Is Pushing One Of The Strictest Plastics Bans In The Nation. But Is It Enough?

TRAINING CLASS SCHEDULE!

??????• Emissions Inspector Training Class, WEDNESDAY September 19th, THURSDAY October 18th, THURSDAY December 6th
??????• Entire Emission Repair Technician Program: October 8, 10, 15, 24, 29, 31, November 5, 7, 19, 26, December 3
??????• Emission Repair Technician Program RECERTIFICATION: November 7, 19, 26, December 3

MEMBER BENEFIT PARTNER MESSAGE BOARD
• The Amato Agency: Garage Insurance and Workers Compensation!
• ATS Environmental: Confidence in your Tank & Compliance Testing
• Bellomo Fuel: Exceptional Service, Aggressive Petroleum Marketing
• CBIZ Insurance: Our Business is Growing Yours!
• Gill Energy: Getting you There!
• Lending Capital: "Commercial Loans Made Easy" Program
• Salomone Brothers: Tank Testing and Environmental Compliance
• TMP Energy Solutions: Another Way to Save On Your Energy Bills

POLITICAL PARTICIPATON: THE NJGCA PAC
• Participate in the NJGCA PAC today and help us keep our Agenda rolling in Trenton!

Energy Information Agency Weekly Retail Gasoline Prices

JOIN NJGCA ON FACEBOOK -- CLICK HERE
TO SEE OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL -- CLICK HERE
FOLLOW US ON TWITTER-- CLICK HERE

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S MESSAGE:

REMINDER: SEEKING LUKOIL INFORMATION
MARKETPLACE UPDATE
FUTURE FUELS: REPAIR SHOPS PAY ATTENTION TOO
ELECTRIC AND HYDROGEN
PAID SICK LEAVE
IMPORTANT MINIMUM WAGE INCREASE JANUARY 1
NJGCA UST COMPLIANCE INFO ON OUR WEBSITE

Thanks to those of you who responded to my requests for information regarding Lukoil. I am sure that there are more of you that may have issues. I just want to remind you to please contact me if you have not yet done so and if you are one of my members with an issue. If you don't have issues, that's a good thing and I'll be happy about it. If you do have issues, I will want to address them.

In recent years, as I have watched all aspects of the marketplace from the drilling wells to your customers gas tank; I have felt very comfortable that because of the enormous amount of added domestic production since 2012 that any geopolitical problems would not end up causing any serious upward price spikes. This has played out with issues mostly in Iran, but also throughout all of the OPEC nations. There has never been any serious shortfall of supply or any serious increase in price since 2008. I will admit that I am a bit concerned right now over potential problems between the United States and Saudi Arabia. No one knows where this is heading, but there is a potential for a serious disruption of supply that can have a tremendous ripple effect worldwide. I am not trying to sound an alarm, but the situation deserves a careful watch. You’ll know before me if your delivered price of gasoline dramatically increases.

Over the years, each time that discussions on issues or policies related to future fuels have popped up, I know it raises your thoughts of “we sell gasoline and diesel, why would we participate in discussions of other fuels?” Please notice that I just used the term “future fuels” and not “alternate fuels” as I have in the past. I hope that you have paid attention to some of the things we have written about in the past year regarding disruptions in our industry. The future is coming fast and in some instances, is already here. It is NJGCA’s responsibility to make sure your eyes are open and you are being introduced to as much information about the future as possible. We cannot and will not be able to halt the progression of electric vehicles or hydrogen vehicles. It is very important for you to understand that hydrogen vehicles ARE electric vehicles. Hydrogen vehicle don’t need batteries, as they produce their own electricity through hydrogen fuel cells. A hydrogen vehicle can be filled in three to five minutes in a similar fashion to the cars you are fueling now. Toyota, Honda, and others are manufacturing and displaying these vehicles, and they are pleasant vehicles to drive. There is a lot of legislative activity surrounding electric vehicles, and I am making sure that NJGCA, on behalf of our members, are involved in the discussion and policymaking. You are the future and must be included. For those of you with repair shops, do not think that you are not part of this discussion. Electric vehicles will require less maintenance, but certainly will need service and repairs. Your shop must adapt to these future vehicles that are coming faster than originally thought, and if you are not suited to service them, you will not survive. Last week there was a special hearing in Trenton called by a joint committee consisting of the Assembly Commerce and Assembly Science, Innovation, and Technology Committees which I spoke at, you can hear my testimony on hydrogen vehicles HERE. You can read an article from the hydrogen hearing by NJTV HERE. There was also another hearing on Monday by the Senate Environment Committee on S-2252 on electric vehicles where I gave testimony, you can find a recording of that HERE. It is important to note at both of these hearings, the car manufacturers brought their plug in electric vehicles and their hydrogen vehicles to the statehouse for legislators to test drive. This is a train that will not stop.

Just a reminder paid sick leave goes into effect October 29th, make sure that you are in full compliance with all aspects of the new law. You can read our detailed breakdown of what is needed in our next edition of the OTR, which should be in your mailboxes next week. You can also sign up to attend our webinar on paid sick leave scheduled for November 7th at 2 PM. You can register HERE.

The state made its annual evaluation under current law on minimum wage increases and based on the consumer price index minimum wage goes up on January 1st from $8.60 to $8.85, a 25¢ increase. If you have any employees making less than $8.85, make sure you specifically authorize your payroll company to increase their rate of pay. Keep in mind, the effort in Trenton to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour has not gone away. As I have said before, we have muddied the waters enough to create disagreements amongst even legislators who think that minimum wage should be $15. Presently, it does not look as if there will be any action on this by the end of the year, but I will be surprised if this issue does not heat up in the first half of next year. I am still stunned that this law was not passed in this past year. We will keep punting it back for as long as we can.

The deadline for compliance with new UST regulations and Operator training has just passed on October 13th. We have tried to send as much information to assist you with compliance. We have created a specific section of our website where all of this information can be found in one place, which can be found HERE. We also recently uploaded a new guidance document on what to do after you pass your test or if you are not in compliance with the new regulations. You can find that document on the new webpage, or by clicking HERE. Call the office if you have any further questions.

That's all for this week-

Sal Risalvato
Executive Director

TRAINING CLASSES!!
All classes held at NJGCA HQ -- 4900 Route 33 West, Wall Township, NJ 07753

Emissions Inspector Training Class - One Day Only!
THURSDAY, December 6th, 2048 -- 7 AM to 3 PM

Want one of your technicians to become a NJ Emissions Inspector? We can help! Our one-day class will provide all the information for becoming a NJ Emissions Inspector, and the State will administer the written test the very same day at our offices! We are offering the class Thursday, December 6th from 7:00am to 3:00pm.
Cost is $275 for members.
Click HERE for registration form

Want to become an emission repair technician/facility?
Entire Emission Technician Education Program (ETEP) Training Classes
Sections 1-7
October 8, 10, 15, 24, 29, 31 [TBD],
November 5
Sections 8, 9, 10 (RECERTIFICATION)
November 7, 19, 26
December 3
1 PM to 9 PM

Stop turning away work!!
The New Jersey Inspection Program requires vehicles that fail emissions inspection to go to a Licensed Certified Emission Repair Facility and have a Licensed Emission Repair Technician perform the repairs! When the new Emissions Inspection program begins, a list of Certified Emission Repair Facilities will be given to the vehicle owners who fail the New Jersey Emission Inspection. If you want your business name on the list – make sure you have a Certified Licensed Emission Repair Technician and you are licensed as a Emission Repair Facility! Those signing up for the FULL training course will attend sections 1-10. Recertification classes start November 7.
Full ETEP class fees for members are $2,195 and non-members are &2,395
Recertification fees for members are $729 and non-members are $879.
Click HERE for registration form.

FUTURE CLASSES WILL BE ADDED UPON REQUEST AND ACCORDING TO DEMAND. CONTACT DEBBIE at 732-256-9646 or DEBBIE@NJGCA.ORG TO LET HER KNOW YOU ARE INTERESTED IN TAKING A SPECIFIC CLASS. THIS WILL ALLOW US TO GAUGE YOUR NEEDS AND KEEP TRACK OF THOSE WISHING TO PARTICIPATE!!

CLASSIFIEDS! -- FOR SALE & HELP WANTED ADS

FOR SALE:

Business For Sale: Monmouth County gas station and repair shop in business since 2001 is for sale. Owner is relocating out of state and is interested in selling business and equipment. Owner is open to limited financing. Business has a strong 10 year lease. The building has two repair bays and the gas pumps are leased to a large independent tenant. Repair shop business currently employs a Manager and two full-time Technicians. For inquiries and more info, please call Mark at 908-670-7798.

FOR SALE:

Shell Gas Station with 6-Bay Repair Shop for Sale in Bergen County!

Business established in 1980. Fully equipped repair shop with 5 lifts including an alignment rack with a 2-year-old Hunter Hawkeye alignment machine. New Hunter tire machine & wheel balancer. AAA approved and very busy.

Towing business also available which includes 3 Freightliner/JerrDan flatbeds (2015, 2016 & 2017), a 2012 Dodge crew cab wrecker with a Jerrdan Quick Pick & dual cable winch & 2 service trucks (a 2012 GMC 2500 utility truck with a plow & a 2014 Ford transit battery/service vehicle).

Pumping over 1,000,000 gallons per year. 100x300 lot with plenty of parking. Excellent location!!! Call Jim @ 201-851-3084.

NEWS AROUND THE STATE: THE NEWS YOU SHOULD KNOW

10/17/18
The 2015 Underground Storage Tank Regulation Went Into Effect On October 13
Three years ago, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued an update to the Underground Storage Tank (UST) regulation and the state program approval regulation in the Federal Register. The revisions strengthened the 1988 federal UST regulations by increasing the emphasis on properly operating and maintaining UST equipment. . . According EPA, the 2015 state program approval (SPA) regulation also updated SPA requirements in 40 CFR Part 281 and incorporated the changes to the UST technical regulation listed above. 38 SPA states plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico had SPA and should have reapplied ahead of the October 13 deadline. Owners and operators in these states must continue to follow their state requirements until the state changes its requirements or until the state’s SPA status changes.

10/15/18
Republicans Take Gas Tax Repeal Message To The Pump In California
The GOP plan to juice midterm turnout by rallying Californians against their state gas tax is languishing, so Republicans are taking their message to a place where they’ll have a captive audience: the gas pump itself. Californians who stop at gas stations in six competitive House districts will be greeted by 30-second spots on the television monitors above gas pumps. The Republican National Committee-funded ads seek to tie Democratic House candidates to a 12-cents-a-gallon tax increase signed into law last year. . . The RNC gambit seeks to jolt a campaign that has sputtered despite long figuring into the GOP’s plans in battleground California, home to a half-dozen fiercely contested congressional races.

10/15/18
Unseasonably High Gas Prices Start to Decline
On Monday, Oct. 15., the national average price of gas rang in at $2.89, two-cents less than last week, marking the third week of decreasing gas prices, AAA reported. Nonetheless, pump prices are still four-cents greater than this time last month and 42-cents higher than this time last year. AAA reported that most states are seeing the dip in gas prices, excluding a handful of states impacted by fuel disruptions on the West Coast and in the Southeast.

10/15/18
Want To Tax Carbon Emissions? Just Don't Call It A Tax
Proponents of an initiative on Washington state’s ballot this November that puts a price on carbon emissions call it a fee, and back it up by citing state law, which defines the difference between taxes and fees. A similar ballot initiative two years ago was officially called a tax — and that's one of the reasons it failed, according to people involved at the time. Backers of a separate push to get a carbon tax passed at the federal level have recently shifted their language to use the word "fee" instead of "tax." That lobbying effort just received a million-dollar backing by ExxonMobil.

10/12/18
Gas Station Fire Shows Full-Serve Isn’t Safer (Opinion)
The fire occurred at a Lukoil station when a driver, for unknown reasons, pulled away while the nozzle was still in their gas tank. It happened around 3pm Wednesday. As you can see in the video the pump was broken off its foundation and the fire was immediate. A station employee ran for a fire extinguisher and attempted to battle the blaze. It only was extinguished once the emergency cut off was activated, which I would think should have been done first. Now this argument that somehow this offers evidence New Jersey drivers can't handle self-serve is beyond dumb. This was not a self-serve accident. This was a full-serve accident.

10/12/18
Minimum Wage Rising To $8.85; Poll Says Go Further, But Not $15
New Jersey’s minimum wage goes up by 25 cents an hour on Jan. 1, reaching $8.85. Nearly three-fourths of New Jersey adults support increasing it further, according to new Fairleigh Dickinson University Poll results, though not quite as high as the $15 goal set by Gov. Phil Murphy and legislative leaders. . .New Jersey’s minimum wage was raised to $8.25 an hour when voters approved a constitutional amendment tying future increases to the rate of inflation. It has inched up since to $8.60. The state Department of Labor and Workforce Development has calculated that it will increase by 25 cents an hour in 2019, reflecting a 2.88 percent increase in the consumer price index in the 12 months ending in August 2018. Most people, 67 percent, are still OK with a hike in the minimum wage even if it that means higher prices for goods and services, the poll shows. But people draw a line at a minimum wage that causes employers to lay off or hire fewer workers, with just 43 percent then in favor of raising the wage and 50 percent opposed.

10/11/18
New Jersey Is Pushing One Of The Strictest Plastics Bans In The Nation. But Is It Enough?
This is the first installment in “The War on Plastic” series that details the pollution problem in New Jersey. . .New Jersey has taken the first steps towards enacting the strongest ban on plastics in the nation — a move that would address a global problem with very local consequences. Under the proposed bill, grocery store bags, straws and foam cups, carryout containers, food trays and egg cartons — all made of plastic — could be a thing of the past in New Jersey. But as ambitious as the measure is, it still only tackles a portion of New Jersey's plastic problem. Plastic bottles, lids, cigarette butts, candy wrappers, foam packaging and dozens of other everyday plastics still make up the bulk of what's found on beaches and river fronts. The measure, which would also put a 10-cent fee on paper bags, still needs to pass a number of legislative hurdles and its sponsors don't expect a vote until next year. But it has gotten the attention of the entire plastics industry, which has turned out in force to oppose the bill at two recent legislative hearings.

MEMBER BENEFIT PARTNER MESSAGE BOARD:

TMP Energy Solutions

Another Way to Save on Your Energy Bills

We have had a number of NJGCA members successfully reduce their rate per kWh signing up through our energy saving program. We know it's difficult to collect 12 months worth of previous electric bills to get an "accurate" analysis when comparing a variable rate to a fixed rate, but we now have another option available.

This new solution is a power purchase option; the other program is still in full force and has saved members thousands of dollars. If you sign up for the power purchase option, you will be grouped with other NJGCA members until the minimum kW demand is acquired. By pooling the member's usage together, you will be able to take advantage, as large energy users do, and receive a lower kWh rate.

Each member will receive their own contract. Each member is responsible to sign and return the agreement the day it is received in order to secure the price for their group. Please do your due diligence, so when you receive the proposal and the agreement you will be able to make an intelligent decision.

If by chance, you still want us to assess you bills, to give you a price to compare, we will require 12 months of your most recent utility bills. There are no bills required, but we would still like to have one bill per meter on file to check account #'s, meter #'s service addresses and other pertinent information incase there is a problem.

The term of the agreement is for 12 months. During this term period, you will have price protection against any energy price increases along with a low fixed kWh rate.

If you are interested in becoming part of this power purchase option, please contact Greg Cannon at the NJGCA.

Remember when you sign up your energy through the NJGCA Energy Program, TMP makes a considerable donation to the NJGCA Scholarship Fund through their proceeds. This has no affect on your rate, and costs you nothing out of pocket.

We hope to help hundreds of NJGCA members reduce their utility costs by participating in this and our other cost reduction programs. Our purpose, in the endeavor, is to help NJGCA members lower their energy costs while supporting the NJGCA Scholarship Fund.

Contact GREG CANNON at 732-256-9646 or email Greg at greg@njgca.org. Mention that you are interested in saving money on your energy bills. NJGCA & TMP Energy Solutions will handle all the rest.

POLITICAL PARTICIPATION: THE NJGCA PAC

DEFENDING OUR MEMBERS.
PROTECTING YOUR INTERESTS.
ANSWER THE CALL & CONTRIBUTE TODAY!!

Promoting our agenda in Trenton is of utmost importance to NJGCA and our members.

However, in order to truly affect the debate, we must ensure our friends in the Legislature are re-elected. It is for this reason that your Association has established the NJGCA PAC.

For too long, the weight of funding our Political Action Committee, the arm of the Association responsible for political donations, has rested upon a few. This is not only unfair to those few members who have shouldered this burden, but means we are not utilizing our full strength to affect the debate in Trenton.

To truly understand the importance of supporting our allies, consider our successes in Trenton:

We defeated BELOW COST SELLING
We made history in getting FIRST RIGHT OF REFUSAL signed into law!
We have built large support for RIGHT TO REPAIR and got it passed out of the Assembly
We defended your small business against the false accusations of Attorney General Anne Milgram
We gained wide support to move New Jersey to an all PIF Inspection System and close the CIF lanes
...and MUCH MORE!!

In each instance, we achieved these goals with the help of our friends in the Legislature!

If every member contributes just $100.00 we will be able to provide the help necessary to ensure victory for our allies.

PLEASE SEND YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS TO:
NJGCA PAC
4900 Route 33 West, Suite 100
Wall Township, NJ 07753
Please make your donation payable to NJGCA PAC

I understand that times are tough for all NJGCA members, but this is just as important as any battle we have fought in the past.

We have made great progress in Trenton. I hope that you will answer the call.

Energy Information Agency Weekly Retail Gasoline Prices

Each week, the Energy Information Administration publishes a list of average gasoline prices for the previous three weeks. NJGCA will begin including this list with the Weekly Road Warrior. Remember, these prices are reflective of self-serve everywhere except NJ.