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June 21, 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:

• Important Information on Decommissioning Your Stage II Vapor Recovery; PIF Service Problems With SGS; Diner Tour

NJGCA CLASSIFIEDS
- Monmouth County: Gas Station and Repair Shop Business Since 2001
- Asbury Park: Commercial Building for Sale. Possible Sale of Business
- Bergen County: Shell Gas Station with 6-Bay Repair Shop for Sale

NEWS AROUND THE STATE
• California and Eight Other States Ready Plan to Boost Zero-Emission Vehicles
• Raise The Sales Tax? The Business Tax? Dueling Democratic Budgets Bring N.J. Closer To A Shutdown
• Does ‘Rain Tax’ Have A Chance Of Staunching State’s Stormwater Runoff?
• Gas Stations, As Well As Customers, Screwed By No Self Pumping
• China's Tariffs On U.S. Oil Would Disrupt $1 Billion Monthly Business
• NJ Lottery Operator Northstar Wants $97 Million Raise And Less Money For New Jersey

• N.J. Gas Attendant Pocketed $300k By Hacking Gas Pump Computers, Police Say
• Back Under $3 Per Gallon, Where’s Gasoline Headed?

TRAINING CLASS SCHEDULE!
??????• ETEP Re-Cert Class, THURSDAY June 21, 28, July 5, and WEDNESDAY July 11th
??????• Emissions Inspector Training Class, THURSDAY, August 9th

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

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S MESSAGE:

IMPORTANT INFORMATION ON DECOMMISSIONING YOUR STAGE II VAPOR RECOVERY
PIF SERVICE PROBLEMS WITH SGS
DINER TOUR

There has been a lot of activity in Trenton this week, but I am writing this two days earlier than normal because I am meeting in Washington DC with my colleagues from the other state associations. There is currently a flurry of activity in Trenton, all of which will have serious concerns for you and your business. I will give you an update next week as much of the business, votes, and conclusions have not been reached at this time.

It has come to my attention that some of you going through the process of decommissioning your Stage II vapor recovery are not properly issuing the 14 day notification to DEP as required. This is a simple part of the process, yet will have serious implications if you ignore this step. Either you or your contractor can make the proper notification, but it creates a lot of problems if your contractor expects you to do it and you expect your contractor to do it. In the end, guess who will be held responsible? You! I am very happy that many of you are opting to decommission your Stage II vapor recovery, as we worked very hard for a number of years to gain permission in order to do so. Ultimately, you will save a lot of money on maintenance and greatly reduce your exposure to stupid fines and penalties, but it does have to be done properly. I know we covered all this at our seminar in April, but if you are unsure of each step in the process, please call the office and ask for help. The fines are steep.

I need to know if you are a PIF and you are experiencing service problems with SGS (the contractor who handles all inspection equipment, maintenance and repairs). I’m receiving calls that some of you are having difficulties, and at this point in the process, since a new contract and new equipment was supposed to have happened more than three years ago, I know that your equipment is being glued and band-aided together to keep operational. As I mentioned several weeks ago, we have learned that after a number of legal protests by all the contractors who bid in 2016, that the state of New Jersey has announced that it will be rebidding for the contract with new specifications. Neither myself, nor any of the potential bidders have a clue what the new specifications will be, and believe me, no one in Treasury or Motor Vehicles is sharing anything with me. I have been trying to stress the importance of making this happen quickly because much of the equipment is well beyond its life expectancy. It is important for you to let me know if you are experiencing difficulty getting service from SGS.

Next week I’ll give you a run down on the two days that we spent in Trenton this week before leaving for Washington. The budget battle heated up and caused hearings that were in progress on Monday to be carried over in to Tuesday. I’ll also give you an update on the issues we are working on in DC.

Finally, I want to remind you all of the next diner tour we will be hosting at the Shore Diner in Egg Harbor Township on Wednesday, July 18th from 9:30 - 11:30. Members in Atlantic, Cape May, and Ocean counties should mark their calendars and make every effort to join us. Don’t forget to bring your young professionals along with you! Make sure you RSVP to Michelle at 732-256-9646 or email michelle@njgca.org.

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

ETEP Re-Certification Classes -- Sections 8, 9, and 10
This class runs on Thursdays from 1:00 PM to 9:00 PM for 4 weeks
Class Dates: Thursday, June 21, 28, July 5th and WEDNESDAY July 11th
Stop turning away work!! The New Jersey Inspection Program requires vehicles that fail emissions inspection to go to a Licensed Certified Emission Inspector for Repairs! When the new program begins, a list of Certified Emission Repair Shops will be given to vehicle owners! If you want your business name on the list – make sure you have a Certified Licensed Emission Repair Technician & an Emission Repair Facility License!

Fees for members are $675 and non-members are $795.
Click HERE for registration form.

Emissions Inspector Training Class - One Day Only!
THURSDAY, AUGUST 9th, 2018 -- 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, August 9th from 7:00am to 3:00pm.
Cost is $275 for members.
Click HERE for the registration form, and please send Debbie Hill a copy of your drivers license with the 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:

Commercial Building in Asbury Park, Possible Sale of Business, Too! For listing information, please click HERE.

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

6/20/18
California and Eight Other States Ready Plan to Boost Zero-Emission Vehicles
California and eight other states, including New Jersey, rolled out a plan pressuring car companies and others to meet ambitious goals for sales of electric vehicles and other environmentally friendly automobiles—part of an effort to maintain tough local regulations while the Trump administration moves to relax nationwide standards for tailpipe emissions. The plan among the nine states, covering 2018-2021 and unveiled Wednesday, outlines 80 steps that automakers, dealers, utilities, government officials and charging and fueling companies should take to boost adoption of so-called zero-emission vehicles, predominantly battery-powered automobiles. The states also want further adoption of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, though that technology has received less emphasis from automakers than electric cars. The recommendations include increasing advertising promoting environmentally friendly cars, ride-and-drive events and building out a reliable network of charging stations so motorists can travel without worrying they’ll become stranded when their electric cars run out of juice.

6/19/18
Raise The Sales Tax? The Business Tax? Dueling Democratic Budgets Bring N.J. Closer To A Shutdown
Democrats who control the state Legislature on Monday announced they'll introduce a $36.2 billion budget that would raise taxes on New Jersey's very largest corporations to the highest level of any state. They also vowed to move forward with the spending plan even though Gov. Phil Murphy said he'd veto it earlier in the day. The intensified hostility between the governor and Legislature pushes New Jersey closer to the possibility of a second state government shutdown in two years. A balanced budget needs to be signed by June 30. . . The Legislature's plan does not include Murphy's call for a nearly 3 percentage point increase on personal income over $1 million and a small increase in the sales tax.

6/19/18
Does ‘Rain Tax’ Have A Chance Of Staunching State’s Stormwater Runoff?
Legislation to allow counties and towns to impose fees on parking lots and other impervious surfaces to fund stormwater management won approval from a key committee yesterday. The bill (S-1073) has been kicking around for years. Previously vetoed by former Gov. Chris Christie, it is viewed by proponents as a way of finally tackling what is projected as a $15 billion problem: fixing aging stormwater systems that exacerbate flooding and pollution across the state. The bill is permissive, allowing a county or municipality or to collect fees to recover costs for managing stormwater. Alternatively, they can set up a utility authority that can impose fees to pay for a stormwater management system. The money could come from owners of properties with large areas of impervious cover, such as parking lots, malls, and developments. Sen. Paul Sarlo, chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, liked the idea of the bill being permissive but had problems with the fees, which he described as a “rain tax.” Towns could use the rain tax to enhance municipal revenues, he said. “It’s another level of bureaucracy.”

6/18/18
Gas Stations, As Well As Customers, Screwed By No Self Pumping
New Jersey is the only state that does not allow you to pump your own gas. Whenever I bring up the topic, I actually get hostility from some callers. But what if being allowed to pump your own gas could actually save you money? Sal Risalvato is the executive director of the New Jersey Gasoline and Convenience Automotive Association and he heard me talking about this and called in to explain why we could save money if we pumped it ourselves. Basically the money saved in labor would drop the price despite whatever increase insurance would bring.

6/18/18
China's Tariffs On U.S. Oil Would Disrupt $1 Billion Monthly Business
China’s threat to impose duties on U.S. oil imports will hit a business that has soared in the last two years, and which is now worth almost $1 billion per month. In an escalating spat over the United States’ trade deficit with most of its major trading partners, including China, U.S. President Donald Trump said last week he was pushing ahead with hefty tariffs on $50 billion of Chinese imports, starting on July 6. China said Friday it would retaliate by slapping duties on several American commodities, including oil. Investors expect the spat to come at the expense of U.S. oil firms, pulling down the share prices of ExxonMobil and Chevron by 1 to 2 percent since Friday, while U.S. crude oil prices fell by around 5 percent.

6/15/18
NJ Lottery Operator Northstar Wants $97 Million Raise And Less Money For New Jersey
Since taking over the core lottery operations five years ago, private operator Northstar New Jersey has slashed its projected returns to the state by $1 billion, tinkered with its games and added new, instantly gratifying products designed to attract more players. Now it is looking for yet another way to pump up ticket sales while reducing its financial obligation to the state. It wants to keep more of the money it takes from sales and cut back on how much it sends to the state. The gaming conglomerate has revived an aborted attempt made late last year to lower the legal minimum percentage of lottery revenue that is directed toward the nation’s worst-funded public employee pension system from 30 percent to 27 percent. If the state agrees, that would mean Northstar would see its share of lottery sales jump by $97 million, according to last year's revenue figures.

6/15/18
N.J. Gas Attendant Pocketed $300k By Hacking Gas Pump Computers, Police Say
An Elizabeth BP employee manipulated gas pump computers, allowing him to illegally pocket over $300,000 over a nearly three-year period, the Union County Prosecutor's Office said on Thursday. In 2015, the gas company found a discrepancy between the amount of fuel being delivered to the station and its sales, Union County Assistant Prosecutor Derek Nececkas said. Rocha digitally concealed some fuel sales from January 2015 through June 2017, stealing hundreds of dollars on a daily basis while escaping detection, Nececkas said.

6/14/18
Back Under $3 Per Gallon, Where’s Gasoline Headed?
The national average price for regular grade gasoline sold at retail outlets across the United States topped the psychologically potent $3 per gallon on Memorial Day, and stayed there for another week before again sliding under the round number benchmark, according to the weekly price survey from the Energy Information Administration. It was a long hiatus for politically sensitive $3 gallon gasoline, which last averaged nationally above the price point in November 2014, as oil prices were on a steep descent from more than $100 bbl five months earlier before eventually bottoming out during the first quarter 2016. Crude prices have yet to again breach $100 bbl, with Brent crude, the international price marker, reaching an $80.50 bbl high in mid-May, and the U.S. price benchmark West Texas Intermediate topping out at $72.83 bbl a few days later.

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 PARTICIPATON: 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.