SB 140 - Kehoe

SB 140 is the reintroduction of 2006's SB 1675. In 2006, EIN partnered with State Senator Kehoe of San Diego to introduce the Renewable Diesel Standard for the first time. Initially, very few legislators were aware of biodiesel. However, after an intense education campaign by EIN, Senator Kehoe's office, and the supporters of SB 1675, the Senate passed the bill, and it made it all the way to the Assembly floor before it was narrowly defeated.

Encouraged by progress in 2006, EIN and Senator Kehoe have reintroduced the bill this year. Working Assets has selected SB 140 as a legislative priority for its members and employees this year, and Patagonia featured EIN in the Spotlight section of its 2007 Environment Initiatives report. The bill was also selected as one of the Senate's priority bills and was packaged as part of the Senate's Global Warming agenda.

To date, the SB 140 has passed out of the Senate and three Assembly committees and now only requires a vote on the Assembly floor before heading to the Governor for his signature. Because this is the first year a two-year session, the bill will be picked up again in January where we left off, and will not have to reinitiate the process.

EIN is also pursuing a version of the Renewable Diesel Standard through the administrative rulemaking authority of the Air Resources Board under California's new landmark global warming law, AB 32, and the Early Action provision.

Ultimately, if the RDS is a success, it will send California down the path of reducing its dependence on petroleum, cleaning its air, creating new markets for renewable fuels and California farmers, stabilizeing the cost of moving goods in the state, and creating new jobs for the state.

For more information on the EIN co-sponsored bill, SB 140, please click here.

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