Tax Development Apr 13, 2017
On March 25, 2017, Utah Governor Gary Herbert signed Senate Bill 197 (effective January 1, 2018), establishing an exemption for the purchase or lease of machinery, equipment, normal operating repair or replacement parts, catalysts, chemicals, reagents, solutions, or supplies used or consumed by a refiner who owns, leases, operates, controls, or supervises a refinery used to produce gasoline or diesel fuel. (The process by which blendstock is added to gasoline or diesel fuel is also specifically within the scope of the exemption.)1 This new exemption does not contain the three-year useful life requirement contained in Utah’s general manufacturing exemption. The exemption is written broadly and covers other activities by qualified refiners, including research and development, and the transportation, storage, or management of raw materials, works in process, finished products, and waste materials.
Significantly, beginning on July 1, 2021, a refiner must obtain a form certified by the Office of Energy Development and report annually to the office that the refiner’s facility will have an average gasoline sulfur level of 10 parts per million or less to continue to be eligible for the exemption. The Environmental Protection Agency indicates that higher sulfur concentrations in gasoline contributes to air pollution, and that reducing the sulfur content in gasoline enables advanced emission controls and reduces air pollution.2
1 Utah Code Ann. § 59-12-104(86) as added by Utah S.B. 197 (effective January 1, 2018).
2 United States Environmental Protection Agency, Gasoline Standards – Gasoline Sulfur available at https://www.epa.gov/gasoline-standards/gasoline-sulfur.