Regards use of E15 blended fuel for state motor vehicles

hb931_00_IN

As Introduced

136th
General Assembly

Regular
Session
H. B. No. 931

2025-2026

Representative Williams

To
amend sections 125.831 and 125.832 and to enact section 125.833 of
the Revised Code
regarding
use of E15 blended fuel for state motor vehicles.

BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:

Section
1.
That
sections 125.831 and 125.832 be amended and section 125.833 of the
Revised Code be enacted to read as follows:

Sec.
125.831.
As
used in sections 125.831 to 125.834 of the Revised Code:

(A)
"Alternative fuel" means any of the following fuels used in
a motor vehicle:

(1)
E85 blend fuel;

(2)
Blended biodiesel;

(3)
Natural gas;

(4)
Liquefied petroleum gas;

(5)
Hydrogen;

(6)
Compressed air;

(7)
Any power source, including electricity;

(8)
Any fuel not described in divisions (A)(1) to (7) of this section
that the United States department of energy determines, by final
rule, to be substantially not petroleum, and that would yield
substantial energy security and environmental benefits.

(B)
"Biodiesel" means a mono-alkyl ester combustible liquid
fuel that is derived from vegetable oils or animal fats, or any
combination of those reagents that meets the American society for
testing and materials specification for biodiesel fuel (B100) blend
stock distillate fuels and any other standards that the director of
administrative services adopts by rule.

(C)
"Blended biodiesel" means a blend of biodiesel with
petroleum based diesel fuel in which the resultant product contains
not less than twenty per cent biodiesel that meets the American
society for testing and materials specification for blended diesel
fuel and any other standards that the director of administrative
services adopts by rule.

(D)
"Diesel fuel" means any liquid fuel that is capable of use
in discrete form or as a blend component in the operation of engines
of the diesel type.

(E)

"E15
blended fuel" means gasoline that contains more than ten and not
more than fifteen volume per cent ethanol.

(F)

"E85
blend fuel" means fuel containing eighty-five per cent or more
ethanol as defined in section 122.075 of the Revised Code or
containing any other percentage of not less than seventy per cent
ethanol if the United States department of energy determines, by
rule, that the lower percentage is necessary to provide for the
requirements of cold start, safety, or vehicle functions, and that
meets the American society for testing and materials specification
for E85 blend fuel and any other standards that the director of
administrative services adopts by rule.

(F)
(G)

"Law enforcement officer" means an officer, agent, or
employee of a state agency upon whom, by statute, a duty to conserve
the peace or to enforce all or certain laws is imposed and the
authority to arrest violators is conferred, within the limits of that
statutory duty and authority, but does not include such an officer,
agent, or employee if that duty and authority is location specific.

(G)(1)
(H)(1)

"Motor vehicle" means any automobile, car minivan, cargo
van, passenger van, sport utility vehicle, or pickup truck with a
gross vehicle weight of under twelve thousand pounds.

(2)
"Motor vehicle" does not include, except for the purposes
of division (C) of section 125.832 of the Revised Code, any vehicle
described in division
(G)(1)
(H)(1)

of this section that is used by a law enforcement officer and law
enforcement agency or any vehicle that is so described and that is
equipped with specialized equipment that is not normally found in
such a vehicle and that is used to carry out a state agency's
specific and specialized duties and responsibilities.

(H)
(I)

"Specialized equipment" does not include standard mobile
radios with no capabilities other than voice communication, exterior
and interior lights, or roof-mounted caution lights.

(I)
(J)

"State agency" means every organized body, office, board,
authority, commission, or agency established by the laws of the state
for the exercise of any governmental or quasi-governmental function
of state government regardless of the funding source for that entity,
other than any state institution of higher education, the office of
the governor, lieutenant governor, auditor of state, treasurer of
state, secretary of state, or attorney general, the general assembly
or any legislative agency, the courts or any judicial agency, or any
state retirement system or retirement program established by or
referenced in the Revised Code.

(J)
(K)

"State institution of higher education" has the same
meaning as in section 3345.011 of the Revised Code.

Sec.
125.832.
(A)
The department of administrative services is granted exclusive
authority over the acquisition and management of all motor vehicles
used by state agencies. In carrying out this authority, the
department shall do both of the following:

(1)
Approve the purchase or lease of each motor vehicle for use by a
state agency. The department shall decide if a motor vehicle shall be
leased or purchased for that use.

Except
as otherwise provided in division (A)(1) of this section, on and
after July 1, 2005, each state agency shall acquire all passenger
motor vehicles under the department's master leasing program. If the
department determines that acquisition under that program is not the
most economical method and if the department and the state agency
acquiring the passenger motor vehicle can provide economic
justification for doing so, the department may approve the purchase,
rather than the lease, of a passenger motor vehicle for the acquiring
state agency.

(2)
Direct and approve all funds that are expended for the purchase,
lease, repair, maintenance, registration, insuring, and other costs
related to the possession and operation of motor vehicles for the use
of state agencies.

(B)
The director of administrative services shall establish and operate a
fleet management program. The director shall operate the program for
purposes including, but not limited to, cost-effective acquisition,
maintenance, management, analysis, and disposal of all motor vehicles
owned or leased by the state. All state agencies shall comply with
statewide fleet management policies and procedures established by the
director for the program, including, but not limited to, motor
vehicle assignments, additions of motor vehicles to fleets or motor
vehicle replacements, motor vehicle fueling, and motor vehicle
repairs.

(C)
The director shall establish and maintain a fleet reporting system
and shall require state agencies to submit to the department
information relative to state motor vehicles, including motor
vehicles described in division
(G)(2)
(H)(2)

of section 125.831 of the Revised Code, to be used in operating the
fleet management program. State agencies shall provide to the
department fleet data and other information, including, but not
limited to, mileage and costs. The data and other information shall
be submitted in formats and in a manner determined by the department.

(D)
All state agency purchases or leases of motor vehicles are subject to
the prior approval of the director under division (A)(1) of this
section.

(E)
State agencies that utilize state motor vehicles or pay mileage
reimbursements to employees shall provide a fleet plan to the
department as directed by the department.

(F)(1)
The fleets of state agencies that consist of one hundred or less
vehicles on July 1, 2004, shall be managed by the department's fleet
management program on a time schedule determined by the department,
unless the state agency has received delegated authority as described
in division (G) of this section.

(2)
The fleets of state agencies that consist of greater than one hundred
motor vehicles, but less than five hundred motor vehicles, on July 1,
2005, also shall be managed by the department's fleet management
program on a time schedule determined by the department, unless the
state agency has received delegated authority as described in
division (G) of this section.

(G)(1)
The department may delegate any or all of its duties regarding fleet
management to a state agency, if the state agency demonstrates to the
satisfaction of the department both of the following:

(a)
Capabilities to institute and manage a fleet management program,
including, but not limited to, the presence of a certified fleet
manager;

(b)
Fleet management performance, as demonstrated by fleet data and other
information submitted pursuant to annual reporting requirements and
any other criteria the department considers necessary in evaluating
the performance.

(2)
The department may determine that a state agency is not in compliance
with this section and direct that the agency's fleet management
duties be transferred to the department.

(H)
The proceeds derived from the disposition of any motor vehicles under
this section shall be paid to whichever of the following applies:

(1)
The fund that originally provided moneys for the purchase or lease of
the motor vehicles;

(2)
If the motor vehicles were originally purchased with moneys derived
from the general revenue fund, the proceeds shall be deposited, in
the director's discretion, into the state treasury to the credit of
either the fleet management fund created by section 125.83 of the
Revised Code or the investment recovery fund created by section
125.14 of the Revised Code. Any such proceeds deposited into the
state treasury to the credit of the investment recovery fund may be
transferred from the investment recovery fund to the fleet management
fund.

(I)(1)
The department shall create and maintain a certified fleet manager
program.

(2)
State agencies that have received delegated authority as described in
division (G) of this section shall have a certified fleet manager.

(J)
The department annually shall prepare and submit a statewide fleet
report to the governor, the speaker of the house of representatives,
and the president of the senate. The report shall be submitted not
later than the thirty-first day of January following the end of each
fiscal year. It may include, but is not limited to, the numbers and
types of motor vehicles, their mileage, miles per gallon, and cost
per mile, mileage reimbursements, accident and insurance data, and
information regarding compliance by state agencies having delegated
authority under division (G) of this section with applicable fleet
management requirements.

(K)
The director shall adopt rules for implementing the fleet management
program that are consistent with recognized best practices. The
program shall be supported by reasonable fee charges for the services
provided. The director shall collect these fees and deposit them into
the state treasury to the credit for the fleet management fund
created by section 125.83 of the Revised Code. The setting and
collection of fees under this division is not subject to any
restriction imposed by law upon the director's or the department's
authority to set or collect fees.

(L)
The director also shall adopt rules that prohibit, except in very
limited circumstances, the exclusive assignment of state-owned,
leased, or pooled motor vehicles to state employees and that prohibit
the reimbursement under section 126.31 of the Revised Code of state
employees who use their own motor vehicles for any mileage they incur
above an amount that the department shall determine annually unless
reimbursement for the excess mileage is approved by the department in
accordance with standards for that approval the director shall
establish in those rules. Beginning on September 26, 2003, no
state-owned, leased, or pooled motor vehicle shall be personally
assigned as any form of compensation or benefit of state employment,
and no state-owned, leased, or pooled motor vehicle shall be assigned
to an employee solely for commuting to and from home and work.

(M)
The director shall do both of the following:

(1)
Implement to the greatest extent possible the recommendations from
the 2002 report entitled "Administrative Analysis of the Ohio
Fleet Management Program" in connection with the authority
granted to the department by this section;

(2)
Attempt to reduce the number of passenger vehicles used by state
agencies during the fiscal years ending on June 30, 2004, and June
30, 2005.

(N)
Each state agency shall reimburse the department for all costs
incurred in the assignment of motor vehicles to the state agency.

(O)
The director shall do all of the following in managing the fleet
management program:

(1)
Determine how motor vehicles will be maintained, insured, operated,
financed, and licensed;

(2)
Pursuant to the formula in division (O)(3) of this section, annually
establish the minimum number of business miles per year an employee
of a state agency must drive in order to qualify for approval by the
department to receive a motor vehicle for business use;

(3)
Establish the minimum number of business miles per year at an amount
that results when the annual motor vehicle cost is divided by the
amount that is the reimbursement rate per mile minus the amount that
is the sum of the fuel cost, the operating cost, and the insurance
cost. As used in this division:

(a)
"Annual motor vehicle cost" means the price of a motor
vehicle divided by the number of years an average motor vehicle is
used.

(b)
"Fuel cost" means the average price per gallon of motor
fuel divided by the miles per gallon fuel efficiency of a motor
vehicle.

(c)
"Insurance cost" means the cost of insuring a motor vehicle
per year divided by the number of miles an average motor vehicle is
driven per year.

(d)
"Operating cost" means the maintenance cost of a motor
vehicle per year divided by the number of miles an average motor
vehicle is driven per year.

(e)
"Reimbursement rate per mile" means the reimbursement per
mile rate for travel expenses as provided by rule of the director of
budget and management adopted under division (B) of section 126.31 of
the Revised Code.

Sec.
125.833.
(A)
Subject to divisions (B) and (C) of this section, all motor vehicles
owned or leased by the state that are not subject to section 125.834
of the Revised Code and that are capable of using E15 blended fuel
shall be refueled using E15 blended fuel if that fuel is reasonably
available at a reasonable price.

(B)
The director of administrative services shall phase-in the
requirements of division (A) of this section in twenty-five per cent
increments over the course of the four years following the effective
date of this section. The director shall determine the best
mechanism, under the rules adopted under division (C) of this
section, for implementing the phase-in, whether by location of the
subject motor vehicles, state departments or agencies whose employees
operate the subject motor vehicles, or individuals who operate the
subject motor vehicles.

(C)
The director of administrative services, under Chapter 119. of the
Revised Code, shall adopt rules to implement the fuel use and
phase-in requirements of this section. The directors and heads of all
state departments and agencies shall issue a directive to all state
employees who use state motor vehicles informing them of the fuel use
requirement when instructed to do so by the director of
administrative services. The directive shall instruct state employees
to purchase E15 blended fuel at retail fuel facilities whenever
possible in accordance with this section.

Section
2.
That
existing sections 125.831 and 125.832 of the Revised Code are hereby
repealed.