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The House Public Utilities and Technology Committee unanimously endorsed a bill Monday that aims at kick-starting production of Tier 3 gasoline in a shorter time period at local refineries.

Under SB102, now on its way to the full House, Utah refineries that produce the cleaner fuel by 2020 would be eligible for a tax credit of 50 percent post-production. The incentive would drop a certain percent each year until 2025, when it would only be worth 30 percent.

Companies would get that money back over a period of 20 years, said Senate Majority Leader Ralph Okerland, R-Monroe, the bill sponsor. For example, if a company spent $50 million on improvements to produce Tier 3 fuel, its tax credit would be worth $25 million, which would be paid out in $1.25-million increments each year until 2040.

Okerland said producing and using Tier 3 fuels is "the one thing that we can do that will make a huge difference to our air quality in the state in a very short period of time."

The bill is a priority for the governor's office, Okerland said, and has gained support from the Governor's Rural Partnership Board. Steve Styler, co-chairman of that board, presented with Okerland.

Utah imports "a significant amount of gasoline" because there's "more fuel consumed in Utah than is produced here," said Lee Peacock of the Utah Petroleum Association.

Rep. Patrice Arent, D-Millcreek, then noted that even if all Utah refineries qualified for this tax credit by producing Tier 3 fuel, state residents would still have the option to use other types of gasoline due to imports.

Another part of the bill's appeal is to incentivize doing business where companies normally wouldn't, due to lack of infrastructure, Okerland said.

Laura Nelson with the Governor's Office of Energy Development said her group has seen a "keen interest" in the bill from rural partners. She expressed support for SB102 along with Peacock and Bryce Bird, director of the Department of Air Quality.

"This opportunity to improve the vehicle efficiency, ... decrease the emissions and increase the efficiency of that emission production — this is one of the lower cost strategies in dollars per time," Bird said. "This incentive is important to make sure we get done as quickly as possible."