Farming And Forestry Groups Pushing for Changes to State Dyed Diesel Restrictions

Maryland — Advocates from the farming and forestry industries are asking the Moore-Miller administration to relax restrictions on dyed diesel products as industries reliant on diesel are feeling the impact of record high diesel costs.

Dyed diesel is cheaper than regular diesel because its tax free and it’s already available to Maryland farmers for off-road use, but using it on state highways is illegal.

The Maryland Farm Bureau (MFB), a nonprofit advocacy and membership group, said they’ve been getting anecdotal information from some of their members estimating how much a loosening of diesel restrictions could save money.

“Some people have said it would save $10,000 to $12,000 over the season. Some have given us as much as $300 to $500 a day, and multiply that by X amount of trucks on the roads,” said Parker Welch, the executive director of the MFB.

Welch said the bureau has been in contact with the Moore-Miller administration to provide information that he hopes will lead to a decision.

“Right now we’re still kind of in a waiting period. The administration has been, very responsive and, and have been great to work with so far. So, we remain optimistic for something. But, like I said, we haven’t heard anything just yet,” Welch said.

On Monday President Donald Trump issued an executive order allowing the use of dyed diesel on highways to lower costs, but states set their own laws on the fuel meaning on-road dyed diesel is not legal in Maryland yet.

Several states around the country have been making changes to ease restrictions on dyed diesel over the past several weeks as diesel prices have soared with multiple international conflicts straining global supply.

Some experts have warned that relaxed restrictions could cause a sharp uptick in demand for off-road dyed diesel, which could further raise prices, a possibility Welch acknowledged.

“I think we’ll see kind of some fluctuation in the market in the price with supply and demand if there is a call to relax some of the regulation as obviously the demand will be higher,” Welch said. “So, we might see some of that price change. But yeah, typically it’s considerably cheaper.”

Welch said the bureau is pushing for temporary changes and limiting use of on-road diesel for moving food, agriculture and forestry products.