By Jacob Gunter

The IFFA Summit on 10-19-2022 was very informative; we heard from Presenter Tom Newcomb, Sections Chief of Indiana Department of Environmental Management, about the state of compliance, acceptable vs. unacceptable equipment, the requirements of walkthrough inspections, and ethanol compatibility. 

Jason Lenz from Creek Run L.L.C. delivered a Financial Assurance Board update and spoke about the ELTF (Excess Liability Trust Fund). Also spoken about was the importance of continued monitoring of release locations and the need to monitor these hydrocarbon plumes for movement. Also spoken about was the decline in active engineered remediation for ELTF-eligible sites and IDEM’s increased use of NFA’s (no further action) for sites they deem remediated. 

Michael Davis from NACS was the highlight for a lot of people in the room; he spoke on the state of the convenience & fuel retailing industry in the U.S. and the frictionless future of it all.  He spoke about strategic issues, such as the future of fuel, operating costs, the search for talent, delivery and how that can be utilized in convenience, regulatory targets such as tobacco, sugar, salt, and alcohol, and the digital transformation of retail and some examples of what other countries are doing to innovate convenience. 

Presenter Denton Chiquegarna of OPIS spoke about the state of oil as related to our industry; he laid out both crude oil highs and lows and what to expect if either happens this fall.  He also spoke about the oil production or lack of it in the United States and went into what oil supply chains could face here in the States if conflict broke out on a bigger scale abroad.  He also spoke on EVs and how they relate to oil demand, and in his opinion, they are a threat to our industry but not as big as the threat of upcoming technology that is going to make fuel more efficient in the future. 

Scott Manning from INDOT (Indiana Department of Transportation) presented the plan for upcoming EV charging solutions; the national program is called NEVI (National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure) and was passed in November of 2021 in a Bi-Partisan effort, the goal to create a national network of 500,000 EV chargers by 2030. Backing this plan is funding in the amount of $5 Billion over the next five years; Indiana would see $100 Million over 5 years to create the infrastructure.

We would like to thank everyone who stopped by to say hi, thank you to The Wellington Hotel for hosting the event, and a very special thank you to Scot Imus, Cathy Melton, The IFFA and sponsors for putting on an informative event.