SECTION 2. BACKGROUND

The West Shore Pipeline is a 650-mile pipeline system that transported refined petroleum products to the northeastern part of Wisconsin for over 50 years. The West Shore Pipeline was the only pipeline serving Green Bay and northeastern Wisconsin. The West Shore Pipeline segment

between Milwaukee and Green Bay closed on March 10, 2016, for repairs, testing, and inspections. On June 22, 2016, this segment of the West Shore Pipeline was shut down indefinitely after integrity concerns were detected. Due to this unanticipated complete shut down and the then uncertain future of this section of the pipeline, Green Bay and northeast Wisconsin expected to have material fuel shortages for a relatively long period of time. In response to this shut down and the expected fuel shortages, the Governor of Wisconsin issued Executive Orders on May 6, 2016, September 7, 2016, and November 4, 2016, declaring energy emergencies. On April 21, 2017, the Wisconsin Department of Administration issued a statement that the West Shore Pipeline Company notified the state that the company would not replace the aging pipeline that runs from north of Milwaukee to Green Bay. A Wisconsin Department of Administration official said the state would continue working with its partners to develop a long-term solution.

Since the March 2016 shutdown of this segment of the West Shore Pipeline, fuel has been transported to Green Bay via vessel, or has been removed from the Milwaukee or Madison terminals and then transported via tank trucks and/or rail cars to Green Bay terminals. The Department of the Treasury (Treasury Department) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recognized in Notice 2017-30 that there is no mechanism under existing law that permits a refund of the § 4081(a) (1) tax imposed upon removal of taxable fuel from a Milwaukee terminal when that fuel is transported to and entered into a Green Bay terminal, and then removed from the Green Bay terminal as dyed fuel destined for a nontaxable use. Accordingly, the Treasury Department and the IRS provided administrative relief in the form of a temporary refund mechanism for the first tax paid on the taxable fuel when it is removed from a Milwaukee terminal, transported to and entered into a Green Bay Terminal, and later removed from that Green Bay terminal as dyed fuel destined for a nontaxable use. This temporary relief was available for the period beginning on October 31, 2017, and ending on May 3, 2018. Section 3 of