Sponsors (6)
The bill raises and redirects fuel taxes to create a dedicated trust fund that substantially expands air monitoring and transit investments—particularly for disadvantaged communities—but increases fuel costs for private aviation and other fuel purchasers and reduces fiscal flexibility by shifting existing tax receipts.
Low-income and disadvantaged communities will receive at least 50% of annual program funds, expanding local air pollution monitoring (fenceline, toxics trend, community monitors) and enabling targeted public-health responses and transit improvements in those neighborhoods.
Taxpayers will benefit from a new dedicated trust fund financed by specific fuel tax rates, creating a more stable, predictable revenue stream for air quality and transit projects rather than relying on annual discretionary appropriations.
Commuters and travelers near airports will get dedicated funding for public transit and passenger-rail improvements, supporting safer, more frequent, and more reliable bus and rail service to and from airport areas.
Private pilots and aircraft owners will pay substantially more per gallon of fuel, raising operating costs for recreational and other noncommercial general aviation.
Small operators and rural customers that rely on private or small-scale aviation (aerial surveying, emergency tree care, charter substitutes) will face higher service costs as fuel price increases are passed through.
Businesses and airlines that purchase kerosene/diesel may face effective tax increases or redirected rates, increasing costs for goods, travel, and commercial operations.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Raises excise taxes on private aviation fuel (indexed after 2026), eliminates a tree‑care exemption, and directs the added revenue to a trust fund for air monitoring and transit grants focused on disadvantaged communities.
Introduced January 21, 2025 by Edward John Markey · Last progress January 21, 2025
Raises federal excise taxes on aviation fuel used in non‑commercial (private) aircraft, indexes part of the new tax to inflation after 2026, and narrows an existing exemption for certain tree‑care uses. Creates a Treasury trust fund to receive amounts attributable to the new tax increases and directs those funds, subject to annual appropriations, to air pollution monitoring and to public transit and passenger rail projects, with at least half targeted to disadvantaged communities. The tax and trust‑fund provisions take effect January 1, 2026, and a limited refundable/credit exception for some emergency or research uses ends January 1, 2028.