Prairies’ purple gas banned in Montana

The tax-exempt fuel used in farm vehicles across Western Canada isn’t welcome in Montana — and possibly other jurisdictions as well.

Montana state officials recently contacted Alberta Agriculture and Food’s program policy division, in charge of the Alberta Farm Fuel Benefit, asking it to advise farmers only to use clear, taxed fuel when driving in that state, the provincial government reported Thursday.

That rules out the dyed, or “purple,” gas or diesel used to designate tax-exempt status for farm fuel in the four western Canadian provinces, said AAF program policy specialist Dale Dowswell in a provincial farm newsletter.

Farm vehicles in those four provinces “normally operate within or across those jurisdictions without problem,” Dowswell said. However, he added, “since no other province, nor any U.S. state, allows marked fuel in licensed vehicles, farmers may be fined for using marked fuel in those areas.”

“It is very possible that other states have the same view,” the province cautioned farmers in its Agri-News newsletter dated Jan. 21.

What’s more, in the U.S., dyed diesel may not meet the current low- or ultra-low-sulphur standards, which could make licensed vehicles subject to federal regulations that might lead to yet more fines if the vehicles are fueled with marked diesel.

“Alberta farmers may think that their dyed Alberta gasoline or diesel is different, and therefore exempt from the state legislation. Enforcement officers may not agree,” the province warned.

The Montana border runs along all of Alberta’s southern border and part of the southern boundaries of both Saskatchewan and British Columbia.

Alberta’s Farm Fuel Benefit allows active farmers to buy marked gas and diesel that’s exempt from the nine-cent-per-litre provincial fuel tax, for farm use. The dye also designates farm diesel for a further six-cent-per-litre price cut under the Alberta Farm Fuel Distribution Allowance. The Farm Fuel Benefit also tax-exempts propane for farmers.