High gasoline prices may result in Congress extending tax incentives worth $5 billion designed to increase the number of natural gas vehicles (NGVs) and refueling stations on the road. Earlier this month, Rep. John Sullivan (R-Okla.) introduced the “New Alternative Transportation to Give Americans Solutions (NAT GAS) Act into the House.

The bill, which would extend and expand tax credits for NGVs while also promoting the development of NGVs and related infrastructure, has 133 bipartisan co-sponsors.

Sullivan and the bill’s original co-sponsors, Reps. Kevin Brady (R-Texas) and Dan Boren (D-Okla.), introduced a similar bill in 2009. This bill, along with a similar one introduced in the Senate by Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), was unable to garner enough support at the time for any movement to take place.

The bill would make all dedicated NGVs eligible for a credit to 80% of the vehicle’s incremental cost with a maximum value of $7,500 for a light-duty passenger vehicle to $64,000 for heavy trucks; a tax credit to NGV manufacturers; increase the refueling property tax credit from $50,000 to $100,000 per station; and continue a 50¢ per gallon fuel tax credit that is currently in place.