Federal and State Updates
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VACCINATION Information
CDC Toolkit
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has published a toolkit to help essential employers inform their workers about vaccines to protect against COVID-19, raise awareness of the vaccines and address common questions and concerns.

Designed specifically for employers of essential workers, the toolkit contains a variety of resources that employers can use virtually or in person.

Essential Worker Phase
On December 20, 2020, the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted to recommend that frontline essential workers, including convenience store workers, be prioritized as part of Phase 1B of the Vaccination Distribution Plan.  According to Dept of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) guidance, convenience stores are are included in the first bullet of the "Food and Agriculture" grouping.  Stand-along gas stations and food and fuel providers are included in Phase 1C within the Transportation and Logistics and Energy categories, respectively.  Ultimately, state and local governments will determine which people and businesses are in each phase, but ACIP is generally considered the guiding agency.

Littler is keeping an updated tracker of federal and state vaccination plans.  This is not comprehensive, but it does provide good information and is a useful tracking tool.  Click Here.

NECSEM is providing weekly updates to its members on the latest guidance and information provided by MA, ME, NH, RI and CT.  Click here for the latest communication.  

Useful Links:

FEDERAL

Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES)
A federal $2 trillion tax relief and funding program from businesses and individuals was signed by President Trump Friday 3/27.   
SBA - Small Business Guidance & Loan Resources 
The US Small Business Administration has made loans available to small businesses that are dealing with the loss of revenue that has accompanied the Stay-At-Home orders and the shutdown of nonessential businesses. Click here to find details on those loans, specifically the Economic Injury and Disaster loans and others.This FAQ document from the US Senate Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship has details on the Paycheck Protection Program.
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Paid Sick Leave & Family Medical Leave
The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) was signed by President Trump.  Beginning on April 1, any business with less than 500 employees is required to provide up to two weeks of paid sick leave as well as paid FMLA leave to employees who are impacted by the COVID-19 virus. The U.S. Labor Department released Frequently Asked Questions, a Fact Sheet for Employers and a Fact Sheet for Employees. Employers who are subject to this requirement are also eligible for quarterly tax credits equal to the full amount they’ve paid out in such paid leave. ​

RVP Waiver
The EPA has issued a waiver for the summer RVP requirements for gasoline due to the dramatic falloff for gasoline demand as a result of Covid-19. This waiver pushes the May 1 deadline for terminal blendover to May 20.
Hours of Service Waiver:
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) issued a national Declaration of Emergency to provide Hours-of-Service regulatory relief for commercial drivers including the transportation of fuel. The declaration stipulates that direct assistance does not include routine commercial deliveries, including mixed deliveries with a nominal quantity of qualifying emergency relief added. Once a driver has completed his or her delivery the driver must receive a minimum of 10 hours off duty if transporting property and eight hours if transporting passengers. 

Essential Business:
The Department of Homeland Security released updated coronavirus guidance identifying the essential critical infrastructure workforce during the ongoing national emergency.  Convenience stores, gas stations and our wholesale suppliers are listed as essential critical infrastructure.

Resources

MASSACHUSETTS

Resources:​
  • ​Massachusetts Covid Homepage:  Click Here​
  • StateHouse News Corona Tracker:  Click Here
  • Covid-19 Text Notification ("AlertsMA"): text keyword COVIDMA to 888-777
Updates:
  • Phase 2 Reopening:  Effective June 8th.  Essential Business will have one week to comply with sector specific protocols.  
  • Reopening Plan​:  Governor Baker released details of the state's 4-phase reopening plan. Each phase will last 3 weeks based on health trends.  https://www.mass.gov/info-details/reopening-massachusetts
  • ​Essential Services Extension: Gov. Baker has extended until May 4th the order requiring all businesses and organizations in Massachusetts that do not provide “COVID-19 Essential Services” to close their physical workplaces and facilities to workers, customers and the public. This order also extends the prohibition on gatherings of 10 or more people.  Convenience Stores, Gas stations and wholesale suppliers are considered essential. Attached is a list of businesses classified as essential released by the Administration.  Copy of order.
  • Gatherings of over 10 people are prohibited until noon on April 7th.
  • ​School closure: All schools, public and private, will remain closed through the end of April, and will open no sooner than May 4.
  • Plastic bags: Reusable bags are prohibited and all local plastic bag bans are hereby lifted and retailers are allowed to use them but may not charge a fee for a paper or plastic bag.
  • ​Bottle Redemption:  MADEP and Attorney General to temporarily suspend enforcement of bottle redemption requirement due to Covid-19 crisis. Notice.
  • ​Unemployment Benefits:  The Governor signed  S.2599 An Act Authorizing waiver of the one week waiting period for unemployment benefits. This bill waives the typical one-week waiting period for unemployment benefits and allows for the Department of Unemployment Assistance (DUA) to immediately begin paying benefits to any eligible person who has been out of work due to the COVID-19 virus.
  • Tax Relief: The Governor announced new measures for administrative tax relief for small local businesses impacted by COVID-19. For small businesses, defined as those who paid less than $150,000 in 2019 in sales and meals, or room occupancy taxes, the state will be postponing the payment of their respective sales, meals, or room occupancy taxes.
    • Taxes due for March, April, and May will instead be due on June 20.
    • All penalties and interest that would otherwise apply will be waived.
    • The Department of Revenue is currently drafting emergency regulations to put this relief in place, and we expect them to be finalized before Friday.​​
NECSEMA Alerts:

NEW HAMPSHIRE

Resources:
Updates​:
  • Essential business: Governor Sununu has issued an emergency stay-at-home order in effect from 11:59 p.m. tomorrow night (Friday, March 27) through May 4th in response to the coronavirus pandemic.  Convenience stores, gas stations and wholesale suppliers considered essential.
  • Beer & Wine:  Emergency Order #6: Temporary authorization for take-out or delivery beer or wine. All restaurants, diners, bars, saloons, private clubs or any other establishment that have both a restaurant license and on premise license from the New Hampshire liquor commission shall be temporarily authorized to allow for takeout or delivery of beer or wine. “We appreciate the sacrifices many have made throughout COVID-19 developments,” said Governor Chris Sununu. “This emergency order will allow for patrons to also order beer and wine from their favorite restaurants when ordering pickup or delivery.”
  • ​Unemployment Benefits:  People can immediately apply for unemployment benefits at the Department of Employment Security website: www.nhes.nh.gov/. Click the red box of the left of the screen that says file a claim for benefits. The Governor has waived the one week waiting period to collect unemployment. 
NECSEMA Alerts:

MAINE

Resources:
Maine Covid Homepage:  Click Here
Updates​:
  • Governor Mill restricts convenience stores and gas stations to 5 customers at a time from April 2nd to April 30.
  • RVP Waiver:  Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry issued a RVP waiver for the April 1 RVP deadline
  • ​Governor Mills issued an executive order mandating all non-essential businesses and operations in Maine to close their physical, public-facing locations. The order takes effect on Wednesday 3/25 at 12:01 am and will be effective for 14 days.
  • Loans: The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) approved Governor Mills’ application for SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loans to help Maine businesses overcome any temporary loss of revenue due to COVID-19. Maine small business owners can now begin applying for these loans. According to the SBA, the loans offer up to $2 million in assistance for small businesses and may be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable and other bills that can’t be paid because of the disaster’s impact.
NECSEMA Alerts​:

CONNECTICUT

Resources:
Updates:
  • Retail requirements:  Effective upon opening on April 3rd, all retailers are required to follow Safe Store Rules to protect employees and customers.
  • RVP Waiver: Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection issued a waiver for the April 1 RVP deadline.  
  • Essential Business: Gov. Lamont orders non-essential business to close effective March 23, 2020 at 8:00pm through April 22, 2020.  Convenience, gas stations and wholesale suppliers are considered essential.  Order.
  • Gatherings:  Llimits on the amount of people who can participate in social and recreational gatherings and reduces that number to no more than five people, through at least April 30, 2020​
  • Distancing:  6 foot distancing in retail is required.
  • Single-use checkout bags: The order temporarily suspends certain state statutes in order to suspend any tax on single-use plastic checkout bags at grocery stores and other retail businesses.
  • Reusable bags: The order prohibits employers of any grocery store or retail business from requiring their employees to bag items into a customer-provided reusable bag. Customers are still permitted to use reusable bags, but they may need to bag their own items.
  • Loans:  The Connecticut Recovery Bridge Loan Program is now live on the DECD website.  This program will provide emergency cash flow relief to small businesses and nonprofits negatively impacted by the coronavirus.  Eligibility is for qualified organizations with 100 or fewer employees and will provide access to no-interest loans.  Each business or nonprofit organization can apply for a loan of up to $75,000 or three months of operating expenses (whichever is lesser).  Click Here.  For additional information or questions, contact the Express Hotline at (860) 500-2333 or via email at decdctrecovery@ct.gov. Email preferred due to high volume on phone lines.
NECSEMA Alerts:

RHODE ISLAND

covid_messaging-8.5x11.pdfcovid_messaging-4.25x11.pdfResources
  • COVID-19 requirement signage - Retailers should post this signage at pumps and POS, particularly in advance of Thanksgiving when out of state visitors will come to RI without knowledge of the state's rules.
  • Rhode Island Covid Homepage:  Click Here
  • Rhode Island Executive Orders:  Click Here
Updates​: ​​
  • Non-Essentail Business Ordered Closed:  Governor Raimondo issued an Executive Order today which includes the requirement that all non-essential workers in Rhode Island stay at home effective Monday.  Gas stations and Convenience Stores are defined as critical retailers.
  • ​​Gatherings of 10+ people prohibited until April 13th.  Anyone who can work from home must do so; social distance at work.
  • Restaurants: May sell beer and wine with meals until April 13th
  • Travel: Anyone traveling from NY to RI  must self-quarantine for 14 days until April 25th
  • Open Meetings: Suspended until May 8th
  • RVP Waiver: RI issued a RVP Fuel Waiver to provide relief from ASTM D-4814 requirements for the month of April.  Waiver
  • Retail Guidance: Allow no more than 20% of stated fire capacity in the store at a time (note that this reduced capacity is approximately 150 square feet per person*). Require staff to count the number of customers entering and exiting the store and to enforce limits; Clearly mark 6’ spacing in lines and other high-traffic areas and consider ways to encourage spacing if there are lines outside. Consider posting signage or using ropes to direct customers and to limit bottlenecks/encourage flow in high-density areas of stores; Designate employees to monitor social distancing and assist customers; Maximize space between customers and employees at checkout; Designate employee(s) to ensure the cleaning guidelines set by the CDC are followed; Discontinue self-serve foods and product sampling; Exclusive hours for those in high-risk populations, including seniors, where stores will limit their capacity to 10% of fire capacity at any time (figures to 300 square feet per person); For our larger grocery stores and retailers (those with greater than 25,000 SF), we are encouraging them to offer pickup and/or delivery options
  • ​​Small business support: Rhode Island small business owners can now receive 45 minutes of free tech support via teleconference or over the phone. This service has been coordinated by Rhode Island Commerce and is being staffed by volunteers from some of Rhode Island’s leading tech companies. Visit Commerce’s website or call 521-HELP to get started.
NECSEMA Alerts​:

Convenience Store Guidelines and Best Practices

STATE & LOCAL TRACKING TOOLS
  • COVID-19 State and Local Policy Dashboard. This dashboard brings together, in one place, state and local government action on coronavirus response. The resource includes emergency declarations, executive orders, and other sources of official information in all 50 states, as well as many local jurisdictions by population.
  • COVID-19 Tracking Landing Page. Monitors state legislative activity related to this issue and how the outbreak is impacting state legislative sessions (some states have adjourned early).
  • GovPredict Tracker – a free resource comparing every state's bills in response to the coronavirus.
  • State Declarations of Essential Businesses Tracker – a tracker of state regulatory declarations with regard to convenience stores as essential businesses.
  • NACS Covid Website​
INDUSTRY RESOURCES
  • Templates for Essential Industry Employees
    • NACS created a template letter for retailers to give employees acknowledging them as essential workers based on the CISA guidance.
    • The Federal Emergency Management Association (FEMA) issued letters for truck drivers to carry with them in order to ensure they can do their jobs to receive and deliver fuel and other critical supplies. Here is their fuel supply letter and emergency equipment access letter. 
    • The Convenience Distribution Association has also provided critical infrastructure certification letter templates for drivers (PDF) and for employees (PDF).
  • Here's a list of companies (PDF) that offer cleaning and sanitizing services and supplies for both inside the store and the fuel island
  • Preventing the Spread of COVID-19 Training Videos –produced by NACS eLearning training partner, Ready Training Online, they are providing free of charge to you to use and to share.  
  • NACS Emergency Planning Resources - can assist retailers with disaster planning, preparation and recovery—including pandemics. The downloadable documents, Emergency Planning and Job Aids, include a plan evaluation and tasks and checklists for store employees to perform during emergency and disaster planning and recovery. ​
  • Downloadable and printable “Outdoor Surface Cleaning and Disinfecting” poster
  • Downloadable and printable “Hourly Cleaning Checklist” to help retailers keep track of when employees clean and sanitize high-touch areas throughout the day.
  • The CDC suggests that employees with confirmed cases of COVID-19 or a family member with a confirmed infection should notify their supervisor and refer to CDC guidance on how to conduct a risk assessment of their potential exposure.
  • CDC Environmental Cleaning and Disinfection Recommendations
  • With more than 5,000 MA residents currently under some form of quarantine or self- monitoring, DPH has created a new flyer with 10 tips
  • NECSEMA Workplace Control Plan template.  Click here.
BEST PRACTICES
  • Wash your hands often with soap and water (scrubbing for at least 20 seconds) and use alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
  • When coughing and sneezing, cover your mouth and nose with a flexed elbow or tissue then discard the tissue immediately.
  • Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands.
  • Stay home if you have a fever.
  • Clean and disinfect high-touch surfaces daily. Inside, this includes tables, countertops, doorknobs, light switches, handles, desks, toilets, faucets, and sinks. At the forecourt, key surfaces are dispenser nozzles, keypads, touchscreens and buttons. Cleaning removes germs, dirt and impurities – it does not kill germs, just lowers their numbers. Sanitizing reduces but does not kill germs. In disinfecting, chemicals are applied to kill germs on surfaces, lowering the risk of infection.
  • Don’t count on bleach as a disinfectant. It takes 10 minutes of surface contact for bleach to fully disinfect a surface. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration strongly warn against using bleach as a disinfectant.
  • ​Remember that to disinfect a surface it needs to be wet for more than four minutes. That rule applies even to disinfectant wipes that say they are more than 99% e ective. A disinfectant wipe can sanitize – less e ectively – in about 10 seconds of contact ​
  • Offer customers the option of having items brought to the gas pumps or parking areas as opposed to entering the store
  • Utilize delivery services
  • Take full advantage of your drivethru window
  • Offer full service at your gas stations so customers don't need to touch your equipment.
  • In response to the COVID-19 crisis, convenience-store operations and consulting company StrasGlobal has developed a comprehensive action plan which they've shared.
  • Prepare coffee behind the counter and hand to customers
  • Wipe gasoline nozzles frequently
  • utilize contactless payment

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