The House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee Wednesday amended and reported out Senate Bill 1037 (Vogel-R-Beaver) whose intent is to repeal the requirement for summer low-RVP gasoline in seven Western Pennsylvania counties required from May 1 to September 15.

The counties include Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Washington and Westmoreland.

The Committee approved an amendment to require the Department of Environmental Protection to start the process for amending the State Air Quality Implementation Plan within 60 days of the effective date of the act. 

Once the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency approves the amended SIP, the bill directs the Environmental Quality Board to adopt a regulation eliminating the low-RVP gasoline requirement in Western Pennsylvania.

A 2012 DEP review of the low-RVP gasoline requirement in response to Act 135 found low-RVP gasoline contributed a volatile organic compound emission reduction of 1.61 tons per day in the Pittsburgh Region. 

It is those emissions DEP will have to make up by imposing or adjusting volatile organic compound emission limits in other sectors since the Pittsburgh Region is in nonattainment of the Ozone Pollution Standard.

“Residents in these seven counties are essentially being penalized because of where they live,” said Rep. Ron Miller (R-York), Majority Chair of the Committee.  “Use of more expensive summer gas in the Pittsburgh area was intended to address certain environmental conditions, some of which will always exist due to their proximity to other states.”

“These seven counties, as well as a handful of counties in Maine, are the only areas of the country where the summer gas mandate remains in effect,” added Rep. Miller. “Florida and North Carolina recently passed repeals that relieve this burden on their residents.”

“We simply cannot wait for the federal government to act on its own on this issue,” said Rep. Eli Evankovich (R-Westmoreland). “This long-standing policy has cost the people of southwestern Pennsylvania unnecessarily for too long.”

“I was pleased to support the passage of the bill,” said Rep. Jeff Pyle (R-Armstrong). “The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency), a non-elective body of political appointees, seems more concerned about protecting their unaccountable power at the expense of southwestern Pennsylvania residents having to buy special, and more expensive, gasoline. It just isn’t fair and the situation must change.”

The Oil Price Information Service (OPIS) reports the cost difference between low-RVP summer gasoline in the Pittsburgh area from May to September 2013 was an average of 13.53 cents a gallon higher than 9.0-RVP gasoline in the same region with a difference as high as 18.87 cents last August.

The bill was reported out of Committee with two opposing votes and now goes to the full House for consideration.

Rep. Ron Miller (R-York) serves as Majority Chair and Rep. Greg Vitali (D-Delaware) serves as Minority Chair.

4/14/2014