ATLANTA — State Representative Christian Coomer (R-Cartersville), Chairman of the House Transportation Committee, today announced that for the first time since 2003, gasoline retailers in 32 counties in northern Georgia are free from a United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulation that required them to sell a high-cost gasoline blend that resulted in substantially higher costs for consumers.
“Thanks to the efforts of Governor Nathan Deal and his team, the EPA rescinded a rule that caused summer-time gas prices in northern Georgia to be significantly higher than in other parts of the state and in our neighboring states,” said Rep. Coomer. “Now, 32 of the 45 counties in the metro Atlanta region will no longer be required to sell a specially formulated ‘summer-blend’ gasoline, also known as Georgia Gas, to its consumers. Since the regulation only applies to gasoline sold between May and August, consumers may not see an immediate change in prices at the pump.”
The removal of these regulations means only 13 metropolitan counties will fall under mandates of the EPA’s Clean Air Act which requires the sale of a specially formulated fuel. According to Karen Hays, the director of the Georgia Environmental Protection Division’s (EPD) Air Protection Branch, next summer, gasoline retailers in those 13 counties will still sell a specially formulated fuel, but it will not be the Georgia Gas that was previously required.
Rep. Coomer explains that with advances in technology, retailers in the counties that remain subject to EPA mandates should only see a difference of approximately 3 cents per gallon between the cost of gasoline they sale and the cost of gasoline sold in other counties around the state. Chairman Coomer also cautions drivers that this rule change may not result in a precipitous drop in prices at the pump.
“Gasoline prices are subject to market pressures, like other commodities,” said Rep. Coomer. “Retailers know that North Georgia drivers are accustomed to paying a premium price for fuel, and the market will support higher fuel prices than in other places. As a result, even though the regulation that caused the upward pressure on fuel prices is gone, retailers may choose to keep prices high.”
“We want to cut unnecessary regulation that hurts small business and middle-class families so that the markets can operate more freely and produce price points based more on the cost of producing and delivering a product and less on the whims of federal regulators,” added Rep. Coomer.
“This change would not have taken place without the concerted efforts of Georgia EPD Director Jud Turner, who was appointed to the post by Governor Deal in 2012,” continued Rep. Coomer. “This is one example of why it is important to elect conservative leaders who will press for reforms that improve the lives of all Georgians.”
Representative Christian Coomer represents the citizens of District 14, which includes portions of Bartow and Floyd counties. He was elected into the House of Representatives in 2010, and currently serves as Chairman of the Transportation Committee. He also serves on the Appropriations Subcommittee on Public Safety and the Banks & Banking, Judiciary Non-Civil, Retirement, and Juvenile Justice committees.
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*Editor’s note: The 32 counties that will no longer be required to sell specially formulated gasoline are: Barrow, Bartow, Butts, Carroll, Dawson, Hall, Haralson, Jackson, Newton, Pickens, Spalding, Walton, Banks, Chattooga, Clarke, Floyd, Gordon, Heard, Jasper, Jones, Lamar, Lumpkin, Madison, Meriwether, Monroe, Morgan, Oconee, Pike, Polk, Putnam, Troup, and Upson.
The 13 counties that will use another clean burning federally approved gasoline are: Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, Coweta, Dekalb, Douglas, Fayette, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett, Henry, Paulding and Rockdale.