Harvey impacts gas; How to donate

The EPA approves emergency fuel waivers for Texas and Georgia.

Following Hurricane Harvey’s landfall, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt has approved emergency fuel waiver requests from the Texas Comptroller and the Georgia Environmental Protection Division.

The storm’s record rainfall has already reduced U.S. oil production capacity by nearly a fifth, a figure that analysts said could still rise. The Houston-Galveston area could see a loss in refining capacity of more than 1 million barrels a day.

Lasting closures or damage to Gulf Coast facilities could lead to a long-term increase in gasoline prices, experts said. How high prices will rise will depend on how badly the facilities are damaged in the storm and how quickly they can reopen. The area from Corpus Christi to Lake Charles, Louisiana, now represents nearly half of the country’s refining capacity.

The waiver authority was exercised under the Clean Air Act and was

granted by EPA Administrator Pruitt, in coordination with U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry.

EPA has waived requirements for reformulated gasoline and low volatility gasoline through Sept. 15 in the following states: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Texas, Louisiana and the District of Columbia.

According to a news release by the EPA, “As required by law, EPA and the Department of Energy evaluated the situation and determined that granting a short-term waiver was consistent with the public interest. EPA and DOE are continuing to actively monitor the fuel supply situation as a result of Hurricane Harvey, and will act expeditiously if extreme and unusual supply circumstances exist in other areas.”