Georgia adopts federal fuel waiver to increase supply and ease gas prices
Georgia is temporarily relaxing some gasoline rules to increase the available fuel supply and ease pressure on prices at the pump.
The Georgia Department of Agriculture announced Thursday that it adopted a nationwide emergency fuel waiver issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Aug. 20.
"As high fuel prices persist, we're taking action to give Georgians a break at the gas pump," Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper said in a statement.
The waiver allows suppliers to sell certain gasoline blends from Aug. 29 through Aug. 31. Beginning Sept. 1, suppliers may start selling winter-grade gasoline about two weeks earlier than usual.
The changes are intended to make more gasoline available and prevent supply problems. The waiver remains in effect through Sept. 15. Other state and federal fuel safety and quality rules will remain in place.
The EPA said the nationwide waiver could add hundreds of thousands of barrels of gasoline to the market each day. Neither the federal agency nor Georgia officials estimated how much drivers could save or how quickly prices might fall.
The action comes as Georgians continue paying significantly more for gasoline than they did when the war with Iran began Feb. 28.
The Iran War Energy Cost Tracker, developed by Brown University's Climate Solutions Lab, estimated that higher fuel prices have cost Georgia residents about $1.39 billion, or nearly $348 per household.
The tracker listed Georgia's average price for regular gasoline at $3.793 per gallon, up about $1.01, or 36.2%, from $2.785 on Feb. 28.
Brown researchers calculate the estimated added cost by comparing current fuel prices with an estimate of what prices might have been without the conflict. The tracker uses data from AAA, the U.S. Energy Information Administration and the U.S. Census Bureau, according to Brown University.
