The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued an emergency fuel waiver for four states following the closure of an oil refinery.
EPA officials issue fuel waivers to help deal with fuel supply problems caused by weather events or other issues. The waivers temporarily ease certain federal requirements for fuel.
Officials said in an Aug. 1 letter to the governors of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin that the EPA and U.S. Department of Energy decided a waiver is “necessary and appropriate to take action to minimize or prevent disruption of an adequate supply of gasoline to consumers.”
The fuel supply in the Midwest states has been affected by the mid-July shutdown of an ExxonMobil refinery in Joliet, Illinois. The refinery, which processes some 251,800 barrels a day, was closed when tornadoes touched down in the area and caused a power outage.
The situation prompted a request for a fuel waiver from Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, and Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers.
Whitmer said in her request that issuing a waiver “has the potential to prevent fuel supply disruptions and reduce or eliminate the potential impact on residents in Michigan and across the Midwest.”
The emergency waiver is of vapor pressure requirements. The requirements are in place during the summer to reduce the evaporation of gas. Other requirements are still in place.
The waiver took effect on Thursday and is set to remain in place through Aug. 20.
“I have concluded that this is the shortest practicable time necessary to permit the correction of the extreme and unusual circumstances preventing distribution of an adequate supply of compliant gasoline,” Michael Regan, the EPA’s administrator, said in the letter.
The waiver could be extended or ended early, depending on how conditions develop.
Gas prices in the four states rose after the tornadoes and refinery shutdown, according to data from the American Automobile Association. An average gallon on Thursday was $4 in Illinois, $3.54 in Indiana, $3.68 in Michigan, and $3.45 in Wisconsin, according to the organization.
The waiver came as Whitmer announced she was awarding nearly $11 million from the state’s disaster fund to counties that were recently hit by tornadoes and flooding, including Branch, Cass, and St. Joseph counties.
