More pollution, cheaper gas: Beshear calls on EPA to suspend Louisville smog-reducing rule

With gas prices hovering around $5 per gallon in the Louisville area, Gov. Andy Beshear on Thursday formally requested the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency suspend its federal mandate on a smog-reducing gasoline in this region that is more expensive.

Beshear's announcement came shortly after Republican state legislators held a press conference at a Louisville gas station, urging the governor to take that same action on the gas mandate, which they said inflates the price by 32 cents per gallon in the region.

The EPA in the 1990s started requiring cities with high smog levels to sell reformulated gasoline — known as RFG — which is blended to burn cleaner than regular gasoline and reduce smog-forming and toxic pollutants like volatile organic compounds, carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides.

Those pollutant levels have significantly decreased since the RFG mandate went into effect for Jefferson County and portions of Oldham and Bullitt counties, though the cost of such gas is higher.

More: What is the reformulated gasoline mandate that GOP lawmakers want to end in Louisville?

The governor's administration cannot suspend the RFG mandate unilaterally. Instead, they must petition the EPA for such a suspension.

Beshear said that while reformulated gas helps cut down on pollution, "during these difficult times the reformulated blend is adding an additional cost somewhere between 20 and 30 cents more per gallon to Kentucky families who just can't afford it."

If approved, the governor said the RFG mandate would be waived for up to 20 days.

"The people who live and work in Louisville area shouldn't have to shoulder this additional burden during what is already such a challenging time," Beshear said.

Former Gov. Matt Bevin requested ending the same RFG mandate for the Northern Kentucky region in 2017, which the EPA granted the following year.

Food or gas? As Louisville pump prices rise to almost $5, experts have dire warning

Bevin and many Republican elected officials also called for ending the EPA mandate in the Louisville region in 2019, shortly before he lost his reelection bid.

Holding a press conference Thursday morning at a BP station near the state fairgrounds — where unleaded gas was selling for $4.99 per gallon — GOP legislators from the region called for Beshear to push for suspending this RFG mandate and provide immediate relief to consumers.

"If you have a family of four and you're going to load up your SUV today, you're paying 32 cents more per gallon than you need to be," said Rep. Jason Nemes, R-Louisville. "We're trying to get that changed for the hardworking taxpayers of Jefferson, Oldham and Bullitt counties, and you can feel that within a week."

Rep. Kevin Bratcher, R-Louisville, said emission levels have dropped since the 1990s with more fuel-efficient cars, as well as the retirement of one of LG&E's coal-burning power plants in west Louisville.

"It's time to let our people off the hook from paying this extra tax for no benefit," Bratcher said.

Rep. Thomas Huff, R-Shepherdsville, noted the bipartisan support for his resolution that passed into law with a large majority vote in 2020 — it called for the state and Louisville Metro Air Pollution Control District "to determine the environmental benefits, related costs, and potential alternatives to the federal reformulated gasoline requirements currently imposed in Jefferson County and partial areas in Bullitt and Oldham counties."

Another non-binding resolution passed 82-7 by the state House earlier this year that called on President Joe Biden to issue an executive order halting the RFG mandate nationwide through the end of the year, with five of the dissenting votes being Democratic members from Louisville.

Louisville Metro Council also passed a bipartisan resolution in April calling on Beshear and the General Assembly to request a waiver from the EPA to suspend the RFG mandate through the end of 2022.

More: Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear targets high gasoline prices by temporarily halting gas tax hike

Louisville's Air Pollution Control District announced in 2019 it was studying the potential effect of ending the RFG mandate in the region, with a spokesperson for the agency saying Thursday they are currently in the process of applying for the area to be re-designated as meeting higher standards for ground-level ozone.

"The process to remove the (RFG) requirement can begin after attaining the standard and demonstrating that a switch to conventional gasoline will not jeopardize that attainment," APCD spokesman Matthew Mudd stated in an email.

While the effect of RFG on air quality is "relatively small," Mudd added that "every reduction or increase in emissions is meaningful for the health of our residents and for our area’s ability to demonstrate compliance with federal standards.”

This is the second action in the past week that Beshear has taken to move toward lower gas prices, as he issued an emergency regulation last week to prevent a 2-cents-per-gallon increase to the state's gas tax, which was set to automatically go into effect July 1.

Though GOP legislative leaders blasted Beshear's move on the gas tax last week as "illegal" and insufficient to help consumers, Nemes said "we wholeheartedly support that" and any other move to help commuters deal with skyrocketing prices.

Saying that Kentucky is in "a time of crisis," Nemes added that if Beshear did as they requested and petitioned for the RFG mandate to be suspended, "we will herald you across the commonwealth of Kentucky."

At his press conference Thursday afternoon, Beshear said he sent his written request to EPA officials at 10:30 a.m., but wasn't aware then of Republicans' presser that had started at 10 a.m., adding his office had been already been working on the letter for several days.

"I'm glad that that it appears that we all agree that the steps should be taken," Beshear said. "If they support it, we would welcome a letter from them that we can submit that supports this request to the EPA."

Reach reporter Joe Sonka at jsonka@courierjournal.com and follow him on Twitter at @joesonka. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today at the top of this page.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Beshear asks EPA to suspend smog-reducing mandate to lower gas prices