Barton's Gasoline for America's Security Act Passes House

Barton's Gasoline for America's Security Act Passes House
October 7, 2005

WASHINGTON - The House today voted 212 to 210 to deal with the price spikes and dry pumps that drivers encountered nationwide after hurricanes shut down many Gulf Coast oil refineries.

"We use 21 million barrels of oil a day and only have the refinery capacity for 16 million on a good day. And after Katrina and Rita, we haven't had many good days," said U.S. Rep. Joe Barton, R-Ennis.

The Gasoline for America's Security Act, H.R. 3893, introduced by Barton, reforms cumbersome siting procedures by requiring the Department of Energy to coordinate the refinery permitting process, but only if a state's governor requests the process or if the president has designated the site as potentially suitable for a refinery.

"In 1981, there were 324 operating refineries in the boundaries of the United States. Today there are 148. Do the math. There are a lot of reasons for it but one of the reasons is the law as it exists today," Barton said. "What company's board of directors in its right mind would want to go through this complicated process and tie up billions of dollars for years and years if they weren't certain whether this process would wrap up in a timely fashion?"

The legislation requires the Federal Trade Commission to investigate price gouging and, for the first time, grants the agency the authority to prosecute offenses. The bill also cuts the number of "boutique" fuels currently required for different parts of the country from 17 to six, and encourages carpooling to conserve gasoline.

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