Panic At the Pump: Thousands of Gas Stations Face Closure April 1st Over Environmental Upgrades |
| Posted on Mar 13 2009 |
|
For Immediate Release
Friday, March 13, 2009 |
|
Panic At the Pump: Thousands of Gas Stations Face Closure April 1st Over Environmental Upgrades Senator Calderon Seeks Sensible Timeline for Greening State Gas Stations  Pico Rivera, CA - Senator Ron Calderon (D-Montebello) today demand that the California Air Resources Board revisit its decision to close or fine up to 8-thousand gas stations in California April 1, 2009 if they have not installed new equipment to capture fumes from the gasoline they pump. CARB's intention is to improve air quality. Yet almost 78% of the 11, 000 station owners say they cannot comply, mostly because of CARB's own bureaucratic foot dragging, but mainly because they can't afford the cost of installing new equipment in the current economy. Calderon has nine stations in his district that could be affected. "We're talking about small business men and women, independent owners, not deep-pocket oil companies" said Calderon. "Don't let the huge profits posted by the likes of Exxon fool you, these folks earn a very small margin of profit from the gas they sell. Most of them can't come up with the cost of compliance in such a short time frame. Not in this economy. Unless you've been on Mars for the last year, you know credit is very hard to come by." "CARB is being unreasonable and foolish," Calderon continued. "If most of these gas stations are forced to close, CARB will be defeating its own environmental purpose, by forcing drivers to go farther outside their own communities to get gas." CARB implemented the new air quality requirement nine years ago, plenty of time for station owners to comply, but the board caused uncertainty and confusion by finalized station owner requirements only six months ago. Calderon supports CARB's efforts to improve air quality, but he believes the timing of the requirement is unrealistic and wants CARB to extend the deadline at least a year, giving station owners a reasonable period to comply. |
|
# # #
|
|
Last changed: Mar 13 2009 at 1:48 PM
Back