State Senator Don White and two colleagues have sent a letter to Governor Tom Wolf asking him to urge the Department of Environmental Protection to formally petition the Environmental Protection Agency to suspend the imposition of “summer blend” gasoline.
White and fellow Republicans Elder Vogel and Randy Vulakovich say the annual change to summer blend has contributed to a surging gas price across the state. The current price in Indiana County is up to about $3.10 per gallon.
“Summer blend” gas is thought to reduce air pollution. It’s required in the seven-county Pittsburgh region between May 1st and September 15th. The special blend used a scale called the Reid Vapor Pressure reading of 7.8 psi. Normally, the RVP is 9.0.
The seven counties included in summer blend stipulations are Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Washington, and Westmoreland. Indiana County is not among the seven, but the switch to summer blend still affects our gas prices because the switch to it reduces the supply of gas with the regular RVP.
The state’s Act 50, enacted in 2014, begins the process of eliminating the statutory requirement for summer blend. The governor’s office supports dropping the requirement and announced last week that DEP won’t enforce it, but the gasoline with the lower RVP is still being produced.
