Sponsor
Brian Jeffrey Mast
Representative · R-FL
The bill eases summertime fuel supply and cost pressures for drivers and fuel suppliers by allowing higher-RVP gasoline temporarily, but does so at the cost of worse air quality, increased health and economic burdens from pollution, and a precedent for weakening air-quality protections.
Drivers and gasoline retailers in affected areas can buy, sell, and use higher-RVP gasoline from May 1 to Sept 15, 2026, reducing summertime supply disruptions and lowering the risk of gasoline price spikes for consumers.
Refiners, distributors, and fuel retailers avoid the compliance costs and logistical burdens of supplying only low-RVP fuel during the waiver period, reducing business costs and the risk of local shortages.
Residents in affected urban and rural areas will face worse summertime air quality and increased ground-level ozone from higher-RVP gasoline, raising respiratory health risks during May–Sept 2026.
People with respiratory conditions, their employers, and taxpayers may incur higher healthcare costs and more lost workdays because of increased pollution-related illnesses.
Federal and state governments, regulators, and communities could see this temporary waiver as a precedent for relaxing Clean Air Act limits, weakening environmental protections in future emergencies.
Based on analysis of 1 section of legislative text.
Creates a one-time waiver allowing gasoline with RVP above the federal summertime standard to be sold May 1–Sept 15, 2026.
Representative · R-FL
Official title: To require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to waive Reid Vapor Pressure requirements with respect to calendar year 2026, and for other purposes.
Introduced April 27, 2026 by Brian Jeffrey Mast · Last progress April 27, 2026
Directs the EPA Administrator to waive the Clean Air Act prohibition on selling or introducing gasoline that exceeds the applicable Reid Vapor Pressure (RVP) standard for the period May 1, 2026 through September 15, 2026. The waiver applies to selling, offering for sale, dispensing, supplying, transporting, or otherwise introducing into commerce gasoline with RVP above the applicable standard for that time window. This creates a one-time, time-limited federal exemption from the federal summertime gasoline volatility limit for calendar year 2026, using the "applicable standard" defined by existing regulation (40 C.F.R. § 80.27(a)(2) or successor).