Testing for quality gasoline? Ohio doesn't, but proposed law would finally force it
OHIO (WSYX) — Being one of only three states that does not test for any standard of quality in motor fuel, Ohio will try to leave that infamous group this year with a bill at the Statehouse to finally set rules for testing.
Rep. Brigid Kelly (D-Cincinnati) is reaching across the aisle with freshman Rep. Thomas Hall (R-Lima) to reintroduce a bill to set standards of quality for gasoline and allow county auditors to test fuel for water, sediment, and other unwanted build-ups that can damage your engine.
"This is the second time we've introduced this bill," Rep. Kelly said Friday in a virtual news conference announcing the action. "This is not a Democrat-Republican issue; not an urban or rural issue, but an issue of consumer protection and making sure people get what they pay for."
Senator George Lang (R-West Chester), who previously fought for the same bill while serving in House, promised his support in the Senate along with Rep. Cecil Thomas (D-Cincinnati). Both have districts near or bordering Kentucky and Indiana, which both test for fuel quality.
Lang said Friday that bad faith fuel sellers will bring a bottom-barrel, sediment-filled truck of fuel across the border to Ohio — knowing they can prey upon small businesses to sell it.
"The BP's, the UDF's, Speedways of the world: they have high-quality gasoline," Sen. Lang said at Friday's news conference. "It's the little independent guy that's looking to buy the cheapest gas he can find, that we're worried about."
Lang has previously told ABC 6 affiliates that lobbyists with the gas and oil industry worked to defeat prior bills on fuel testing, though the Ohio Petroleum Marketers & Convenience Store Association has said fuel is already tested by the industry suppliers.
"We question the need for yet another layer of duplicative evaluation in the absence of compelling need," the association said in a 2019 statement to Local 12 News in Cincinnati.
Regardless, county auditors say they're finding sediment in gasoline — and can't do anything about it, without state-provided authority or equipment to do the testing themselves.
"And the result of bad gas in the fuel tank, in the engine, is thousands and thousands of dollars in damage and repairs," said Butler County auditor Roger Reynolds (R) on Friday. Reynolds said each auditor would only need a testing kit that costs between $12,000 and $15,000 to do all the fuel testing in their county.
Lang said Friday that the entire cost to the state would be minimal, and accomplished through the state's transportation budget without passing costs or fees directly to fuel retailers.