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Committee hears from card-lock operators in support of bill to loosen nonretail fuel requirements
Summary
At a public hearing, card-lock operators and industry groups urged support for House Bill 3478 and its dash-2 amendment, arguing the bill would reduce administrative audits and allow smaller businesses access to card-lock fueling by removing or raising minimum gallonage requirements and adjusting fees and inspection cadence.
The committee held a public hearing on House Bill 3478, which would change eligibility and licensing rules for nonretail card-lock dispensing of motor vehicle fuels.
Committee staff described the bill as eliminating a minimum gallonage requirement for eligibility for nonretail card-lock dispensing, increasing the license period for card lock facilities from one to three years, removing certain sworn statement requirements for nonretail customers, and changing training and audit requirements. The staff summary said the dash-2 amendment reduces the frequency of State Fire Marshal audits from annual to every three years, raises certain fees (for example, a renewal fee increase from $500 to $900), and makes other administrative changes; staff reported an estimate from the department and identified those changes as having minimal fiscal impact.
Multiple industry witnesses testified in support. Mike Friess, representing the Oregon Fuels Association, said the bill “improves access to card lock facilities for all customers and businesses,” reduces administrative burdens caused by annual audits and customer information collection, and preserves funding and fire safety oversight. Aaron Redding of Petrocard described the operational burden of collecting information on thousands of customers and the time taken for state fire marshal audits; he said many audit errors were tied to the 900-gallon threshold. Matthew Jovitz (family business Star Oil Co.) and other card-lock operators also supported the bill, saying audits consumed staff time and that smaller firms and seasonal customers sometimes cannot meet the 900-gallon limit.
Representative Cyrus Javedi said the bill was brought to him by a small-business constituent who had lost card-lock access after falling below the 900-gallon threshold. Representative Evans offered a cautionary comment linking the broader context of earlier fuel-industry regulatory changes to job impacts but did not state a position on this bill. The public hearing record closed after testimony; the session did not include a committee vote on the bill.
