Businesses, drivers urge Oregon lawmakers to OK bill to permit statewide self-serve gas option

SALEM, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Oregon legislators heard from businesses and drivers Tuesday calling on them to support a bipartisan bill that would allow Oregonians across the state to pump their own gas, if they choose to.

House Bill 4151 would still require attendants at gas stations, ensuring people with disabilities or who prefer attendant service can still enjoy that option.

Because attendants would still be required, there would be no loss of existing jobs, according to the group Oregonians for Choice at the Pump, a coalition led by the Oregon Fuels Association and the Northwest Grocery Associations, both membership-based trade associations that represent gas stations and fuel distributors in Oregon.

At the same time, the bill would provide critical relief to gas stations struggling with the widespread labor shortage in the service industry, according to the group, whose news release on the bill and hearing continues in full below:

Haseeb Shojai, a small-business owner with gas stations in Bend, Metolius, Madras and Prineville, testified in support of the bill at a Joint Committee on Transportation public hearing. He said his stations have been unable to offer a set schedule of hours they’re open, because without enough attendants, they can’t pump gas.

“It is important for us to stay open to make sure that our customers and our community have access to gasoline,” he said. “Their daily lives and work depend on unobstructed access to gasoline.”

Shojai said the bill would also benefit gas station workers, preserving their jobs, lifting the burden that comes from working short-staffed, and providing relief during wildfire season, heat waves and winter storms.

“Even with the passage of HB 4151, we will still need to fill positions to operate our stations,” he said. “We don’t have months, we don’t have weeks, we don’t have days. We need this change as soon as possible in order to operate our businesses in a way that satisfies the needs of our customers and the needs of our community.”

Without enough attendants, gas stations are forced to reduce the hours they’re open, to reduce available pumps, or to close entirely if they’re understaffed. Attendants working short-staffed must work much harder. Customers must wait longer at the pump before someone is available to serve them.

“As a result of the current workforce shortages, many pumps are currently not open for use due to a lack of available employees. ... This bill simply allows for those pumps that are currently out of use to become self-serve,” said Shawn Miller, testifying on behalf of the Northwest Grocery Association. “Furthermore, many gas retailers, including our grocery stores, have thousands of family-wage job openings currently available. We don’t see the workforce shortage turning around soon so we only see job growth into the horizon.”

Addressing potential concerns related to COVID precautions, Miller added that science has shown COVID is primarily spread through the air, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention considers the risk of transmission through contaminated surfaces to be low. In addition, there is no data from the 48 states that allow self-serve gas – or from the many Oregon counties already allowed to offer self-service – that there is any increased risk of spills or dangerous accidents.

Mike Freese, representing the Oregon Fuels Association, noted that HB 4151 has broad support among gas stations and Oregonians, as well as AAA, which represents nearly 1 million Oregon drivers. In written testimony, Oregonians for Choice at the Pump also emphasized that the impacts extend far beyond workers and gas station operators.

“Gas is a necessity Oregonians rely on – to get to work, medical appointments and essential businesses, and to reach their next pickup or drop-off if they work as Uber, Lyft or food delivery drivers,” the coalition stated.

Oregon is one of just two states nationwide that prohibit drivers from pumping their own gas. However, in rural areas and at nighttime on the coast, Oregonians have been able to pump their own since 2015, when legislators provided important relief to ensure Oregonians in rural areas had access to fuel at all hours.

Oregon also temporarily allowed self-serve fueling statewide in March, April and May 2020 due to concerns about worker safety and labor shortages amid the COVID pandemic, and again during the 2021 summer heat wave.

Motorcyclists and drivers of diesel vehicles have always been able to fill their own tanks, regardless of their location in the state.

Sponsored by Reps. Julie Fahey (D-Eugene) and Shelly Davis Boshart (R-Albany), HB 4151 would:
• Allow gas stations to offer consumers a choice of both self-service and attended fueling, ensuring attendant service for customers who enjoy it today and self-service for those who make that choice.
• Increase civil penalties in the case a fuel retailer violates attendant-service requirements.
• Require both self- and attendant-service gas to be offered at the same price.
• Grant the state new emergency authority to relax attendant-service requirements when necessary to protect public health and safety, such as in the case of severe wildfires, ice storms and heat waves.

“We are all familiar with the growing employee shortages; gas stations have not been immune to these shortages. As a result gas stations have had to significantly reduce service and even limit business hours,” Rep. Shelly Boshart Davis said. “Unlike other businesses, Oregon statute requires workers at gas stations even when they aren’t available. This bill takes a small but meaningful step, ensuring that those who want attended service can continue to receive it similarly those who want self-service can now have access to it.”

Rep. Julie Fahey said the bill represents “a modest change, not a dramatic shift in how we do business,” and that the legislation’s bipartisan support “reflects where Oregonians are at on this issue.”

“Oregonians are often very proud of our state’s unique approach to policymaking. We definitely live up to our ‘she flies with her own wings’ motto, whether that’s our pioneering adoption of vote by mail or our steadfast opposition to sales taxes,” she said. “I’ve heard from a number of Oregonians that they don’t want to lose full-service gas, and there are plenty of reasons to prefer it: accessibility for people with disabilities, or older Oregonians not wanting to get out of their car in the rain, or, yes, just plain liking it better that way. The beauty of this bill is that it will not take that option away.”

Sen. Janeen Sollman said the bill offers environmental and health benefits by reducing the amount of time drivers spend idling in their cars and releasing exhaust into the air, while still preserving a choice for drivers who prefer an attendant’s service.

“This bill also addresses some of the health concerns I have for attendants who spend their entire shift inhaling exhaust and gasoline fumes,” Sollman said.