EPA issues emergency waiver to combat fuel shortage from Hurricane Harvey

Customers fuel vehicles at a Sunoco LP gas station ahead of Hurricane Harvey in Texas City, Texas, U.S., on Friday, Aug. 25, 2017. Hurricane Harvey strengthened as it headed toward landfall in Texas, forecast to become the worst storm to strike the region in more than a decade. The price of gasoline rallied as it threatened to wreak havoc on the heart of America's energy sector. Photographer: F. Carter Smith/Bloomberg via Getty Images less Customers fuel vehicles at a Sunoco LP gas station ahead of Hurricane Harvey in Texas City, Texas, U.S., on Friday, Aug. 25, 2017. Hurricane Harvey strengthened as it headed toward landfall in Texas, forecast ... more Photo: Bloomberg/Bloomberg Via Getty Images Photo: Bloomberg/Bloomberg Via Getty Images Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close EPA issues emergency waiver to combat fuel shortage from Hurricane Harvey 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced late Friday it was waiving environmental standards on fuel, "to address shortages resulting from Hurricane Harvey."

"Extreme and unusual fuel supply circumstances exist in portions of Texas as a result of the hurricane," the agency said. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, "has granted a temporary waiver to help ensure an adequate supply of gasoline is available in the affected areas until normal supply to the region can be restored."

As the Chronicle reported Friday:

Some gas stations are running out of fuel - at least temporarily - as Hurricane Harvey moves closer to landfall.

In the Houston area, some of the outages include fueling stations in Katy, Sugar Land and The Woodlands as people wait in long lines to fill up their tanks before Harvey arrives, according to data available at GasBuddy's tracker.gasbuddy.com.

Prices already are rising as Corpus Christi refineries shut down, and fuel costs could spike by as much as 25 cents a gallon within the next week or so, said Patrick DeHaan, GasBuddy senior petroleum analyst. The Houston-area average was still about $2.12 for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline as of Friday morning.

The larger spikes will only occur if refineries also shut down in the Houston and Galveston areas, he said.

"The buck stops with Houston." Much unethical - or illegal - price gouging is unlikely though, he said."Usually, gas stations have a lot of eyes on them," DeHaan said. "If it happens, it's usually just a few bad apples."

RELATED STORY: Hurricane Harvey forces some refineries closed, pushes gas prices up

The waiver extends through Sept. 15 and applies to any county declared a disaster area by Governor Greg Abbott.

"EPA is continuing to actively monitor the fuel supply situation as a result of Hurricane Harvey, and is ready to act expeditiously if extreme and unusual supply circumstances exist in other areas," the agency said.