Gov. Greg Abbott on Sept. 28 issued a statewide disaster proclamation allowing expanded use of dyed diesel on Texas roads, raising the allowable weight for certain loads and suspending Texas Low Emission Diesel (TxLED) rules to the extent the federal Environmental Protection Agency authorizes, according to a news release from the governor’s office.
The governor’s office said the proclamation is aimed at easing costs for agriculture and freight. “Texas agriculture and freight run on diesel,” Abbott said in the release. “Record prices put both industries at risk and raise costs for every Texas family. Farmers and truckers can now use dyed diesel on Texas roads, and fuel, crop, and timber loads can move at a higher weight. These steps cut costs on the farm, on the road, and at the store.”
Dyed diesel is off-road fuel marked red, typically used in agricultural operations and sold without a motor-fuels tax, the release explained. Because it is untaxed, state law ordinarily bars its use on public roadways. The proclamation suspends those state restrictions and associated penalties so operators can use the fuel on Texas roads, the release said, but it does not waive the underlying fuel tax.
The proclamation also suspends state oversize and overweight permitting requirements for vehicles loaded with fuel, agricultural or timber products, and it allows those loads at a gross weight of up to 95,000 pounds, according to the governor’s office.
Abbott also asked EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin for a temporary Clean Air Act waiver of federal ultra-low sulfur diesel rules and of the TxLED rules that apply in 110 Texas counties. The release said those standards limit which diesel can be sold, and a waiver would allow more fuel to reach Texas pumps.
The governor’s office published the text of the disaster proclamation and the letter to Zeldin alongside the release. The release did not specify how long the proclamation will remain in effect.
Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, in a separate news release the same day, called the governor’s action a positive first step and renewed his call for the state to suspend its motor fuels tax.
The federal waiver Abbott requested would apply only if the EPA approves it. If granted, the governor’s office said, it would make more fuel available at Texas pumps, adding to the state-level changes that took effect with the proclamation.