Texas declares diesel disaster, Georgia suspends fuel taxes for 30 days

The diesel-relief wave got much bigger on September 28. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued a statewide disaster proclamation allowing dyed diesel on Texas roads, raising the gross weight limit to 95,000 pounds for fuel, agricultural, and timber loads, and suspending Texas Low Emission Diesel rules wherever the EPA authorizes. Oversize and overweight permitting requirements are also suspended for those loads. Abbott separately wrote EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin asking for a temporary Clean Air Act waiver of federal ultra-low sulfur diesel rules, which would let more fuel reach Texas pumps.

"Texas agriculture and freight run on diesel," Abbott said. "Record prices put both industries at risk and raise costs for every Texas family."

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp issued his own emergency declaration the same day, suspending state gas and diesel taxes for 30 days through October 29. Georgia's diesel excise tax is 37.3 cents a gallon (33.3 cents for gasoline), and Kemp said the suspension should push the state's average diesel price — currently $6.24 a gallon — below $6. Kemp also raised the commercial-vehicle weight limit to 95,000 pounds.

The moves follow this morning's Nebraska and Montana orders and Texas and Alabama's earlier dyed-diesel steps. Reuters reports the White House is weighing allowing broader sales of red-dyed diesel to soften pump prices — but that remains a report, not an action; no federal move has been confirmed.

Why it matters

Texas is the biggest freight market in the country, and a disaster proclamation there changes the math for everyone passing through. If you run Texas or Georgia this month: dyed diesel is legal on Texas roads under the proclamation, both states allow 95,000-pound loads, and Georgia pump prices drop about 37 cents a gallon through October 29. Watch whether the White House follows with a federal dyed-diesel move.