Press Telegram - Rep. Robert Garcia announces new bill aimed at increasing availability of unleaded aircraft fuel

A pair of congressmembers will soon introduce a piece of federal legislation aimed at accelerating the aviation industry’s transition to unleaded fuel alternatives.

The bill, dubbed the Cutting Lead Exposure and Aviation Relief Skies Act, is a joint effort by Reps. Robert Garcia, D-Long Beach, and the Republican representative for California’s 23rd congressional district Jay Obernolte, was announced on Monday, April 14.

The bill is scheduled to be formally introduced in the House of Representatives on Thursday, April 17, according to a spokesperson for Garcia.

The CLEAR Skies Act, meanwhile, would establish a new federal production tax aimed at reducing the costs of unleaded aviation fuel in hopes of incentivizing both the companies who sell and pilots who use unleaded gas to more quickly transition to the more environmentally friendly energy faster.

The use of leaded airplane fuel has been a major concern in Long Beach — and other regional airports — for years.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency data, in 2022, showed that the Long Beach Airport ranked No. 2 in the country for lead pollution, with planes there emitting nearly 1,600 pounds of the chemical into neighborhoods around the city.

The City Council began exploring ways to reduce leaded fuel consumption at Long Beach Airport in October 2022, as mounting concerns around its health impacts prompted federal regulators to consider an outright ban on small aircraft carriers using the fuel.

About a year later, the EPA declared using leaded plane fuel a threat to public health — and is currently weighing how to more strictly regulate those emissions under the Clean Air Act.

The Federal Aviation Administration, which has the authority to impose additional requirements for aircraft carriers, have also launched an initiative aimed at eliminating lead emissions from planes entirely by 2030.

Exposure to lead, according to the EPA, can have detrimental effects on cognitive function, including reduced IQ and academic performance — especially in children — alongside other health impacts in adults, such as cardiovascular and reproductive issues.

“I talked to a lot of neighbors and communities in Long Beach that are concerned about air pollution,” Garcia said in a Tuesday interview. “For me, it’s important because I talked to a lot of these residents when I was mayor — and I know that (general aviation) pollution is a really important issue for them. So, it’s a way of supporting that.”

Since the City Council’s initial conversation about mitigating lead fuel pollution in 2022, the panel has OK’d a plan to waive fuel flowage fees for certain aircraft carriers at Long Beach Airport, and the airport received its first delivery of unleaded fuel in August.

Long Beach has also launched an unleaded fuel subsidy program for general aviation carriers.

That program, introduced in 2024, allows fuel providers at LGB to sell unleaded fuel at the same price as its leaded counterpart. The subsidy will be available until Dec. 31.

“The introduction of this bipartisan legislation to further incentivize the transition to unleaded fuel is a welcome step on a pressing nationwide issue,” airport Director Cynthia Guidry said in a Wednesday statement. “We are encouraged by this federal effort to increase the availability of unleaded fuel products.”

Besides implementing federal tax credits for companies who produce and sell unleaded fuel, Garcia’s bill would would require the comptroller general of the United States to conduct a study on the price differences between unleaded and leaded fuel.

The study, according to the bill text, would look at the major drivers of price differences between unleaded and leaded fuel, the amount of unleaded fuel in the overall aviation gas market, and whether tax credits prove successful in reducing unleaded fuel costs on the consumer.

“We’ve got to get the bill passed, but it’s bipartisan, so we feel really good about it,” Garcia said. “It’s going to allow, potentially, to provide more support for neighborhoods — and it should also reduce pollution in all the neighborhoods around the airport.”