The Biden administration has temporarily lifted a century-old shipping rule for one company to ease petroleum shortages on the East Coast after a ransomware attack shuttered a major fuel pipeline, and gas prices rose to a seven-year high.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement late Wednesday he had approved a “temporary and targeted waiver” to one company seeking to transport fuel from the Gulf Coast to the Eastern Seaboard. The 101-year-old Jones Act requires goods carried between U.S. ports to be transported on ships built, owned, and operated by Americans.
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“This waiver will help provide for the transport of oil products between the Gulf Coast and East Coast ports to ease oil supply constraints as a result of the interruptions in the operations of the Colonial Pipeline,” Mayorkas said.
“The decision to approve the waiver was made after careful consideration and consultation with interagency partners across the federal government. The Departments of Transportation, Energy, and Defense were consulted in order to assess the justification for the waiver request and ensure the approval of the waiver is in the interest of national defense,” he added.
By late Wednesday, six days into the outage, Colonial Pipeline said it was restarting operations but said it could take days for fuel supply to return to normal. More than 12,000 gas stations up and down the coast on Thursday said they were out of fuel.
“Tonight’s announcement means there’s an end in sight for the supply disruptions that have affected states across the Southeast,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement early morning Thursday.
“As Colonial Pipeline works to safely and fully resume operations over the next few days, we will stay in close contact with the company and will continue to offer any assistance needed — as we have done since the outset of this shutdown on Friday,” she said. “As supplies return to normal, we will also continue our whole-of-government effort to mitigate any challenges.”
The Biden administration has waived environmental rules for fuel types and labor requirements for drivers transporting gas in some states to help ease the crunch.
Officials have urged drivers not to hoard gasoline, as the White House used its daily press briefing three days in a row to address the pipeline incident.
Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said “relief” may not happen immediately for some areas.
“This is not like flipping a switch,” Granholm told MSNBC. “It’s a 5,500-mile pipeline.”
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The pipeline does not travel directly to gas stations. Fuel must be transported from terminals via trucks.
Biden will deliver remarks on the incident around noon on Thursday.
