Oregon to allow self-serve gas pumping starting on Friday

Oregon’s decades-long ban on self-service gasoline pumping is set to end Friday, Aug. 4.

House Bill 2426, passed by the Legislature in June, had as of Friday morning been neither signed nor vetoed by Gov. Tina Kotek.  Because Aug. 4 is her deadline to act, the legislation is expected to automatically take effect. She had not given any indication of opposing the bill.

The legislation allows Oregon gas stations to open up half of their pumps for self-serve gas. Stations will not be allowed to charge different prices for self-pumped and employee-pumped gasoline.

New Jersey is now the only state banning self-service gasoline.

In recent years, Oregon has been whittling away at its ban, which was enacted in 1951.

In 2015, the law was amended to allow stations in rural areas — the 17 counties that have fewer than 40,000 residents — to offer self-service gas between the hours of 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. In 2018, those rural counties were allowed to offer self-service gas at any time.

Statewide temporary exemptions were allowed in the early days of the COVID pandemic and during the 2021 heat wave, when it was deemed too dangerous for pump attendants to be out in the sun for prolonged periods.

Some stations at tribal-owned resorts have also allowed self-service pumping.

The rationale for Oregon’s ban hinged on the contention that pumping gas is a hazardous activity best done by those who have been properly trained.