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ARIZONA STATE SENATE
Fifty-Seventh Legislature, Second Regular Session
AMENDED
commerce authority; gas; prices; prioritization
Purpose
Requires the Arizona Commerce Authority (ACA) to use available resources to improve motor fuel and gasoline resilience in Arizona, study and develop recommendations relating to the outlined oil and gas topics and submit a report of the study to Legislative Leadership and the Governor, as outlined. Establishes the Fuel Resiliency Task Force (Task Force) in the ACA.
Background
In 2011, the Legislature established the ACA to provide private sector leadership in growing and diversifying the economy of Arizona, creating high quality employment in Arizona through expansion, attraction and retention of businesses and marketing Arizona for the purpose of expansion, attraction and retention of businesses (Laws 2011, Ch. 1).
The ACA is governed by the ACA Board which consists of 19 voting members,
including the Governor, serving as Chairperson, the Chief Executive Officer
(CEO) of the ACA and 17 private sector business leaders who are CEOs of
private, for-profit enterprises. Of the 17 private sector voting members, 9 are
appointed by the Governor, 4 are appointed by the Senate President and 4 are
appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives (House). The ACA Board
also includes 10 ex-officio members without the power to vote, including: 1)
the Senate President;
2) the House Speaker; 3) the President of Arizona Board of Regents; 4) the
president of each state university; 5) one president of a community college; 6)
the Chairperson of the Governor's Council on Small Business; 7) the Chairperson
of the Workforce Arizona Council; 8) one member of the Rural Business
Development Advisory Council; 9) the president of a statewide organization of
incorporated cities and towns; and 10) the president of a statewide
organization of county boards of supervisors (A.R.S.
§ 41-1502).
There is no anticipated fiscal impact to the state General Fund associated with this legislation.
Provisions
2. Requires the ACA to consider the improvement of motor fuel and gasoline resilience in Arizona as one of its objectives.
3. Allows the ACA to use any existing program or incentive to advance the objective of improving motor fuel and gasoline resilience.
4. Repeals the prescribed ACA fuel and gas resilience requirements on January 1, 2031.
5. Establishes the Task Force in the ACA that consists of:
a) the Executive Director of the Governor's Office of Resiliency or the Executive Director's designee;
b) the Chief Executive Officer of the Western States Petroleum Association or the Chief Executive Officer's designee;
c) the Executive Director of the Arizona Petroleum Marketers Association or the Executive Director's designee;
d) the Kinder Morgan Phoenix Terminal Manager or the Terminal Manager's designee;
e) the Aviation Director for the City of Phoenix or the Aviation Director's designee;
f) the Chief Executive Officer of the ACA or the Chief Executive Officer's designee;
g) the Director of the Division of Emergency Management within the Department of Emergency and Military Affairs or the Director's designee;
h) the Director of the Arizona Department of Agriculture or the Director's designee;
i) the Director of the Department of Environmental Quality or the Director's designee; and
j) the Executive Director of the Maricopa Association of Governments or the Executive Director's designee;
6. Requires the Task Force to:
a) meet at least quarterly;
b) study and develop recommendations on the items related to the outlined study and recommendations; and
c) convene with federal officials, members of the oil and gas industry in the United States, subject matter experts as determined by the Task Force and:
i. refinery operators;
ii. the state energy offices in other states within petroleum administrative defense districts three, four and five;
iii. the Texas Oil and Gas Association;
iv. the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association;
v. the Utah Petroleum Association;
vi. the Colorado Petroleum Association;
vii. the Permian Basin Petroleum Association;
viii. the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers;
ix. the Navajo Nation Oil and Gas Company; and
x. the National Tribal Energy Association.
7. Requires the ACA to collaborate with members of the Task Force to study and develop recommendations on:
a) the process for revising the state implantation for the 2015 national ambient air quality standards for the Phoenix-Mesa nonattainment area cleaner burning gasoline blend, program and the potential impact on gas prices, motor fuel supplies and air quality in Arizona by revising the state implementation plan;
b) the construction of additional refined products pipelines, refineries and storage capacities in Arizona to support the stability and resiliency of the fuel supply of Arizona; and
c) the availability of potential alternative lower-production-cost fuel blends that could be sold in Arizona and the potential states or producers that could supply the alternative fuel.
8. Requires the ACA to meet at least three times between the general effective date and October 1, 2026, with the chairpersons of the Senate's Natural Resources Committee and the House's Natural Resources, Energy and Water Committee, or their successor committees, to provide status updates on the price of fuel and gas in Arizona and the progress of the prescribed study and recommendations.
9. Requires the ACA, by September 30, 2029, to submit a report on findings related to the prescribed study and any recommendations to the Governor, the Senate President, the House Speaker and provide a copy of the report to the Secretary of State.
10. Requires the outlined report to contain:
a) the minutes of the Task Force meetings;
b) the names, titles and employers of each federal official and member of the oil and gas industry that the task force consulted with in developing the recommendations and the nature and extent of the consultation;
c) recommendations for action on each outlined item that the ACA and Task Force must study and develop recommendations on, including recommendations for executive action, legislative action and private sector action; and
d) a description of the areas of agreement or disagreement of the recommendations between individuals with whom the ACA consulted.
11. Requires the Chief Executive Officer of the ACA, or the Chief Executive Officer's designee, to serve as the chairperson of the Task Force.
12. Requires the ACA to:
a) provide meeting space and staff support as requested by the Task Force; and
b) keep minutes of each meeting of the Task Force
13. Requires the Task Force to collaborate with the ACA to submit a report of the Task Force's findings and recommendations, as prescribed.
14. Extends the deadline for the ACA to submit the outlined study report from September 30, 2028, to September 30, 2029.
15. Repeals the Task Force on January 1, 2031.
16. Becomes effective on the general effective date.
Amendments Adopted by Committee
1. Requires the ACA to consider the reduction of fuel and gas prices to be one of the ACA's primary objectives, rather than its only primary objective.
2. Establishes the Task Force, as prescribed.
3. Requires the Task Force to:
a) meet at least quarterly;
b) engage with interested state, regional and federal stakeholders;
c) identify options to expand infrastructure and partnership opportunities that support the stability of Arizona's fuel supply;
d) evaluate, the use of alternative lower-cost fuel blends, the construction of additional refined products pipelines, the construction of refineries, the establishment of a strategic oil and gas reserve; and
e) comply with outlined reporting requirements.
4. Repeals the Task Force on January 1, 2029.
Amendments Adopted by Committee of the Whole
1. Allows, rather than requires, the ACA to use available resources to improve motor fuel and gasoline resilience, rather than reduce fuel and gas prices, in Arizona.
2. Requires the ACA to consider the improvement of motor fuel and gasoline resilience as one of its objectives.
3. Removes the requirement that the ACA consider the reduction of fuel and gas prices as its primary objectives.
4. Allows, rather than requires, the ACA to use any existing program or incentive to advance the objective.
5. Extends the date for the repeal of the ACA fuel and gas resilience requirements from January 1, 2030, to January 1, 2031.
6. Requires the ACA to collaborate with members of the Task Force, rather than oil and gas industry, to study and develop recommendations as outlined.
7. Removes the requirements that the ACA study:
a) the impact of and process for the repeal of Arizona's cleaner burning gasoline blend, including an evaluation of potential alternative lower cost blends
b) the construction of additional refined products pipelines, refineries and storage capacities in Arizona and establishment of a strategic oil and gas reserve in Arizona; and
c) the opportunity to construct one or more potential refineries in Arizona, including restarting and reevaluating, a proposed oil refinery in Yuma County.
8. Extends the prescribed ACA reporting deadline from October 1, 2026, to September 30, 2029.
9. Modifies the Task Force membership.
10. Requires the Chief Executive Officer of the ACA, or the Chief Executive Officer's designee, to serve as the chairperson of the Task Force.
11. Requires the ACA, rather than the Task Force, to keep minutes of each meeting of the Task Force.
12. Removes specified meeting requirements from the Task Force, as outlined.
13. Requires the Task Force to study and develop recommendations of the items in the prescribed study report.
14. Outlines information that must be included in the ACA's study report.
16. Requires the Task Force to convene with federal officials, members of the oil and gas industry in the United States, subject matter experts as determined by the Task Force and:
a) refinery operators;
b) the state energy offices in other states within petroleum administrative defense districts three, four and five;
c) the Texas Oil and Gas Association;
d) the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association;
e) the Utah Petroleum Association;
f) the Colorado Petroleum Association;
g) the Permian Basin Petroleum Association;
h) the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers;
i) the Navajo Nation Oil and Gas Company; and
j) the National Tribal Energy Association.
17. Extends the repeal of the Task Force from January 1, 2029, to January 1, 2031.
House Action Senate Action
NREW 2/3/26 DPA 6-4-0-0 NR 3/24/26 DPA 5-3-0
3rd Read 2/25/26 31-23-6
Prepared by Senate Research
June 9, 2026
SB/NRG/hk