Florida Trend | Florida's Business Authority

State fuel reserve idea re-emerges

Sen. Gary Farmer, D-Lighthouse Point, is taking another run at establishing a strategic fuel reserve to help deal with hurricanes and other disasters.

Farmer on Wednesday filed a proposal (SB 894) that calls for creating a nine-member task force to develop a fuel-reserve plan by April 30, 2023.

The governor, House speaker and Senate president would each appoint three members to the task force.

Farmer has unsuccessfully pushed similar efforts since Hurricane Irma forced massive evacuations in 2017, causing gas stations to run out of fuel.

The creation of a centralized gasoline reserve was an idea that came out of the post-Irma House Select Committee on Hurricane Response and Preparedness, which was led by then-Rep. Jeanette Nunez, who is now Florida’s lieutenant governor.