AUSTIN, Texas -- Commissioner Todd Staples has announced that the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) is now posting results of gas station inspections on its website so consumers can see which stations around the state failed their recent gas pump inspections.
More than 100 are allegedly short-changing drivers around the state; 74 pumps shorted consumers by at least 6 tablespoons per five gallons, while 31 pumps doubled that shortage amount to 12 tablespoons per five gallons, according to a report covering the previous 60 days cited by the Associated [image-nocss] Press.
The department allows a variation of about 6 tablespoons per five gallons of gas. Stations that are more than twice in excess of the tolerance now are fined $100 per pump for the first offenseand $200 per pump for the second offense. The department's minimum fines quadrupled in May, the increases were the first since 1996.
Pumps are tagged and closed until the operator calibrates the machine and gets it recertified by the state, the department said. A fine could be as high as $500 for a second offense on a pump that's more than four times greater than the accepted discrepancy.
There are some out there that really give you more gas, TDA spokesperson Beverly Boyd told AP. But we consider those out of tolerance, too. The web page on the department's site does not list the stations cited for overages.
The department has 72 weights and measures inspectors monitoring 275,000 fuel pumps at 14,000 gas stations. State law calls for the pumps to be inspected at least once every four years, but the department must respond to consumer complaints within 10 days.
Texas fuel vendors usually have a 96% compliance rate with state standards, Boyd said. Since May 25, when new fines went into effect, compliance has dropped to 92%, she said.
Click here to view the list of stations out of compliance.
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