Gas-station owners upset over fines

Many gas-station owners are riled by a recent hike in fines for pumps that are found to be out of calibration.

A measure that doubled the maximum fines for faulty gas pumps was approved by the Arizona Legislature last week and went into effect Jun. 30.

The Arizona Petroleum Marketers Association acknowledges there is room for improvement to the state's 95 percent pump-compliance rate, which is in line with the national average. But it is concerned that the fines were increased without its input.

The rules increased the maximum per pump civil penalty to $1,000 from $500 and the cap on the amount that could be assessed a station owner in a 30 day period from $5,000 to $10,000. In the past, fines have not been assessed because of the cap.

Sen. Richard Miranda (D-Phoenix), a proponent of the increase, said old fines did not provide an incentive for station owners to fix broken pumps.

He noted it could cost $800 to calibrate a faulty pump, while the fine was only $500.

Arizona Petroleum Marketers Association Executive Director Andrea Martincic said the group was never contacted by Miranda or the Governor's office.

Miranda is optimistic that the increased revenue would be used by the Arizona Department of Weights and Measures to hire more inspectors and increase the frequency of inspections that are now done an average of every three years.

The department inspected 20,400 of the state's 66,000 gas pumps in the past 12 months and found about 9 percent of them to be out of calibration. Half of those were giving customers less gas than they paid for and half more.

Martincic said there are plenty of incentives for owners to keep their pumps in calibration, besides the fine.

"They risk consumer complaints and loss of revenue if the pump is working to the customers benefit," she said.

Martincic added that the higher fines also could be a burden for many operators who are not to blame for a malfunctioning mechanical system.

"It's a lot of money for a retailer with a low profit margin," she said.