Oklahoma U.S. Sen. James Lankford defends a bill he is co-sponsoring to cut taxes on gasoline costs, even though the measure would also eliminate a tax that helps finance cleanup of Superfund sites in Oklahoma and other states.
“If this bill passed, it would help bring gas prices lower without compromising health or safety,” he said in a recent statement to StateImpact. “We can fund the essential clean up of superfund sites and keep prices down at the pump for all Americans.”
The bill in question is the Pay Less at the Pump Act of 2026 which would repeal the Superfund tax on crude oil and imported petroleum products. The tax was reinstated in 2022 under the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) to help remediate the country’s Superfund sites.
This isn’t the first time Sen. Lankford has attempted to repeal the tax. He did the same in 2023.
““As I predicted, the so-called ‘Inflation Reduction Act’ was just a front for progressives to slip through Congress many of their Green New Deal priorities, including a ‘Superfund Tax’ on oil and gas,” said Sen. Lankford. “So the fantasy that he can tax his way into a renewable-only economy is only hurting Americans. We should work on lowering prices for Oklahoma families, not punishing them with more taxes.”
Lankford and the others contend this tax leads to higher prices for families and businesses. When the long-expired tax was brought back, it was raised from its original 9.7 cents per barrel to a new rate of 16.4 cents per barrel. Additionally, the tax was indexed to inflation, meaning higher tax burdens in future years.
Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo, and Rep. Mike Carey, R-Ohio, authored the legislation, which intends to lower gas prices and supply chain costs.
The measure could have an impact on Oklahoma’s most notorious Superfund site, Tar Creek. Mining pollution was so extensive it resulted in the forced abandonment of Picher when the government completed a buyout in 2009-20010.
A report by StateImpact and KGOU Radio showed government funding for Superfund sites started decreasing in 1999, even as the Environmental Protection Agency lists 18 Oklahoma locations to date as current or former national priorities.