O&A Marketing News – Highlights from the August 2024 Issue

FAST TRACK ACQUIRED BY ANABI/REBEL

UPLAND, CA. — Anabi/Rebel has continued its expansion across the country, acquiring Florida-based Fast Track from its parent company, Land O'Sun Management Corporation, in June. The purchase price was not disclosed.

Included in the deal were Fast Track's petroleum marketing business as well as 17 convenience retail locations, 10 co-located QSRs and two stand-alone QSRs in northern Florida.

Land O'Sun Management was founded in 1996 when founders Alan Fogg, Richard Rentz and Stephen Fogg purchased 38 gas stations in Northern Florida. Land O'Sun purchased an 13 additional stores in 2000, which allowed the company to enter the QSR business.

"As a family business, deciding to sell is both an economic and emotional decision," said Fast Track President Alan Fogg, announcing the deal.

Fast Track headquarters operations in Gainesville, FL., are expected to move to Anabi/Rebel headquarters in Upland, CA.

With the addition of Fast Track, Anabi/Rebel now owns over 600 locations across 16 states under the leadership of company founder Sam Anabi.

GROUPS PETITION SUPREME COURT OVER CALIFORNIA EV MANDATE

SACRAMENTO, CA. — A coalition of trade associations, including the Energy Marketers of America, has filed a petition with the Supreme Court, challenging the EPA's decision to grant a waiver to the state of California for its electric vehicle mandate.

The petition to the U.S. Supreme Court asks the Court to review and overturn an April ruling from the District of Columbia Circuit Court, which allowed California to proceed with its Advanced Clean Cars I EV mandate.

In addition to asking the Supreme Court to consider the merits of the original case, the petition also asks the Supreme Court to consider the question of whether California — or any single state — should be allowed to regulate vehicle greenhouse gas emissions, impose electric vehicle mandates, or limit consumer access to internal combustion engine technology.

Whether California can blaze its own trail on combatting climate change involves the "major questions doctrine" embraced by the Supreme Court. This says that courts should not defer to agencies on questions of "vast economic or political significance" without explicit Congressional authority to do so.

The recent Supreme Court decision at the end of June (Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo and Relentless, Inc. v. Department of Commerce) used the major questions doctrine to overturn the Chevron doctrine. Under the Chevron doctrine, if Congress had not directly addressed the question at the center of a dispute, a court was required to uphold an agency's interpretation of the statute as long as it was reasonable. In the June decision, the justices ruled that the courts should rely on their own interpretation of laws and not rely on agencies to interpret the law for them.

It is believed that under this policy, the California Clean Air Act exemption may also be overturned.

"The wheels are already coming off the federal government's electrification agenda due to skyrocketing utility bills, charging and repair costs, and low consumer interest, and yet, we continue to see the state of California dictating electric vehicle mandates across the country. Therefore, it's time for the Court to step in to preserve consumer choice and ensure that all forms of energy are treated equally, which will guarantee that small business energy marketers can continue to sell American-made, American-grown fuels in the future," said EMA President Rob Underwood, explaining the petition.