Diesel Fuel Shortages Announcement of Meeting on Federal-State Cooperation To Resolve Supply Problems.

The President today announced that he is sending a team of top officials from several Federal agencies to Kansas City tomorrow to meet with Midwestern Governors and their representatives about diesel fuel shortage problems.

Agriculture is one of the sectors of the economy most seriously affected by the current energy shortage. It is particularly vulnerable to disruptions of supply because of its complex and far-ranging distribution system, and because of the critical importance of timing in its need for fuel, especially in the planting and harvesting of crops. Delays in planting due to an unusually wet spring in many parts of the country have further aggravated the situation by compressing the period of time during which plantings must be completed.

The President is strongly committed to meeting 100 percent of farmers' needs for diesel fuel. He has directed the Department of Energy to begin a mandatory allocation of diesel fuel to meet farmers' spring planting requirements. At the same time, the Department requested comments on establishing additional mandatory allocation priorities for mass transit systems.

The President has also instructed the Secretaries of Energy, Agriculture, and Transportation to work jointly with the States to meet farm diesel requirements with minimal disruptions. On Wednesday and Thursday of this week, these Departments sent a team to several Midwestern States to establish clear and explicit procedures for rapid implementation of the mandatory allocation program.

Yesterday the President met with Senators from several farm States to get their viewpoints and suggestions and to outline the actions already underway. Following that meeting, the President directed Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Jim Williams and senior officials of DOE and DOT to meet Friday in Kansas City with Governors or their senior agriculture and energy advisers from a 10-State area to exchange information and to work out mutual problems in meeting the diesel fuel shortage during the critical planting period. The Federal interagency group will also meet with major fuel suppliers for the region while in Kansas City.

In addition, at the President's direction, DOE, USDA, and DOT are immediately assigning staff to the State energy offices, as needed, to assist in resolving diesel supply problems.

In his meeting with the farm State Senators, the President emphasized that middle distillate supplies are extremely tight. He also pointed out that, while we must immediately address the middle distillate requirements of agricultural production, we must also begin to increase inventories in order to meet diesel needs in transportation as well as home heating fuel requirements for next fall and winter.

The President also observed that we can avoid serious disruptions to our people and to the economy only if there is full realization of the energy problem and broad-based cooperation in dealing with it.

The President noted that the diesel allocation program will work only if everyone, including farmers, uses restraint to make it work. For example, the program should not be used to top off farm storage tanks. Unless farmers and suppliers resort to the program only to meet actual requirements, the system will be overloaded and unable to respond to immediate fuel needs.