SALEM — The Oregon Legislature will again consider giving the state’s drivers the option to pump their own gas.

House Bill 4151, filed ahead of the legislative session that begins Tuesday, would allow gas stations to offer self-service pumps alongside pumps staffed by a station attendant.

Oregon is one of only two states in the U.S. that don’t allow self-service gas pumps, although the state relaxed those rules for some rural counties in 2015, allowing customers to pump their own gas at night. The state also allowed self-serve gas for a few months in 2020 at the beginning of the pandemic, and briefly during a heat wave last summer.

The bill is sponsored by members of both parties in both chambers of the Legislature, including Rep. Shelly Boshart Davis, R-Albany; Rep. Julie Fahey, D-Eugene; Rep. Ron Noble, R-McMinnville; Rep. Rick Lewis, R-Silverton; Sen. Janeen Sollman, D-Hillsboro; and Sen. Brian Boquist, I-Dallas.

Gas station owners and the legislators sponsoring the bill said the workforce shortage from the pandemic has led to long lines at the pump, overworked attendants and some stations struggling to remain open to comply with the attendant requirement.

According to proponents of the bill, it would preserve the availability of assistance for people with disabilities or others who need or want help from an attendant. The bill requires that prices would remain the same whether pumped by a customer or a station attendant.