Robinson Rancheria is getting into the gas business, opening a tribal-owned gas station in April that will offer lower prices and longer hours than its competitors.

The gas station, located across the street from its casino east of Upper Lake, will be open 24 hours a day, said tribal Chairwoman Tracey Avila. She expects the tribe will offer fuel for "a few cents" less than other stations, but "not so much (lower) that it will break any other business."

Those low prices are possible because rancherias are considered sovereign nations and are exempt from many taxes and regulations, tribal attorney Les Marston said.

Tribes also can sell lower-priced gasoline because their fuel does not have to comply with California's emissions standards. The Robinson Rancheria tribe has not yet decided whether it will purchase its fuel in California, Marston said.
The tribe also is not subject to most state and local permit requirements.
As tribes nationwide expand their business enterprises in a quest for economic development, critics say those exemptions give them an unfair business advantage.

The Environmental Protection Agency reports working with 50 tribal gas stations across the country, and one California gambling watchdog group counts 16 tribal stations that are open or under construction in the Golden State.
In addition to the Robinson Rancheria's new station, there are 15 in Butte, Del Norte and Humboldt counties, said Stand Up for California director Cheryl Schmit, a critic of the practice.

"Taxes from (gasoline and cigarettes) provide beneficial public services, such as road development, expansion and maintenance and public health services to our state's 37.2 million citizens," Schmit said.

Last year in Washington, a coalition of service station owners filed suit over a state sales tax agreement that refunded tribes 75 percent of the gas sales tax they collect. The Automotive United Trades Organization accuse the state of giving tribal gas stations an unfair business advantage.

Northern Lake County gas station owners are already girding for the competition.

Mohammed Hussain owns a Chevron station on Highway 20 just west of Robinson Rancheria and plans to add a Carl's Jr. franchise and expand gas service to 24 hours.

He said he doesn't begrudge the tribes their advantage and isn't particularly worried. But after making a significant investment in upgrades to his station, he said, "there's nothing we can do."

Avila of the Robinson Rancheria said such enterprises are crucial to improving the lives of tribal members. The money from her tribe's gas station will primarily be used to fund social service and education programs.

"We have issues like any other community," she said.

The tribe also owns the casino, a hotel, a smoke shop, a recycling center and a mobile home park.

You can reach Staff Writer Glenda Anderson at 462-6473 or glenda.anderson@pressdemocrat.com.