Kennedy and others have criticized such fees, but if those dollars went away, Congress would be unlikely to backfill them, Lurie said.

After gathering more insight about pricing from laws passed in the previous special session on oil prices last year, state regulators had reported that charges at the pump increase when the oil companies do not maintain enough refined gasoline to backfill production shortfalls or protect against the effect of unplanned maintenance.

Both Munsey and Fennessy were critical of the Forest Service’s practice of bringing in firefighters from out of state to backfill unstaffed positions, saying they lack experience with California’s terrain, interagency agreements and operating procedures.

Adrienne Freeman, a spokesperson for the agency, acknowledged that the Trabuco Station wasn’t staffed by federal firefighters when the fire broke out, but said other engines were positioned nearby to backfill that gap.

“It should be common sense for gas refineries to plan ahead and backfill supplies when they go down for maintenance to avoid price spikes. But these price spikes are actually profit spikes for Big Oil, and they’re using the same old scare tactics to maintain the status quo,” Newsom said in a statement.