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Executive Order 12140 🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority Constitutional Neutral (+0.02) 📜 10th Amend: Intergovernmental Federalism Cooperation

Executive Order 12140—Gasoline End-User Allocation

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Tuesday, May 29, 1979
•
3 min read (503 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 3 min read (503 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

Each Governor is hereby delegated the authority to establish a system of end-user allocation for motor gasoline, subject to the terms and conditions as set forth below.

⚖️ Constitutional Footing
🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority
Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
📜 10th Amend: Intergovernmental Federalism Cooperation
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Sovereign State Governments & Localities Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants Private Citizens & Property Owners Public Health & Medical Institutions

Plain-English Translation & Framers' Constitutional Analysis

Early Statesman synthesis distilling legal jargon into practical meaning, statutory anchors, and structural constitutional impacts.

Signed by President Jimmy Carter on May 29, 1979, this order concerns Gasoline End-User Allocation. Each Governor is hereby delegated the authority to establish a system of end-user allocation for motor gasoline, subject to the terms and conditions as set forth below. SEC. 1-102. When a Governor determines that his State, or any locality therein, is experiencing a shortage of motor gasoline available for retail distribution, such that the public health, safety, or welfare is endangered, he may require motor…

Constitutional Assessment: Reviewed under the Tenth Amendment and the principle of dual federalism, this order touches upon domains traditionally reserved to the sovereign States. The Framers would caution against any attempt to commandeer state officers or displace local police powers through federal executive fiat.

Key Directives & Operative Actions

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Each Governor is hereby delegated the authority to establish a system of end-user allocation for motor gasoline, subject to the terms and conditions as set forth below.

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When a Governor determines that his State, or any locality therein, is experiencing a shortage of motor gasoline available for retail distribution, such that the public health, safety, or welfare is endangered, he may require motor gasoline retail sales outlets in that State or locality to: (a) Supply with gasoline (including gasohol) vehicles: (1) which have a license plate number, the last digit of which is an even number, or where there are only letters on the license plate, the last letter of which is a letter in the first half of the alphabet (AM), only on even days of the month; (2) which have a license plate number, the last digit of which is an odd number, or where there are only letters on the license plate, the last letter of…

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Require purchasers to purchase a specified minimum amount of gasoline (including gasohol), expressed in either gallons, fractions of gas tanks, or dollars, as determined by the Governor; and (c) Supply gasoline at specified times of day or on specified days, as determined by the Governor to be necessary to reduce the length of or prevent lines of purchasers.

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This Order shall terminate, unless extended, at midnight on September 30, 1979.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Sovereign State Governments & Localities 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants 🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners 🏛️ Public Health & Medical Institutions
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The Framers' Constitutional Council

1787 Prism

Evaluating this order against the constitutional debates of 1787 and the limits of Article II executive power.

🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority)
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"When the President acts pursuant to an express or implied authorization of Congress, his authority is at its maximum, for it includes all that he possesses in his own right plus all that Congress can delegate."

— Justice Robert H. Jackson, Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer (1952) Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
JM

James Madison

Separation of Powers & Legislative Primacy

"The constitutional magistracy was designed not to invent policy, but to be the faithful instrument of the laws passed by the people's representatives." — Speech in the First Congress (1789)

Madison would approve the structural posture of this order. The President acts strictly in subordination to statutory authority granted under Article II, Section 3 ("take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed"). The checks and balances hold firm because the policy origin remains with the legislature.

Madisonian Stance: Concurring (Statutory)
AH

Alexander Hamilton

The Energetic Executive & Unified Command

"A feeble Executive implies a feeble execution of the government; and a government ill executed, whatever it may be in theory, must be, in practice, a bad government." — Federalist No. 70 (1788)

Hamilton would view this directive as the natural and indispensable functioning of administrative leadership. Without the power to coordinate agencies, manage personnel, and resolve operational ambiguities, the modern presidency would be reduced to an impotent figurehead.

Hamiltonian Stance: Supportive of Execution
GM

George Mason

Bill of Rights, Due Process & 10th Amendment

"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." — 10th Amendment to the US Constitution (1791)

Mason would scrutinize whether this federal directive intrudes into police powers, land stewardship, or municipal domains historically reserved to local citizens. The Anti-Federalist demand is that federal administration must never supplant state self-governance.

Anti-Federalist Stance: Eternal Vigilance Required
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Five Measurable "Constitutional Friction" Dimensions

An objective audit measuring potential separation-of-powers tension against the United States Constitution and established Supreme Court doctrine.

⚖️ Discretionary Twilight Zone
40 / 100 friction index
Dimension 1 • Art. I, §1 & §8

Legislative Encroachment & Purse

Moderate Friction

Administers commerce or fiscal programs requiring ongoing statutory delegation and legislative oversight.

Benchmark: Power of the purse, taxes/tariffs, and rule of law reserved to Congress.
Dimension 2 • Art. II, §1 & §3

Executive Scope & Faithfulness

Moderate Friction

Directs internal executive branch machinery, agency workflows, and federal personnel.

Benchmark: Faithfully execute laws enacted by Congress vs. unilateral decree.
Dimension 3 • 10th Amendment

Federalism & State Sovereignty

Moderate Friction

Engages state and local partners in cooperative federalism programs.

Benchmark: Police powers and un-delegated responsibilities reserved to the States.
Dimension 4 • 5th & 14th Amendments

Due Process & Individual Rights

Moderate Friction

Applies regulatory or compliance standards to private contractors or commercial entities.

Benchmark: Protection of private property, contracts, liberty, and procedural justice.
Dimension 5 • Separation of Powers

Youngstown Jacksonian Tier

Low Friction

The President operates strictly as the constitutional Chief Executive, carrying out policy established by Congress with strong statutory backing.

Benchmark: Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
⚖️ Audit Synthesis

This order operates within Justice Jackson’s Zone of Twilight, resting upon concurrent presidential authority or congressional silence.

Weighted composite: Art. I (25%), Art. II (25%), Federalism (15%), Due Process (15%), Youngstown (20%).
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How to read these dimensions: Executive power expands whenever an administration acts without explicit statutory authorization from Congress (Article I), touches upon police powers historically reserved to the states (Tenth Amendment), or limits private rights and property without judicial process. A low friction score indicates strict concordance with enacted law; a high friction score highlights orders testing the limits of presidential discretion.
Total Words
503
3,017 characters
Estimated Read Time
3 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
20.8
Post-Graduate Legal
Language Tone Score
+0.02
Constitutional Neutral
How is this scored?
Text size:

Official Archival Text

View Source Document

DELEGATION OF AUTHORITIES RELATING TO MOTOR GASOLINE END-USER ALLOCATION By virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the statutes of the United States of America, including the Emergency Petroleum Allocation Act of 1973, as amended (P.L. 93-159), and as President of the United States of America, notwithstanding the delegations to the Secretary of Energy in Executive Order 11790 as amended by Executive Order 12038, it is hereby ordered: SECTION 1-101. Each Governor is hereby delegated the authority to establish a system of end-user allocation for motor gasoline, subject to the terms and conditions as set forth below. SEC. 1-102. When a Governor determines that his State, or any locality therein, is experiencing a shortage of motor gasoline available for retail distribution, such that the public health, safety, or welfare is endangered, he may require motor gasoline retail sales outlets in that State or locality to: (a) Supply with gasoline (including gasohol) vehicles: (1) which have a license plate number, the last digit of which is an even number, or where there are only letters on the license plate, the last letter of which is a letter in the first half of the alphabet (AM), only on even days of the month; (2) which have a license plate number, the last digit of which is an odd number, or where there are only letters on the license plate, the last letter of which is a letter in the last half of the alphabet (N-Z), only on odd days of the month; and (3) which have individually or as a class been designated by the Governor of that State as eligible to purchase gasoline on any day in order to assure adequate supplies for such vehicles to protect the public health, safety, or welfare, or to assure necessary governmental services (including local, State and Federal). (b) Require purchasers to purchase a specified minimum amount of gasoline (including gasohol), expressed in either gallons, fractions of gas tanks, or dollars, as determined by the Governor; and (c) Supply gasoline at specified times of day or on specified days, as determined by the Governor to be necessary to reduce the length of or prevent lines of purchasers. SEC. 1-103. A Governor may adopt such additional rules or regulations not inconsistent with Department of Energy policies and regulations and subdelegate this authority as he deems necessary to implement and enforce the provisions of section 1-102 above. SEC. 1-104. For purposes of this Order, the term "Governor" includes the Governors of the 50 States, the Chief Executive Officer of the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the territories and possessions of the United States, other than the Panama Canal Zone. SEC. 1-105. This Order shall terminate, unless extended, at midnight on September 30, 1979. The Secretary of Energy may at any time revoke this delegation in whole or in part with respect to any State. JIMMY CARTER The White House, May 29, 1979. [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 10:28 a.m., May 30, 1979]

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Referenced By Later Executive Orders (1)

Subsequent presidents who cited, amended, continued, or revoked this directive in later orders.

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Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 12,140 (May 29, 1979), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-12140-gasoline-end-user-allocation.