Nick Snow
Washington Correspondent
WASHINGTON, DC, Mar. 3 -- The US Environmental Protection Agency has proposed new mobile source emissions reduction standards targeting benzene levels in gasoline, hydrocarbon emissions from vehicles in cold weather, and evaporative standards for fuel containers.
The proposal would cost an estimated $205 million/year, EPA said. It projected reductions of mobile-source air toxic emissions of 350,000 tons/year, including 65,000 tons/year of benzene, by the time the standards were fully implemented in 2030.
By that time, toxic emissions from US passenger vehicles would have been reduced 80% from their 1999 levels, EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson said as the agency released the proposal on Mar. 1.
The proposed requirements would take effect in 2011 for fuels, 2010 for vehicles, and 2009 for containers. They also would unify California and federal evaporative emission standards for light-duty vehicles.
The fuels proposal would require refiners to reduce benzene levels in regular and reformulated gasoline to 0.62 vol % nationwide from its current level of about 0.97 vol %.
EPA also proposed a nationwide averaging, banking, and trading program as part of this standard. The expected results would be lower overall benzene levels and less geographic variation.
The agency also proposed special compliance flexibility for approved small refiners and for any refiner facing extreme unforeseen circumstances.
Oil industry groups reacted cautiously. National Petrochemical & Refiners Association Pres. Bob Slaughter noted that the proposal further tightens US gasoline specifications, especially for conventional gasoline, which represents two thirds of the total US supply.
"NPRA is analyzing the proposal, with special attention paid to its potential impact on gasoline supplies. We trust that EPA took this factor into consideration as the rule was developed," he said.
Al Mannato, fuels issues manager at the American Petroleum Institute, suggested that EPA needs to consider costs, energy impacts, and lead time as it tries to tighten air toxics controls.
The 2011 implementation date shows that the agency considered the lead time necessary for refiners to meet proposed requirements, he told OGJ.
"But there will be major changes that will need to be made in refining," Mannato said. "Basically, additional processing units will need to be installed to reduce benzene. It's not just tweaking dials. That's why the lead time is important." He indicated that the reduction to a 0.62% national average would be significant and that API plans to look at this part of the proposal more closely.
API supports the nationwide averaging, banking, and trading approach that EPA proposed, he said. The trade association also thinks it's good that the agency is taking a system approach to mobile source air toxics instead of looking at vehicles, fuels, and other components separately.
"One thing we like is some things it does not do. EPA has not proposed other types of controls beyond benzene, such as rvp and sulfur controls. They apparently considered that, and rejected it as less cost-effective. We agree with that," Mannato said.
EPA said a 60-day comment period would begin with the proposal's publication in the Federal Register. The proposal, supporting documentation, and information about submitting comments are online at www.epa.gov/otaq/toxics.htm#mobile.
Contact Nick Snow at [email protected].
