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CLEANER BURNING GASOLINE TO FLOW FROM ARIZONA PUMPS; U.S. EPA SETS START DATE FOR NEW FUELS

Release Date: 5/29/1997
Contact Information: Randy Wittorp, U. S. EPA, (415) 744-1589, Sandra Kotzambasis, ADEQ, (602)207-2215

     (San Francisco) -- The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) announced today that cleaner burning gasoline will soon start flowing to the Phoenix area. Petroleum refiners are now required to supply federal reformulated gasoline (RFG) to Phoenix beginning approximately July 1 with the fuel reaching the pump by August 1.  The action is estimated to reduce smog-forming compounds by nine tons per day.

     The Phoenix area is on the road to cleaner air with the introduction of reformulated gasoline, said Felicia Marcus, U.S. EPA regional administrator. Reformulated gasoline is a quick, convenient tool for cleaning up air pollution.  Everyone’s cars, even the older ones that don’t have emission controls, immediately run cleaner once reformulated gasoline is pumped into the tank.

     The Phoenix area continues to exceed the health standard for ground-level ozone, the primary component of smog.  In order to address the region’s smog problems, the State convened a task force including local government, industry, and environmental representatives to seek out strategies to reduce air pollution. The Arizona governor’s task force concluded that cleaner burning gasoline is the single most effective tool to improve air quality in Phoenix, yielding air pollution reductions of more than nine tons per day.

     Upon the task force’s recommendation, Arizona Governor Fife Symington submitted a request to participate in the RFG program on  January 17, 1997.  The federal RFG program will provide reductions in smog-forming volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions and air toxics as well as prohibiting an increase in nitrogen oxide emissions.  Reductions in VOCs are significant because they lead to reductions in both smog and in formation of airborne particulate matter.

     By reducing ozone pollution, reformulated gasoline will improve the air we all breathe, and will help restore the lifestyle we all expect to enjoy in the Valley. said Nancy Wrona, Air Quality Director at the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality.

     The Clean Air Act allows areas that do not meet the national health standard for ground-level ozone to adopt RFG requirements upon request of the governor.  U. S. EPA is requiring that the RFG program in the Phoenix area begin as early as possible to help the region reduce air pollution in the 1997 smog season while still allowing adequate time for industry to prepare for the new requirements.

     In another related action, U.S. EPA approved a State Implementation Plan revision submitted by the State of Arizona, establishing a summertime gasoline Reid Vapor Pressure (RVP) limit of 7.0 pounds per square inch (psi) for gasoline distributed in the Phoenix area.  Lowering the RVP reduces the evaporative rate of gasoline and cuts the emissions of VOC.  The lower RVP during the summer months will also reduce summer smog levels, helping Phoenix attain the national health standard for ground-level ozone.