EPA eases clean gasoline rules for US refiners
Date: 27-Dec-01
Country: USA
The EPA's policy change allows conventional gasoline to be converted and reclassified as RFG if the necessary steps are taken to control volatile organic compounds in certain areas of the country.
This would help provide the needed flexibility to refiners when inventories are low, while preserving the emission benefits of the RFG program, the agency said.
"The rule provides industry with greater flexibility in the types of gasoline products that may be blended to produce RFG and conventional gasoline," EPA said.
The policy change would likely benefit the Midwest, a region that has been hit several times in recent years with price spikes due to low gasoline supplies.
The reformulated motor fuel sold in the Midwest contains larger amounts of pollutants, known as volatile organic compounds (VOCs), that are released when ethanol is blended with the gasoline.
When added to gasoline, ethanol increases the evaporation rate of fuel, causing more VOC emissions that contribute to the formation of low-atmosphere ozone - the main ingredient of urban smog.
The new EPA rule also makes it easier for storage tank operators to commingle RFG gasoline with other gasoline.