Posted on 02/03/2014 1:46:57 PM PST by thackney
As the Obama administration prepares to mandate new limits on sulfur pollution from gasoline, congressional Democrats made a last-minute appeal for quick action.
The Environmental Protection Agency has said it plans to finalize the new requirements by the end of this month. That would give refiners less than three years to comply if the agency holds firm to its proposed Jan. 1, 2017 deadline.
Forcing refiners to slash sulfur emissions from gasoline to an average of 10 parts per million down from the current 30 ppm threshold would be akin to taking 33 million cars off the road, said Rep. Jan Schakowsky and 41 other House lawmakers in a letter Friday to Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy.
Low-sulfur gasoline boosts the effectiveness of catalytic converters, reducing tailpipe emissions.
Cleaner gasoline and vehicle standards will dramatically improve public health by reducing nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds and other harmful pollutants and well-established causes of (pollution), the lawmakers said. Those suffering most from air pollution cannot afford to wait any longer for relief.
The plea for urgent action comes as the oil industry pressures the EPA to move on a slower timetable, forgoing the potential Jan. 1, 2017 deadline to comply with the new mandates.
The American Petroleum Institute and refiners say a three-year window isnt enough time to make an estimated $10 billion in projected capital improvements, including the installation of hydrometers used to strip sulfur out of gasoline.
The so-called Tier 3″ standards just entered the final stage of review at the Office of Management and Budget.
There is every reason to believe EPA will issue final standards by the end of February, said Frank ODonnell, executive director of Clean Air Watch. The car companies have said thats a crucial date for their planning, and I believe the positive business aspects of the rules will influence the timing.
The proposed rule would allow automakers to sell the same vehicle in all 50 states by harmonizing federal requirements with Californias stricter sulfur limits. Automakers have said they need the change to help meet stringent fuel economy requirements.
Lobbyists from auto manufacturers, the makers of emissions-control equipment and the oil industry are all expected to make appeals for changes to the Tier 3 proposal in personal meetings with the Office of Management and Budget over the next few weeks.
Abolish the EPA and send its bureaucrats to labor camps.
Send Obama along with them because he is the head of the snake.
The Corn Lobby, Iowa and every other jerk that is keeping the Ethanol Myth alive, appreciates your ignorance.
Ouch....
“If you like your gas you can keep it”.
thanks, Commifornia.
Go to puregas.org for a list of ethanol free gas stations in the US and Canada. I'd post the link, but I suck.
“hydrometers”?
It's pure-gas.org
Good Catch!
That should read hydrotreaters.
Autocorrect mistake I suspect.
The closest non-alcohol station to me is a tank of gas away,
but old red has two tanks.
So if I go there flat empty and fill both tanks,
I have to burn one just getting back home.
Then I drive around not wanting to use it,
because I don’t now when I can go get some more.
If the market for sulfur concrete ever takes off, some of the costs of extracting it from the crude could be offset.
We should not have to travel to buy pure gasoline.
All the ECO Idiots should be the ones driving to buy their “feel good” gasoline.
That’s too bad.
I don’t have a single one nearby.....
Yes when the EPA mandated lower sulphur diesel, the price went up, and availability went down. Expect the same when this mandate is applied to gasoline. The present 30 ppm is already low, so making it lower makes the effort to meet it very, very difficult. The refiners must buy more expensive crude and hit it hard during the process to meet the goal.
The EPA has an agenda, raise carbon fuel prices to the point the green energy can be said to be an alternative. Of course at that point we will be riding bicycles to work like in Denmark or Holland [countries the size of CT & Rhode Island].
And nothing I have runs good on ULSD. The red stuff smells good, the engines run much better. The old diesel and dirt have a smell you just can’t miss. I wonder how much longer red diesel will be around?
Here in California they fine the hell out of you for running red diesel on the highway.
They do everywhere else that I know of so I don’t. All off road.
They fine the hell out of you in Kalifornia for just about everything from what I hear. I’ll never go back there again.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.