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Regulatory

Announcement

 Printed on Recycled Paper

United States

Environmental Protection

Agency

Air and Radiation EPA420-F-99-006

February 1999

Office of Mobile Sources

Final Rule Adds St. Louis, Missouri,

to the Federal Reformulated Gasoline

Program

Background

The Clean Air Act requires EPA to establish standards for RFG to be

used in specified ozone nonattainment areas. Ozone nonattainment areas

classified as marginal, moderate, serious or severe, may also be included

in the RFG program if requested by the state’s Governor. EPA is required

to establish an implementation date for the area to be included in the

program within a year of the governor’s request.

St. Louis, Missouri is currently classified as a moderate ozone

nonattainment area. The St. Louis area continues to exceed the National

Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for ozone and faces the possibility of being “bumped up” to a serious classification. In order to address these concerns and identify the best possible options for addressing

the area’s air quality problems, the state consulted both industry and

environmental representatives. The state identified several options and

ultimately decided to support the use of federal RFG gasoline.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a final

rulemaking to include the St. Louis, Missouri, ozone nonattainment area

in the federal reformulated gasoline (RFG) program. This rulemaking

requires retail stations to sell federal RFG in the St. Louis area by June

1, 1999.
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On July 13, 1998, EPA received a letter

from Governor Carnahan of Missouri

officially requesting that the St. Louis area

be included in the federal reformulated

gasoline program.

Health and Environmental

Benefits

RFG protects public health and the environment by reducing harmful vehicle

emissions of ozone -forming compounds

and air toxics. RFG produces 15 to 17

percent less pollution than conventional

gasoline. Therefore, there is less smogforming ground-level ozone to damage

sensitive lung tissue and make it harder for

the lungs to function. Ozone exposure is

especially dangerous to children, the

elderly, and people with lung diseases like

asthma, bronchitis, and emphysema.

Air toxics from tailpipe emissions or

gasoline vapors also can be harmful. Some

of the toxic compounds in gasoline (e.g.,

benzene) and compounds created when

gasoline is burned in the engine are known

or believed to cause cancer. RFG is produced with smaller amounts of benzene

than in previous gasolines, so there is less

to get into the air around us.

This final rule expands the federal program

to include the St. Louis ozone

nonattainment area and thereby provide

these benefits to the citizens of St. Louis.

These benefits are an important part of the

area’s air quality plan and provide needed

additional emission reductions to help the

area reach attainment of the ozone

NAAQS.

Effect on Industry

Refiners, importers and oxygenate blenders

who produce or import RFG for use in the

St. Louis ozone nonattainment area as a

result of this final rule will be subject to the

RFG requirements. The RFG regulations

impose requirements such as sampling and

testing, registration, record keeping, reporting, product transfer documentation, and

compliance surveys.

For More Information

Additional documents on the RFG program

are available electronically from the EPA

Internet server at:

http://www.epa.gov/oms/fuel.htm

For further information on this final rule,

please contact Karen Smith at:

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Office of Mobile Sources (6406J)

401 M Street SW

Washington, DC 20460

202-564-9674