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Regulatory

Announcement

 Printed on Recycled Paper

United States

Environmental Protection

Agency

Air and Radiation EPA420-F-98-037

September 1998

Office of Mobile Sources

St. Louis, Missouri, Added 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. The Act also provides that

ozone nonattainment areas classified as marginal, moderate, serious, or

severe may be included in the RFG program upon application of the

governor of the state in which the area is located. 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. 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.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is issuing a Notice of

Proposed Rulemaking to include the St. Louis, Missouri, ozone

nonattainment area in the federal reformulated gasoline (RFG)

program. This rulemaking will require retail stations to sell federal RFG

in the St. Louis area by June 1, 1999.
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Health and Environmental

Benefits

RFG protects 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 will be less smog-forming groundlevel 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 proposed rule would expand 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 rule would 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/rfg.htm

For further information on this rulemaking,

please contact Karen Smith at:

U.S. EPA

Office of Mobile Sources (6406J)

401 M Street SW

Washington, DC 20460

202-564-9674