Regulatory Announcement

Extension of the Summer Gasoline 

Volatility Standard to the DenverBoulder-Greeley-Fort CollinsLoveland, Colorado, 1997 8-hour 

Nonattainment Area

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is finalizing 

regulations which extend the federal summertime low volatility 

requirements to those portions of the Denver-Boulder-GreelyFort Collins-Loveland, Colorado 8-hour Nonattainment Area not 

currently covered.

Summary of the Final Rule

The final rule establishes an applicable standard of 7.8 pounds per square inch (psi) 

Reid vapor pressure (RVP) under the federal volatility control program in the Denver-Boulder-Greeley-Ft. Collins-Loveland, CO, 8-hour ozone nonattainment area 

(as codified in volume 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 81) during 

the high ozone season - June 1st to September 15th of each year-beginning in 2010. 

This action requires the use of 7.8 psi RVP gasoline in Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, 

Broomfield, Denver, Douglas and Jefferson counties, and in portions of Larimer and 

Weld counties. 

Background

Evaporative emissions from gasoline, referred to as volatile organic compounds 

(VOCs), are precursors to the formation of tropospheric ozone and contribute to 

the nation’s ground-level ozone problem. Exposure to ground-level ozone can reduce 

lung function (thereby aggravating asthma or other respiratory conditions), increase 

Office of Transportation and Air Quality

EPA-420-F-10-003

February 2010
Regulatory Announcement

2

susceptibility to respiratory infection, and may contribute to premature death in people with 

heart and lung disease.

Section 211(h) of the Clean Air Act , requires that EPA promulgate regulations establishing a 

maximum RVP of 9.0 psi for gasoline introduced into commerce during the high ozone season. 

It also provides that EPA shall “establish more stringent Reid Vapor Pressure standards in a 

nonattainment area as the Administrator finds necessary to generally achieve comparable 

evaporative emissions (on a per-vehicle basis) in nonattainment areas, taking into consideration 

the enforceability of such standards, the need of an area for emission control, and economic 

factors.” 

In today’s action, EPA is establishing an applicable standard for gasoline at 7.8 pounds per 

square inch (psi)under the federal volatility control program in the Denver-Boulder-GreeleyFt. Collins-Loveland, Colorado, 8-hour ozone nonattainment area (as codified in volume 40 of 

the Code of Federal Regulations Part 81) during the high ozone season, beginning in 2010. This 

action requires the use of 7.8 psi RVP gasoline in Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, 

Denver, Douglas and Jefferson counties, and in portions of Larimer and Weld counties. 

Gasoline with 7.8 psi RVP is already required in the former 1-hour ozone nonattainment area, 

which represents a significant portion of the fuel used in the area. As a practical matter, the net 

change in this action extends the low RVP fuel requirement to portions of Larimer and Weld 

counties and into the remaining portions of Arapahoe, Adams, Boulder and Broomfield 

counties. 

For More Information

For further information on this rulemaking, please contact Kurt Gustafson at:

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Office of Transportation & Air Quality

1200 Pennsylvania Ave NW (6406J)

Washington, DC 20460

(202) 343-9219

E-mail: gustafson.kurt@epa.gov