Technical Support Document

Approval of Revisions to the Texas State Im plementation Plan, Revisions to Control Volatile Organic Compound Emission s from Consumer Related Sources

Docket ID: EPA-R06-OAR-2010-0252

June 2010

I. BACKGROUND

The Clean Air Act (CAA) requires the Environm ental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) fo r certain widespread pollutants that cause or contribute to air pollution that is reasonably anticipated to endange r public health or welfare. The NAAQS are established under section 109 of the CAA and currently address six criteria pollutants: carbon monoxide, ni trogen dioxide, ozone, lead, pa rticulate matter, and sulfur dioxide. As required by section 110 of the CAA, States have adopted a State Implementation Plan (SIP) which identifies how the NAAQS will be attained and maintained. The State must

submit revisions to the SIP to EPA. EPA reviews the revisions and approves the revised SIP if it complies with section 110 of the CAA. Approval makes the revisions Federally-enforceable. If the revision does not comply with the CAA, EPA di sapproves it. Disapproval will lead to further revisions by the State or deve lopment of a Federal Implementation Plan (FIP) by EPA.

Volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions can r eact with sunlight an d nitrogen oxides (NO

x ) to form ground-level ozone. The control of VOC emissions can help attain the NAAQS for ozone. Texas has adopted regulations to contro l VOC emissions from consumer related sources

which can be found in Title 30 of the Texa s Administrative Code (TAC), chapter 115, subchapter G. Division 1 of subchapter G is Automotive Winds hield Washer Fluid. Division 2, which is being repealed in the present ru lemaking, is Portable Fuel Containers.

II. STATE SUBMITTAL

A. Regulatory Background

On October 27, 2004, the State adopted the Texas Portable Fuel Container rule, which set requirements for portable fuel containers and sp outs sold or distribut ed in Texas that are manufactured on or after December 31, 2005. The purpose of the regulation was to lower VOC emissions in Texas from portable fuel container spills or leaks. EPA approved the Texas

Portable Fuel Container rule into th e SIP on February 10, 2005 (70 FR 7041).

On February 26, 2007, EPA adopted federal por table fuel container regulations which established new national standards for gasoline, dies el, and kerosene portable fuel containers (72 FR 8432). All portable fuel containers manufac tured on or after January 1, 2009, must comply with the 2007 federal standards. The federal regulations can be found at 40 CFR part 59 subpart

F. The standards in the federa l portable fuel container regulat ions aim to reduce nationwidehydrocarbon emissions from containers due to evaporation, permeation, and spillage, and are more stringent than the Texas portabl e fuel container regulations.

On September 11, 2009, the Texas Commission on E nvironmental Quality (TCEQ) proposed to repeal the Texas Portable Fuel Container rule (34 TexReg 6279). A notice of public hearing was published in newspapers in Austin, El Pas o, Fort Worth, and Houston on August 31, 2009. A notice of public hearing was also published in the Septem ber 11, 2009 issue of the Texas Register (34 TexReg 6371). A public hearing was held in Austin on October 6, 2009. No

written or oral comments were received by TCEQ regarding the proposed revision.

B. Description of Submittal

The SIP revision submitted by TCEQ to EPA on March 4, 2010, removes the Texas Portable Fuel Container rule as an ozone control strategy from the Texas SIP for the Control of Ozone Air Pollution, and demonstrates that federal portable fuel container standards promulgated by EPA in 2007 provide equal to or greater emissions reduc tions than those resulting from the state regulations. The SIP revision re peals sections 115.620 – 115.622, 115.626, 115.627, and 115.629 of 30 Texas Administrative Code (TAC) Chapter 115, Control of Air Pollution from Volatile Organic Compounds, Subchapter G, Consumer-Related Sources. TCEQ submitted a table comparing the estimated statewide VOC emi ssions reductions in tons per ozone season day expected from the state and federal portable fu el container regulations . According to these estimates, the statewide VOC emissions reducti ons expected from the federal and state regulations for the year 2002 are equal to ea ch other. For each of the years 2008, 2011, 2014, 2017, 2018, and 2019, the estimated statewide VOC em issions reductions expected from the federal portable fuel container re gulations exceed those expected from the state regulations. In their submittal, TCEQ also asserted that the state portable fuel container regulations have become unnecessary with the implementation of the more stringent federal regulations, and that the repeal of the state rules is intended to elim inate duplication and to provide a clear regulatory structure for manufacturers who may otherwise beco me confused about which standards they are required to comply with.

III. COMPARISON OF THE TEXAS AND FEDERAL REGULATIONS

After close inspection of the fe deral portable fuel container re gulations promulgated by EPA on February 26, 2007 (72 FR 8432), 1 and the Texas regulations found at 30 TAC Chapter 115, Control of Air Pollution from Volatile Organi c Compounds, Subchapter G, Consumer-Related Sources, Division 2, Portable Fuel Containers, EP A has determined that the federal regulations are more stringent than the state regulations.

The Texas portable fuel contai ner regulations established requirements for portable fuel containers and spouts sold or distributed in Te xas that are manufactured on or after December 31, 2005. The Texas Portable Fuel C ontainer rule did not apply to or affect in any way the sale of portable fuel containers or spouts manu factured prior to December 31, 2005. The Texas regulations established design crit eria for “no-spill” portable fuel containers based primarily on presently outdated standards adopted by the Ca lifornia Air Resources Board (CARB) in 2001.

1 The federal portable fuel container regulations are found at 40 CFR part 59 subpart F.The Texas regulations established only design criter ia for portable fuel containers and spouts, but did not establish performa nce-based standards for containers and spouts. The state regulations mandated that portable fuel containers must ha ve only one opening in the vessel in order to reduce evaporative emissions and po ssible spillage of fuel. The Texas regulations also mandated that spouts for these containers must (1) have an automatic shut-off device to prevent overfilling, (2) automatically close and seal when re moved from the fuel tank, (3) seal without leakage when affixed to the portable fuel containe r vessel, and (4) meet fuel flow rate and fuel

flow cut-off standards. In cont rast to the federal regulations, th e state regulations established no emission standards to ensure that compliance with the design criteria for portable fuel containers would in practice reduce hydrocarbon emissions to a particular th reshold. Moreover, the Texas regulations did not require the control of permeation rates thro ugh the walls of portable fuel containers because the State expected that th e cost of compliance would be large and the reduction in emissions small, relative to other provisions. Thus, the state regulations aimed to reduce hydrocarbon emissions from portable fuel c ontainers due to spillage and evaporation only.

Rather than merely establishing particular desi gn criteria for portable fuel containers, the federal portable fuel contai ner regulations promulgated by EPA in 2007 established a performance-based standard of 0.3 grams per ga llon per day (g/gal/day) of hydrocarbons. All

containers manufactured on or after January 1, 2009, are required to comply with the federal portable fuel container standards. As of Ju ly 1, 2009, manufacturers and importers must not enter into U.S. commerce any products manufact ured prior to January 1, 2009, which do not meet the federal standards. The federal regulations are very similar to th e revised portable fuel container regulations adopted by the CARB on Se ptember 15, 2005. The standards in the federal regulations aim to reduce nationw ide hydrocarbon emissions from c ontainers due to evaporation, permeation, and spillage. The standards established by the federal regulations explicitly apply to portable gasoline containers, as well as to portabl e diesel and kerosene co ntainers. EPA included

diesel and kerosene containers in the regulations because these containers can easily be used for gasoline since they are all manufactured by the same manufacturers and are identical to each other except for color (gasoline containers are re d, diesel containers are yellow, and kerosene containers are blue). The federa l regulations also clarify that u tility jugs are considered portable

fuel containers and are therefore subject to the federal requirements. 2 The 0.3 g/gal/day federal standard is based on the performance of best av ailable control technolog ies, such as durable permeation barriers, automatically closing spou ts, and cans that are well-sealed, and it is expected that in order to comply with the performance-based standard, manufacturers will have to incorporate these control technologies in the de sign of their containers. The federal standard is

measured based on the emissions from the containe r over a diurnal test cycl e, after the container has been preconditioned by going through (1) three durability aging cycles which help ensure durable permeation barriers, 3 (2) a fuel soak to allow th e hydrocarbon permeation rate to

2 Utility jugs are designed and marketed for use with gasoline, often to fuel recreational equipment such as allterrain vehicles and pe rsonal watercraft.

3 The three durability aging cycles are (1) slosh cycling, (2) pressure-vacuum cycling, and (3) ultraviolet (UV) exposure. The purpose of these durability/deterioration cycles is to help ensure that the technology chosen by the manufacturers is durable in-use and represents best av ailable control, and that the measured emissions are representative of in-use permeation rates.stabilize, and (3) a durability demonstration of the spout. 4 The durability aging cycles followed by the diurnal test cycle ensure th at containers meet the emissions standard over a range of in-use conditions, such as different temperatures and fu els, and also take into consideration factors affecting durability. To insure th at containers meet the emission standard in use over the life of the container, the federal regulations also established a new certif ication and compliance program. Manufacturers are require d to apply for and receive an EPA certificate of conformity, using the certification process specified in the re gulations, before entering their containers into U.S. commerce. The federal regulations also requ ire an emissions warranty period of one year to be provided by the manufacturer of the portable fuel container to the consumer. The warranty

covers emissions-related materi als defects and breakage under nor mal use, which promotes the objective of the rule by providing consumers with an opportunity to replace containers that have failed in use. The required warranty also helps ensure that manufacturers will “stand behind” their product if they fail in-use, thus improving product design and pe rformance. In contrast to the Texas regulations, the federal portable fuel contai ner regulations did not establish automatic shut-off requirements 5 because EPA found them to be counterproductive. EPA determined that due to a wide variety of receiving fuel tank desi gns, auto shut-off spouts do not work well with a variety of equipment types, resulting in fuel spillage and customer dissatisfaction. EPA determined that automatic closing cans, 6 even without automatic shut-off requirements, will lead to reduced spillage.

Comparison of the state and federa l regulations demonstrates that the federal regulations adopted more stringent portable fuel container standard s than those found in the Texas regulations. While the Texas regulations merely adopted desi gn criteria for portabl e fuel containers and spouts, the performance-based standard establ ished by the federal regul ations, along with the various required test procedur es, the certification and complia nce program, and the required emissions warranty help ensure that containers m eet the emission standard over a range of in-use conditions. Although the federal re gulations do not specify require d design criteria for portable fuel containers, it is expected that in order to comply with the perf ormance-based standard,

manufacturers will have to use best available co ntrol technologies such as durable permeation barriers, automatically closing spou ts, and cans that are well-sealed.

IV. CONCLUSIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS

Federal portable fuel containe r standards found at 40 CFR part 59 subpart F still apply after removal of the state portable fuel container regulations. It is expected that reliance on the more stringent federal portable fuel container standards will ensure that emission reductions equivalent to or greater than those in the repealed Texas por table fuel container regu lations will continue to be achieved in the State of Texas. Accordingly, it is expected that this SIP revision will not have a negative impact neither on the emission reductions claimed in th e Texas SIP, nor in Texas’

4 The durability demonstration of the s pout helps ensure quality spout designs th at do not fail in-use and result in spillage.

5 Automatic shut-off is a feat ure that stops the flow of fu el when the fuel reaches the top of the receiving tank in order to prevent over-filling.

6 Automatic closure is a feature that allows the spout to automatically close and remained sealed when removed from the target fuel tank, and remains comp letely closed when not dispensing fuel.attainment of the NAAQS for ozone. Thus, EPA can approve this revision in compliance with section 110(l) of the CAA.

It is recommended that the revisi ons to the Texas SIP concerning th e repeal of the Texas portable fuel container regulations be approved pursuant to section 110 of the CAA.