II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 171

To amend the Clean Air Act to limit the concentration of sulfur in gasoline

used in motor vehicles.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JANUARY 19, 1999

Mr. MOYNIHAN (for himself, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. SCHUMER, Mrs.

BOXER, and Mr. CLELAND) introduced the following bill; which was read

twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works

A BILL

To amend the Clean Air Act to limit the concentration of

sulfur in gasoline used in motor vehicles.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Clean Gasoline Act

5 of 1999’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress finds that—

8 (1) according to the National Air Quality and

9 Emissions Trends Report of the Environmental Pro10 tection Agency, dated 1996, motor vehicles account
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1 for a major portion of the emissions that degrade

2 the air quality of the United States: 49 percent of

3 nitrogen oxides emissions, 26 percent of emissions of

4 particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter

5 smaller than or equal to 10 micrometers (PM–10),

6 and 78 percent of carbon monoxide emissions;

7 (2)(A) failure to control gasoline sulfur con8 centration adversely affects catalytic converter func9 tion for all vehicles in the national vehicle fleet; and

10 (B) research performed collaboratively by the

11 auto and oil industries demonstrates that when sul12 fur concentration in motor vehicle gasoline is re13 duced from 450 parts per million (referred to in this

14 section as ‘‘ppm’’) to 50 ppm—

15 (i) hydrocarbon emissions are reduced by

16 18 percent;

17 (ii) carbon monoxide emissions are reduced

18 by 19 percent; and

19 (iii) nitrogen oxide emissions are reduced

20 by 8 percent;

21 (3)(A) recent studies conducted by the the As22 sociation of International Automobile Manufactur23 ers, and the Coordinating Research Council confirm

24 that sulfur in vehicle fuel impairs to an even greater

25 degree the emission controls of Low-Emission Vehi-
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1 cles (referred to in this section as ‘‘LEVs’’) and

2 Ultra-Low-Emission Vehicles (referred to in this sec3 tion as ‘‘ULEVs’’);

4 (B) because sulfur-induced impairment of ad5 vanced technology emission control systems is not

6 fully reversible under normal in-use driving condi7 tions, a nationwide, year-round sulfur standard is

8 necessary to prevent impairment of vehicles’ emis9 sion control systems as the vehicles travel across

10 State lines;

11 (C) industry research on LEVs and ULEVs

12 demonstrates that when gasoline sulfur concentra13 tion is lowered from 330 ppm to 40 ppm—

14 (i) hydrocarbon emissions are reduced by

15 34 percent;

16 (ii) carbon monoxide emissions are reduced

17 by 43 percent; and

18 (iii) nitrogen oxide emissions are reduced

19 by 51 percent;

20 (D) failure to control sulfur in gasoline will in21 hibit the introduction of more fuel-efficient tech22 nologies, such as direct injection engines and ‘‘NOx

23 trap’’ after-treatment technology, which require fuel

24 with a very low concentration of sulfur;
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1 (E) the technology for removing sulfur from

2 fuel during the refining process is readily available

3 and currently in use; and

4 (F) the reduction of sulfur concentrations in

5 fuel to the level required by this Act is a cost-effec6 tive means of improving air quality;

7 (4)(A) gasoline sulfur levels in the United

8 States—

9 (i) average between 300 and 350 ppm and

10 range as high as 1000 ppm; and

11 (ii) are far higher than the levels allowed

12 in many other industrialized nations, and high13 er than the levels allowed by some developing

14 nations;

15 (B) the European Union recently approved a

16 standard of 150 ppm to take effect in 2000, to be

17 phased down to 30 through 50 ppm by 2005;

18 (C) Japan has a standard of 50 ppm; and

19 (D) gasoline and diesel fuel in Australia, New

20 Zealand, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Thailand, and Fin21 land have significantly lower sulfur concentrations

22 than comparable gasoline and diesel fuel in the

23 United States;

24 (5)(A) California is the only State that regu25 lates sulfur concentration in all gasoline sold; and
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1 (B) in June 1996, California imposed a 2-part

2 limitation on sulfur concentration in gasoline: a 40

3 ppm per gallon maximum, or a 30 ppm per gallon

4 annual average with an 80 ppm per gallon maxi5 mum;

6 (6)(A) a 1998 regulatory impact analysis by the

7 California Air Resources Board reports that air

8 quality improved significantly in the year following

9 the introduction of low sulfur gasoline; and

10 (B) the California Air Resources Board credits

11 low sulfur gasoline with reducing ozone levels by 10

12 percent on the South Coast, 12 percent in Sac13 ramento, and 2 percent in the Bay Area; and

14 (7)(A) reducing sulfur concentration in gasoline

15 to the level required by this Act is a cost-effective

16 pollution prevention measure that will provide sig17 nificant and immediate benefits; and

18 (B) unlike vehicle hardware requirements that

19 affect only new model years, sulfur control produces

20 the benefits of reduced emissions of air pollutants

21 across the vehicle fleet immediately upon implemen22 tation.
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1 SEC. 3. SULFUR CONCENTRATION REQUIREMENTS FOR

2 GASOLINE.

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 211 of the Clean Air Act

4 (42 U.S.C. 7545) is amended—

5 (1) by redesignating subsection (o) as sub6 section (p); and

7 (2) by inserting after subsection (n) the follow8 ing:

9 ‘‘(o) SULFUR CONCENTRATION REQUIREMENTS FOR

10 GASOLINE.—

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—

12 ‘‘(A) REQUIREMENT.—Subject to subpara13 graph (B), effective beginning 4 years after the

14 date of enactment of this paragraph, a person

15 shall not manufacture, sell, supply, offer for

16 sale or supply, dispense, transport, or introduce

17 into commerce motor vehicle gasoline that con18 tains a concentration of sulfur that is greater

19 than 40 parts per million per gallon of gasoline.

20 ‘‘(B) ALTERNATIVE METHOD OF MEASUR21 ING COMPLIANCE.—A person shall not be con22 sidered to be in violation of paragraph (1) if the

23 person manufactures, sells, supplies, offers for

24 sale or supply, dispenses, transports, or intro25 duces into commerce, during any 1-year period,

26 motor vehicle gasoline that contains a con-
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1 centration of sulfur that is greater than 40 but

2 less than or equal to 80 parts per million per

3 gallon of gasoline, if the average concentration

4 of sulfur in the motor vehicle gasoline manufac5 tured, sold, supplied, offered for sale or supply,

6 dispensed, transported, or introduced into com7 merce by the person during the period is less

8 than 30 parts per million per gallon of gasoline.

9 ‘‘(C) REGULATIONS.—The Administrator

10 shall promulgate such regulations as are nec11 essary to carry out this paragraph.

12 ‘‘(2) LOWER SULFUR CONCENTRATION.—

13 ‘‘(A) REPORT.—

14 ‘‘(i) INITIAL REPORT.—Not later than

15 6 years after the date of enactment of this

16 subsection, the Administrator shall submit

17 to Congress a report that documents the

18 effects of use of low sulfur motor vehicle

19 gasoline on urban and regional air quality.

20 ‘‘(ii) FOLLOWUP REPORT.—Not later

21 than 2 years after the date of the initial

22 report under clause (i), the Administrator

23 shall submit a report updating the infor24 mation contained in the initial report.
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1 ‘‘(B) REGULATION.—After the date of the

2 initial report under subparagraph (A)(i), the

3 Administrator may promulgate a regulation to

4 establish maximum and average allowable sul5 fur concentrations in motor vehicle gasoline

6 that are lower than the concentrations specified

7 in paragraph (1) if the Administrator deter8 mines that—

9 ‘‘(i) research conducted after the date

10 of enactment of this subsection indicates

11 that significant air quality benefits would

12 result from a reduction in allowable sulfur

13 concentration in motor vehicle gasoline; or

14 ‘‘(ii) advanced vehicle technologies

15 have been developed that can significantly

16 reduce emissions of air pollutants from

17 motor vehicles but that require motor vehi18 cle gasoline with a lower concentration of

19 sulfur than that specified in paragraph

20 (1).’’.

21 (b) PENALTIES AND INJUNCTIONS.—Section 211(d)

22 of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7545(d)) is amended—

23 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘or (n)’’ each

24 place it appears and inserting ‘‘(n), or (o)’’; and
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1 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘and (n)’’

2 each place it appears and inserting ‘‘(n), and (o)’’.

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