United States Air and Radiation EPA420-F-99-006 Environmental Protection February 1999 Agency Office of Mobile Sources v>EPA Regulatory Announcement Final Rule Adds St. Louis, Missouri, to the Federal Reformulated Gasoline Program 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 (RFC) program. This rulemaking requires retail stations to sell federal RFC in the St. Louis area by June 1, 1999. 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 possi- bility of being "bumped up" to a serious classification. In order to ad- dress 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. I Printed on Recycled Paper ------- On July 13, 1998, EPA received a letter from Governor Camahan of Missouri officially requesting that the St. Louis area be included in the federal reformulated gasoline program. and Benefits RFG protects public health and the envi- ronment 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 smog- forming 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 pro- duced 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. on 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, report- ing, product transfer documentation, and compliance surveys. For 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 ------- |