Extension of the Summer Gasoline
Volatility Standard to the Denver-
Boulder-Greeley-Fort Collins-
Loveland, 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-Greely-
Fort 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 Den-
ver-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
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office of Transportation and Air Quality
EPA-420-F-10-003
February 2010
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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-Greeley-
Ft. 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
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