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Removing Gasoline Sulfur Equal to Taking 54 Million Cars Off the Road

12 May 1998

Dramatic Clean Air Gains From Removing Gasoline Sulfur; Equal to Taking 54 Million Cars Off the Road

    WASHINGTON, May 12 -- An analysis by state and local air
pollution regulators concludes that removing most of the sulfur from gasoline
would produce dramatic clean-air gains -- the equivalent of taking nearly 54
million cars off the road.
    The analysis was conducted by the State and Territorial Air Pollution
Program Administrators (STAPPA) and the Association of Local Air Pollution
Control Officials (ALAPCO), which are calling on the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency to crack down on gasoline sulfur.
    Sulfur poisons catalytic converters used to cleanse tailpipe fumes.
Sulfur is particularly harmful for "low-emission" and more advanced vehicles.
    "Removing most of the sulfur will reduce polluting emissions that cause or
contribute to smog, fine particulate matter, carbon monoxide, toxic air
pollution and global climate change.  This will translate into better health
and improved quality of life," said S. William Becker, Executive Director of
STAPPA and ALAPCO.
    Becker added, "This is one of the biggest steps EPA could take to clean up
dirty air."
    The results of the analysis were released as EPA considers the need for
cleaner motor vehicles and fuels.  The agency recently concluded that much of
the nation will remain shrouded in smog nearly a decade from now unless it
takes action.
    STAPPA and ALAPCO are asking the agency by 2003 to limit gasoline sulfur
nationally to approximately the same levels as gasoline in California, the
only state that regulates gasoline's sulfur content.  Sulfur in California
gasoline is limited to an average of about 30-40 parts per million (ppm).
Gasoline in the rest of the country averages about 330 ppm, with levels
ranging as high as 1,000 ppm.
    California's air quality has improved substantially since it began
requiring cleaner gasoline in 1996.  Becker said the new analysis underscores
the improvement that cleaner gasoline would bring nationwide.
    "Existing cars would become cleaner immediately," Becker noted.  "But the
impact would be even more profound on more advanced vehicles." He cited recent
studies by the oil and auto industries, which show that tailpipe pollution
from "low-emission" vehicles could more than double unless sulfur is reduced
to California levels.  High sulfur levels could also prevent the use of even
more advanced, fuel-efficient vehicles already being sold in Japan, which has
low-sulfur fuel.
    "It would be irresponsible to deny our citizens access to 21st century
cars simply because we're using outdated fuel," Becker said.
    He added that recent technological innovations cited by EPA suggest the
cleanup could be accomplished for as little as one to two cents a gallon.
    "That's a bargain for cleaner air and better health," Becker noted.
    STAPPA and ALAPCO are the two national associations representing air
pollution control agencies in the states and territories and more than 165
major metropolitan areas across the country.

SOURCE  STAPPA/ALAPCO