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EPA Proposes Minor Adjustment in Air Toxics Baseline for Certain Gasoline Refiners and Importers
Release Date: 12/22/2004
Contact Information:
Contact: John Millett 202-564-7842 / [email protected]
(12/22/04) To prevent “backsliding” in hazardous air pollutant emissions from mobile sources, EPA is proposing a minor adjustment to gasoline standards for certain refiners and importers under the Mobile Source Air Toxics (MSAT) Rule. EPA sets air toxics baselines to serve as fuel standards to reduce emissions of hazardous air pollutants from vehicles that burn gasoline. This proposal contains a minor amendment that updates the baseline to reflect available data.
Today’s proposal is one part of EPA's MSAT regulations to reduce hazardous air pollutants from mobile sources. By 2010, EPA estimates that mobile source air toxics will be reduced by more than one million tons from 1996 levels. In addition to controlling pollutants such as hydrocarbons, particulate matter, and nitrogen oxides, EPA's recent regulations controlling emissions from highway vehicles and nonroad equipment also result in large air toxic reductions. Reformulated gasoline and anti-dumping standards, along with anti-backsliding provisions of the 2001 mobile source air toxics rule also result in large reductions.
Under MSAT, reformulated gasoline and conventional gasoline toxics baselines were established for each refiner and importer based on gasoline production or import activity during the three-year baseline period 1998-2000. These baselines serve as the standards against which compliance is measured. Default toxics baseline values serve as the baseline standards for those refiners and importers who could not establish unique individual toxics baselines under the MSAT rules. When the rule was finalized in 2001, year 2000 gasoline data was not yet available. This proposal would include that data in the determination of the MSAT default toxics baseline values for certain gasoline refiners and importers.
Today’s proposal is a relatively minor amendment and does not significantly affect the environmental benefits of the MSAT regulations. EPA is proposing that these values be effective beginning with the 2005 annual compliance period which begins on Jan 1. For more information, visit: https://www.epa.gov/otaq/toxics.htm .
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