Revisions to the List of Reformulated Gasoline Covered Areas
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Rule Summary
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) amended its reformulated gasoline (RFG) regulations at 40 CFR 1090.285(b) and (c) to reflect the reclassification of several ozone nonattainment areas as Severe for the 2008 ozone national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS). The subject areas are the Dallas-Fort Worth, TX area (Dallas), the Denver-Boulder-Greeley-Fort Collins-Loveland, CO area (Denver), and the Eastern Kern County, CA area (Eastern Kern). The reclassification of the Dallas and Denver areas as Severe for the 2008 ozone NAAQS was effective on November 7, 2022, and results in the prohibition of the sale of conventional gasoline throughout the entire nonattainment area under Clean Air Act (CAA) section 211(k)(10)(D) and section 211(k)(5) effective 1 year after the effective date of the reclassification, which is November 7, 2023.
Similarly, the reclassification of the Eastern Kern area was effective on July 7, 2021, and the Federal RFG requirement applied to the area on July 7, 2022. California law requires the sale of California Phase 3 RFG (CaRFG3) throughout the State, and EPA has exempted gasoline meeting the CaRFG3 regulations from the requirements that would otherwise apply under the Federal RFG regulations. EPA granted this exemption because gasoline complying with the CaRFG3 regulations provides emissions benefits equivalent to Federal RFG regulations and because California’s compliance and enforcement program is sufficiently rigorous to assure that the standards are met. Thus, reclassification of Eastern Kern to Severe does not impact the continued applicability of California’s regulations that require the sale of CaRFG3 in the Eastern Kern area. Should California’s regulations no longer apply in the future, EPA’s RFG regulations would apply in keeping with CAA requirements.
Additional Resources
- Final rule: Reformulated Gasoline Covered Areas (pdf) (333 KB, October 12, 2023)