API urges EPA to reconsider new gasoline regulations

The American Petroleum Institute’s (API) Senior Policy Advisor, Patrick Kelly, has testified against the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed Tier 3 regulations on gasoline.

The Tier 3 program proposes to set new vehicle emissions standards, lowering the sulfur content of gasoline beginning in 2017. Kelly has argued these new rules are unnecessary and potentially harmful for consumers; the industry has already reduced sulfur levels in gasoline by 90% over the last decade and further reductions would require enormous costs without providing environmental benefits.

According to a study by Baker & O’Brien, the Tier 3 rule will add nearly US$ 10 billion in up front capital costs. Annual compliance costs will be equal to US$2.4 billion (6 – 9 cents/g). Furthermore, a study by ENVIRON has suggested that the new regulations will have no measurable air quality benefits.

Kelly has highlighted how the new rules could have significant negative impacts on domestic refiners, outlining the need to balance these costs with the cumulative costs of other federal and state regulations.

Adapted from press release by Emma McAleavey.

Read the article online at: https://www.hydrocarbonengineering.com/gas-processing/25042013/api_urges_epa_to_reconsider_new_gasoline_regulations/