Huge Air Quality Benefits for the Western States: If Regulations Approved

Pointing to the tremendous air quality benefits for the Western states, the Environmental Defense Fund is calling on the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to adopt its proposed rule to clean up air pollution from cars, trucks, minivans and SUVs. The rule’s first element would require new cleaner car technology, and the second, cleaner low-sulfur gasoline. The official public comment period ended today on the proposal, and a decision by the Clinton Administration is expected later this year. Thousands of citizens from across the country have submitted comments to EPA expressing their support for EPA’s proposal.

“EPA’s proposal would deliver cleaner, healthier air to the Western states,” said Vickie Patton, EDF attorney. “To realize the tremendous air quality benefits at stake we need both cleaner cars and cleaner gas.”

Automobile manufacturers have strongly supported cleaner low-sulfur gasoline, a critical ingredient for the new clean car technology. Many in the petroleum industry have objected to EPA’s low-sulfur gasoline initiative and have called for an exception to allow dirty, high sulfur gasoline in the West, which would severely undercut the benefits from emerging clean car technology for Western states residents.

An analysis completed by the State and Territorial Air Pollution Program Administrators/Association of Local Air Pollution Control Officials, an organization of state and local air quality officials that supports EPA’s proposal, demonstrates how much pollution the proposed standards could eliminate. In the Western states, the analysis found that with cleaner low-sulfur gasoline the air quality benefits are comparable to removing 222,140 cars from Montana, 51,401 from Nevada, 421,189 from New Mexico, 177,586 from North Dakota, 193,489 from South Dakota, and 478,952 from Utah.

In dramatic contrast to the general oil industry opposition, earlier this month British Petroleum Amoco began offering low-sulfur premium gasoline at hundreds of service stations in the Atlanta area. The gasoline is slated to meet EPA’s proposed low-sulfur fuel standard without a price increase.

“Support from key state officials, environmentalists and auto manufacturers, combined with the introduction of low-sulfur gasoline in Atlanta provides powerful evidence that EPA’s proposal is right on the mark,” said Patton. “Cleaner, healthier air in Colorado is within reach if EPA and the Western states stand up to the oil industry lobbyists that are fighting against cleaner air in the West.”