The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is due to announce new guidelines regulating sulfur in gasoline. Updated regulations, called Tier motor vehicle and fuel standards, will cut permissible levels of sulfur in fuel by two-thirds. Inspections of tailpipe emissions will also become stricter. This dramatic move is being made to reduce the production of smog.
Currently, sulfur is allowed in gasoline, in quantities up to 30 parts per million (ppm). The new regulations will lower that maximum to 10 ppm. Sulfur is naturally present in gasoline, and engines need to be designed to burn off the element. This increases the cost of automobiles, and results in a loss of fuel efficiency. Exhaust systems wear out faster with sulfur than they would under the new standards.
"We do have a serious problem with too much sulfur in gasoline. It screws up the mufflers, it screws up the catalytic converters, and it screws up a lot of other things, too," John Dingell, a Democratic Representative from the state of Michigan, told the press.
Automakers have largely supported the adoption of these new stricter standards. California law already required this standard, and automakers had to build two different versions of their vehicles, one for the Golden State, and another for the rest of the country. Changing to the new system would also allow the same car produced for America to be sold in Europe and Asia.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates the move could prevent 2,400 premature deaths by the year 2030. The agency stated costs could total $3.4 billion over the next 16 years, but predicted health savings of $23 billion over the same period of time.
Oil industry officials have opposed the move, which is expected to results in significant costs for producers. Corporations will have to invest $10 billion upfront, and and additional $2.4 billion a year to comply with the new law, according to American Petroleum Institute President Jack Gerard. He estimated that cost would result in gas prices rising by nine cents a gallon. Officials from the EPA said increased costs to oil producers would total less than a penny per gallon.
"This is the most significant move to protect public health that the EPA will make this year. There is literally no more effective tool to fight smog. Every American will breathe easier because of these standards," Frank O'Donnell, president of Clean Air Watch, an environmental group, told reporters. He said he had not read the final regulations, but supports them despite that fact.
The regulations will take effect between 2017 and 2025, and will raise the cost of new cars by an average of $130, according to the EPA.
