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EPA Extends Katrina Low-Sulfur Fuel Waiver in Select States
15 September 2005
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| The states affected by the second waiver. |
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina EPA issued waivers (earlier post) for diesel fuel sulfur requirements and summer gasoline volatility controls to compensate for disruption of oil and products production. The waivers were due to expire today.
The agency has extended the low-sulfur waiver for states that continue to be affected by disruptions to the fuel production and distribution system. This in effect allows high-sulfur diesel (> 500 ppm) normally used in off-road equipment to be used in highway vehicles in the designated states.
The extended waivers run through 5 Oct.
The states affected by this second waiver of highway diesel requirements are: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Tennessee and the District of Columbia.
In addition, EPA extended the waiver on summer grade gasoline in three areas: Phoenix (until 30 Sep); Texas (until 1 Oct) and California (until 31 Oct). The three states had requested that EPA waive federal enforceability of these requirements.
The use of diesel fuel that meets the 500-ppm sulfur standard is very important in meeting environmental and operational requirements for diesel engines, and the gasoline volatility standards are important measures in the effort to control ozone air pollution.
September 15, 2005 in Policy | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBack (0)
Comments
Posted by: Garth | September 15, 2005 at 10:46 AM
The President could end the waiver with a stroke of his pen. Email him at president@whitehouse.gov and ask him to do so.
Posted by: richard schumacher | September 15, 2005 at 11:14 AM
Any excuse!
Posted by: Lucas | September 15, 2005 at 12:21 PM
The President could also have monkies fly out of his but. Be sure to email him to do so.
Posted by: t | September 19, 2005 at 09:31 PM
Garth, no one gives a rip about your 7 cents. However, the higher fuel prices go, the higher prices people will be paying for goods at the stores, including groceries and other necessities. Diesel is what keeps the distribution system in this country moving, and the price of moving those goods is figured into what people pay for them. That's a basic economic fact.
The current price of gas/diesel, plus the raping people are going to take for heating fuel (of whatever sort--the natural gas in my area is going up 40%, with propane and heating oil also up), equals a lot of working poor and even middle class families are going to have a rough winter, without driving prices of necessities up any more than necessary.
For all of you who don't understand basic economics--if you drive the price of fuel up, it's not the guy who can afford to drive a new Escalade that feels the bite--he can afford his fuel, and probably has another vehicle that gets better mileage. The people that are hurt by high fuel prices are the ones who can't afford to buy anything better than a 20-year-old Caprice or something like that--those get even worse mileage than a new SUV and those are the people who budgets are already cut to bare bone.
If the government really wanted to help take the weight off of people's budgets, they'd declare a moratorium on the 18 cents of the price of gas that is federal tax--and then state governments would do likewise with state fuel taxes.
Posted by: Heather | September 27, 2005 at 08:58 AM
Basic economics, how about basic price fixing and price gorging. Perhaps Oil Refiners such as Valero could take a small hit on their reported $1.4 Billion in profits for first half of 2005 (oh, buy the way, Wall Street Journal 9/9/05 reported that shares are up 25 percent since Katrina alone-- do you know anyone who is making that much in stocks in this market?).
Posted by: Suzanne | October 16, 2005 at 12:39 PM
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Hey, thanks Congress!
Breathing is overrated anyway. With the 7 cents I save at the pump, I can pay 0.5% of the yearly INCREASE in my health insurance premiums [which I certainly need once we all have lung disease...]