Citing the volume of comments received on its proposed Tier 3 vehicle emissions and gasoline standards, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said it will delay issuing its proposal until Feb. 2014. EPA said the delay will not affect the rule’s scheduled 2017 compliance date, however.
The rule, which is aimed at reducing the allowable sulfur content in gasoline from 30 parts per million to 10 ppm beginning in 2017, was set to be finalized in December. But EPA said it needs additional time to review some 200,000 public comments received on its May proposal, according to published reports.
The new proposed rule had been stuck in regulatory limbo since December 2011 because of industry and political opposition. Representatives of the American Petroleum Institute (API) and the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association testified before Congress in 2011 that the technology used to reduce the sulfur content of gasoline results in increased energy consumption and more greenhouse gas emissions during production. Removing sulfur from gasoline also can increase emissions of other pollutants, they said.
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