EPA to change sulfur allowances in gasoline

   The U.S Environmental Protection Agency has issued a proposed rulemaking presenting new sulfur standards for gasoline, which will reduce the sulfur content in gas by more than 60 percent.
   This would reduce the amount of smog and soot in the air, adding great health benefits to the proposed change.
   The agency cited statistics that in the next 17 years new sulfur standards in gas will help prevent up to 2,400 cases of premature death annually. Combined with all the other health savings, benefits could reach $23 billion a year by 2030.
   According to an EPA press release, complying with the new standards will cost refineries less than a penny per gallon of gasoline, but will help truck engines run more efficiently and save lives in the process. EPA officials said this is the best way to reduce emissions-related health problems with the least cost.
   “The Obama administration has taken a series of steps to reinvigorate the auto industry and ensure that the cars of tomorrow are cleaner, more efficient and saving drivers money at the pump, and these common-sense cleaner fuels and cars standards are another example of how we can protect the environment and public health in an affordable and practical way,” EPA Acting Administrator Bob Perciasepe said in a statement.
   The EPA will plan public hearings on the rule change once it is published in the Federal Register. – Jon Ross