Gasoline volatility and sulfur standards
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency alleges that these companies violated the Clean Air Act by selling gasoline with elevated levels of ethanol, transgressing the gasoline volatility and sulfur standards and the diesel sulfur standards, and committing recordkeeping, reporting, sampling and testing violations.
oil terminal
Motiva’s Terminal in Sewaren, New Jersey (Photo courtesy Greenpeace)
The result has been excess emissions of harmful air pollutants from motor vehicles, which threaten public health and the environment, the agency said.
“Fuel standards established under the Clean Air Act play a major role in controlling harmful air pollution from vehicles and engines,” said Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance.
“If unchecked, these pollutants can seriously impair the air we breathe, especially during summer months when they can reach higher levels,” said Giles. “This settlement makes clear that if companies fail to produce fuels that comply with federal standards, they will be held accountable.”
The EPA alleged that:
* – Shell sold mislabeled diesel fuel – fuel labeled ultra-low sulfur diesel that was actually low sulfur fuel – at two gas stations in Northern Virginia.
Low sulfur diesel fuel contains up to 500 parts per million of sulfur; ultra-low sulfur diesel may not exceed 15 parts per million of sulfur.