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newsrel -- SEPTEMBER 1 - DEADLINE FOR GAS STATIONS

Posted: 01 Sep 2009 09:56:22
More than half of California’s gas stations must be fitted with
in-station diagnostic equipment. 

Air Resources Board

Release 09-76
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 1, 2009	

CONTACT:	Dimitri Stanich
		(916) 322-2990
		www.arb.ca.gov

SEPTEMBER 1 -  DEADLINE FOR GAS STATIONS
More than half of California’s gas stations must be fitted with
in-station diagnostic equipment
Added technology will ensure vapor-recovery equipment is
functioning properly

SACRAMENTO:  The Air Resources Board is alerting owners of 5,800
gas stations that today is the deadline to have installed
vapor-recovery diagnostic equipment or have compliance agreements
signed by local air-pollution authorities.

California gasoline-dispensing facilities with more than 1.8
million gallons annual throughput must be fitted with equipment
that triggers alarms when failures occur within the
vapor-recovery system.  As of late August, about 85 percent of
the facilities subject to this requirement had already installed
the required equipment and all 275 stations in the Sacramento
area are compliant. 

“Gasoline fumes are a contributor to smog,” said ARB Chairman
Mary D. Nichols. “Installed diagnostic equipment will assure we
get the reductions we need to protect our health.”

Working with businesses and the 35 local air districts around
the state, ARB developed a strategy to assist the remaining
non-compliant facilities. Service stations that have not
installed in-station diagnostic systems, or ISD, should obtain a
compliance agreement and a permit from local air districts to
begin the installation.  Such agreements allow service stations
to continue operations while completing the installation of ISD,
until December 31, 2009.  Service stations owners were notified
that they must sign compliance agreements prior the ISD deadline
of September 1, 2009.

Over the last two years, ARB and district staffs conducted
extensive outreach to station owners, installation contractors
and equipment suppliers, as well as to local agency staff who
permit station upgrades.  This included public workshops,
informational meetings, advisories, vapor-recovery websites,
e-list mailings, brochures, tradeshow exhibits as well as
conversations with owners during annual inspections. Information
on equipment financing was also distributed. 

The enhanced vapor recovery systems, already installed on most
stations throughout the state, reduce emissions that used to
occur while refueling cars, like spillage and evaporation from
nozzles, hoses, pumps and connections. Diagnostic equipment
monitors existing vapor recovery equipment to ensure system
integrity and maximize air quality benefits. Statewide, the
combined vapor recovery regulations will reduce emissions of
gasoline’s volatile organic compounds by 25 tons-per-day.

Gasoline fumes release volatile organic compounds that are
building blocks for the creation of ground-level ozone. The main
constituent of smog, ozone is a serious threat to children whose
lungs are developing and those with impaired breathing.  It also
damages crop yields and poses an economic burden to California.

The Air Resources Board is a department of the California
Environmental Protection Agency.  ARB’s mission is to promote and
protect public health, welfare, and ecological resources through
effective reduction of air pollutants while recognizing and
considering effects on the economy.  The ARB oversees all air
pollution control efforts in California to attain and maintain
health based air quality standards.


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