Extension of the Reformulated Gasoline Program to the East St. Louis, Illinois Ozone Non-attainment Area
Rule Summary
This Final Rule responds to the Governor of Illinois’ July 10, 2006, request to have the Illinois portion of the St. Louis, Illinois-Missouri ozone nonattainment area opt into the Federal RFG program. Section 211(k)(6) of the Clean Air Act states that “[u]pon the application of the Governor of a State, the Administrator shall apply the prohibition’’ against the sale of conventional gasoline in any area of the State classified as marginal, moderate, serious, or severe for ozone.
EPA consulted with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and evaluated the industry’s ability to meet the volumes necessary for implementation. Based on our evaluation of the appropriate lead time and start date(s), this Final Rule sets an effective start date for RFG (prohibition on the sale of a gasoline that is not RFG). The Agency will implement this prohibition for refiners and all other persons in the fuel distribution system other than retailers and wholesale purchaser-consumers on June 1, 2007. For retailers and wholesale purchaser-consumers, EPA’s final rule implements the prohibition on July 1, 2007. As of July 1, 2007 this area will be treated as a covered area for all purposes of the federal RFG program.