WASHINGTON – The U.S. EPA confirmed on Friday that it will not finalize the Tier 3 gasoline rule that would reduce sulfur in gasoline by year's end, but offered assurances that the delay won’t affect the rule's scheduled 2017 implementation.

EENews.net writes that, due to the more than 200,000 comments it received, EPA said in a statement that it now intends to issue the Tier 3 gasoline standards in February 2014. The rule, which was proposed last March, had been set to be finalized in December, which would allow it to take effect in 2017.

"EPA will make a decision with regard to the start date of the program in the final rule, but the agency's adjusted schedule does not preclude a 2017 start date for the program, as proposed," the agency said in a statement. EPA added that the standards "would provide critical air quality and health benefits as soon as they are implemented."

In July, NACS, along with SIGMA, sent a letter to the EPA commenting on the proposed Tier 3 rule, and urging the agency to maintain the current per-gallon sulfur caps. NACS also commented on other provisions of the proposed rule that change to test fuel specifications.

As proposed, the Tier 3 standards would lower the levels of sulfur in gasoline from 30 parts per million to 10 ppm by 2017, writes EENews.net, as well as align the federal government with fuel standards in California.