TUSCON, Ariz. – To reduce air pollution, Pima County may soon require gasoline stations to install equipment that contains fuel vapors, the Arizona Daily Star reports.
However, gasoline station owners say the equipment will cost them $8,000 to $80,000, and will not significantly decrease air pollution. The owners also say they will have to pass along the cost of the equipment to motorists by increasing gasoline prices.
The compounds in gasoline vapors work together with sunlight to create ground-level ozone, a key ingredient in smog that also causes respiratory problems. For more than a decade, Pima County’s ozone levels have been at approximately 90 percent of federal standards, but next year, the Environmental Protection Agency is likely to decrease the standards, which would put the county out of compliance.
Thus, some Pima County officials are looking into requiring Stage II Vapor Recovery, as the technology is called, to lower the county’s ozone levels. “I think it’s an important environmental issue for our community, for our children and for everyone,” said Supervisor Richard Elias, chairman of the Pima County Board of Supervisors. “I think it’s just one of those expenses that business will have to take on.”
But it’s not just businesses that will pay more — motorists also will be paying in the form of higher gasoline prices. “Consumers are going to pay either way,” said Andrea Martincic, executive director of the Arizona Petroleum Marketers Association.
Used throughout the nation for decades, mostly in urban areas, Stage II technology traps the vapors as gasoline is being dispensed and returns them to the underground storage tank. Tanker trucks then gather the stored vapors and put them back in the bulk-dispensing terminals via Stage I Vapor Recovery, which has been required in Pima County since 1994.
Martincic said Pima County could get comparable air quality increases by using blended fuels year-round. She also wondered why Pima County would expect gas station owners to foot the bill on such a large expense when new vehicles have on-board vapor recovery systems.
“It seems like a knee-jerk reaction,” she said. “Let’s do Stage II because we’ve heard it’s good. And if they’re trying to be proactive, what are they trying to accomplish?”
The supervisors will discuss the matter on December 18.