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13 EPA J. 23 (1987)
Gasoline Vapor Controls: Pros and Cons

handle is hein.journals/epajrnl13 and id is 97 raw text is: Gasoline Vapor Controls: Pros and Cons by Richard D. Wilson The final decision may ultimately affect most of the nation's vehicle owners, so it is certain to be controversial. T he next time you pull into a service station to fill your car's gas tank, consider this: even though your car's engine is off, gasoline vapors are escaping into the surrounding air as you pump the liquid gasoline into the gas tank. These vapors, when mixed with other volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the ambient air, form smog. At elevated concentrations, smog causes health problems, particularly with the human respiratory system. In addition, there is evidence that direct exposure to gasoline vapors may also be a health hazard. EPA is now trying to decide both whether and how to control refueling vapors. The final decision may ultimately affect most of the nation's vehicle owners, so it is certain to be controversial. The quantity of vapors released during all vehicle refuelings is a relatively small but nonetheless significant portion of the total VOCs emitted from all sources nationwide. Other sources of VOCs are tailpipe emissions from motor vehicles, petroleum refining, and a large number of widely used consumer products, such as household paints and deodorants. Once the VOCs are in the atmosphere, they mix with other pollutants, primarily oxides of nitrogen (NOx). In the presence of sunlight, these contaminants undergo a complex chemical reaction that forms ozone, commonly known as smog. As with other air pollutants, EPA has established a National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for ozone. To measure ambient ozone levels, the Agency has, in cooperation with state and local governments, set up a (Wilson is D)irctor of 1I/'. Of fice of' Mobile SmtlTY ;c .) monitoring system across the United States. The results of that monitoring are not encouraging. At the present time, over 70 urban areas are not in attainment with EPA's ozone standard. These include almost all major U.S. cities; Los Angeles, Houston, New York City, and Chicago are among the worst violators. Since sunlight and warm temperatures play a role in the formation of ozone, it is not surprising that most violations of the ozone standard occur during the summer months. Although ozone is our most pervasive air pollution problem, we have made substantial progress in controlling its precursor emissions, VOCs and NOx. Requirements for controls on many categories of stationary pollution sources, such as factories, as well as stringent controls on vehicle emissions, have been successful in preventing the release of millions of tons of these pollutants each year. But we still have a long way to go. The difficulty in controlling future emissions of VOCs can be attributed to two factors. One is the continued growth in the total number of sources. This, of course, is a result of population growth, which leads to more cars and trucks on the road, more industrial facilities, and more consumer products. The second factor is that we've been very successful, for the most part, in controlling major sources of VOC emissions. As a result, future reductions will come in much smaller increments and at higher costs. And that brings us back to the subject of this article. Whereas, for the past 17 years, the Federal Motor Vehicle Control Program has focused on controlling VOCs that are emitted or evaporated from the vehicle, we now are studying the effectiveness of controlling lesser sources, such as vehicle refueling. To put matters into perspective, it is interesting to note that VOC emissions from all refuelings in the country APRIL 1987

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