DIESEL: EPA To Propose Cuts To Sulfur Content
G R E E N W I R E
Friday, March 24, 2000
Calling diesel emissions a health hazard, the U.S. EPA says it will propose sharp cuts in the level of sulfur allowed in diesel fuel. Sulfur content has been capped at 500 parts per million since 1993. David Cohen, spokesman for the EPA, did not say exactly how sharp a cut the agency is considering. State air pollution officials, who plan to release a report on the cancer risks of diesel exhaust today, are calling for a 97 percent cut in sulfur emissions to 15 ppm (Matthew L. Wald, New York Times ). The report concludes an additional 125,000 people could contract lung cancer during their lifetime as a result of exposure to toxic chemicals in diesel exhaust. William Becker, executive director of the State and Territorial Air Pollution Program Administrators: "These (diesel) fumes are putting us at risk of cancer, a risk that can be almost completely eliminated with modern pollution controls" (H. Josef Hebert, AP ). The oil industry said new tightened standards "could exacerbate the nation's current fuel-supply problems" (John J. Fialka, Wall Street Journal ). Oil refiners and industry groups called on the Clinton administration to reconsider the EPA's pending proposal. In a letter to EPA Administrator Carol Browner, oil refiners wrote, "EPA's proposal for diesel sulfur is likely to reduce the supply of diesel fuel as well as heating oil and even gasoline." The agency is expected to formally propose the new rules by the end of April ( Reuters /PlanetArk, March 14). (All cites March 15 unless noted.) -- RP