The Senate concurred in House amendments to Senate Bill 1037 (Vogel-R-Beaver) whose intent is to repeal the requirement for summer low-RVP gasoline in seven Western Pennsylvania counties from May 1 to September 15. The bill now goes to the Governor for his action.
The counties include Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Washington and Westmoreland.
The bill requires the Department of Environmental Protection to start the process for amending the State Air Quality Implementation Plan within 60 days of the effective date of the act. Once the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency approves the amended SIP, the bill directs the Environmental Quality Board to adopt a regulation eliminating the low-RVP gasoline requirement in Western Pennsylvania.
There is no set schedule for EPA to consider SIP amendments and it may take up to 18 additional months to adopt regulations after EPA approval to eliminate the summer gasoline requirement so it may take some time before any changes can be made.