What is the CBG Program?   The Arizona Cleaner Burning Gasoline (CBG) program was adopted by the Arizona State Legislature when the Federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) classified the Phoenix Metropolitan area as "serious non-attainment" with National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for both Carbon Monoxide (CO) and Ozone (O3) during winter and summer months.   The state of Arizona is required to respond to the Federal EPA with a State Implementation Plan (SIP), which outlines to EPA exactly how the state expects to bring the Phoenix Metropolitan area into compliance with those NAAQS. Arizona's CBG program is an important part of the plan.   Where Does Our Fuel Come From?   Arizona receives all of its gasoline from two main sources:   The West pipeline suppliers (predominately Southern California refiners), and The East pipeline suppliers (predominately Gulf Coast refiners).   The West pipeline, the larger of the two, runs from Southern California to Yuma and then to Phoenix, through which product is in transport for 6 to 7 days! The East pipeline runs from El Paso, Texas, to Tucson and then to Phoenix, where transport time is slightly less than that of the West pipeline. Of the approximately 1.5 billion gallons of Arizona CBG that are piped or transported to and consumed within the CBG Covered Area each year, roughly 57 percent comes from the West pipeline and 43 percent comes from the East pipeline.   What Do We Do?   The Department (ADWM), in consultation with the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ), enforces the Arizona CBG rule (ACC, Title 20, Chapter 2, Article 7). May 1,1999 marked the date that implementation and enforcement of the Arizona CBG Program began in the Phoenix Metropolitan area, (also known as the CBG Covered Area, formerly called Area "A").   The Department evaluates compliance throughout the entire distribution system. We start at the beginning of the process and follow the fuel through to its final destination. This is accomplished through inspections of the following:   Refinery: The Department audits the refineries to verify compliance with regulatory reporting requirements, analytical methodology and procedures used to analyze fuel quality. This helps the Department to ensure that the fuel being produced at the refineries meets both the regulatory and fuel quality requirements before it leaves the refineries. It is at this point the refineries certify the fuel as CBG.   Storage Terminal: This is an intermediate point where different batches come together before it is put into the pipeline. This is the point where the fuel becomes a fungible product (it loses it's individual identify when it is mixed with other batches of CBG). The Department requires that the transfer of this fuel be tracked to ensure that the fuel is not mixed with anything other than the required CBG ingredients. The Department also audits the paper work at the terminal, which is required to clearly state the contents of the fuel.   Pipeline: The Department requires that the fuel parameters be checked prior to entering the pipeline to ensure it is under the CAP limits.  A Quality Assurance Program is also required to randomly check different suppliers fuel quality parameters. These parameters are then reported to the Department.   Distribution Terminal: After the long journey to the Phoenix terminal the fuel is now ready to be distributed to the services stations in the area. In the case of a wintertime (November 1 through March 31), the fuel must first be blended with 10% Ethanol this is done just as the fuel is loaded into the truck that will deliver it. To ensure that the fuel contains the right amount of oxygenate (Ethanol) the Department required the terminal to have a Quality Assurance Program not unlike that of the pipeline. The terminal is required to take random samples from trucks at the loading rack to help insure that as they level of oxygenate at the rack will meet State requirements.   Fueling Stations: The last point at which the Department can ensure fuel quality is at the service stations. On a daily basis, State inspectors randomly visit service stations around Area A collecting samples, checking equipment and conducting a number of other tests. The samples collected are taken to a laboratory to be analyzed for the following fuel quality parameters:   ·       Reid vapor pressure (RVP): During the warm summer months, gasoline with high RVP results in excessive evaporative hydrocarbons emissions. Hydrocarbons are a major contributor to the formation of "smog" (ground level ozone). Smog burns your eyes, damages your lungs, makes breathing difficult, and ruins crops and rubber parts.   ·       Oxygen content: Carbon monoxide, a deadly gas, is created when there is insufficient oxygen for complete combustion in the engine of an automobile. Adding oxygen to the gasoline reduces carbon monoxide emissions. However, adding excessive amounts of oxygen has the undesirable effect of causing the engine to produce excessive emissions of nitrogen oxide. Therefore, the oxygen content of gasoline must be within a specified range   ·       Sulfur content: Sulfur in gasoline and diesel fuels results in exhaust emissions of sulfur dioxide and sulfates from engines. These emissions contribute to sore throat, breathing difficulties, respiratory tract infections, acid rain, and dirty looking air. Sulfur in gasoline deactivates the catalytic converters in cars   ·       Benzene content: Benzene in gasoline results in evaporative and exhaust emissions, which are associated with leukemia, and causes a variety of cancers. Relatively high doses of benzene causes intoxication, respiratory problems, and circulatory collapse. It is also a central nervous system depressant.   ·       Olefin content: Olefins are a type of hydrocarbon that readily reacts with other pollutants to form smog. By reducing the olefin content the gasoline, we reduce the amount of smog formed and reduce the amount of 1,3 butadiene (a toxic compound) exhaust emissions. ·       Distillation temperature: Reducing the temperatures at which 50% and 90% of the gasoline evaporates (referred to as T50 and T 90, respectfully) is primarily related to fuel economy, engine warm up, and cool weather drivability but also reduces emissions of smog forming hydrocarbons and carbon monoxides.   ·       Aromatic hydrocarbon content: Gasoline and diesel fuel containing high levels of aromatics hydrocarbons result in excessive tailpipe emission of oxide of nitrogen, smog forming hydrocarbons, and a variety of toxic compounds. These emissions contribute to odor problems, acid rain, and smog.   How Does Arizona Benefit?   Some people ask what do we get from all this sampling and testing? What we get is better air quality for all of us. The Phoenix metropolitan area was listed by the EPA as non-attainment, meaning the air quality for Carbon Monoxide (CO) does not meet federal standards. Since Arizona implemented the plan to address this problem, significant progress has been made. The fuel quality program is one component of an overall plan to improve air quality in the Valley. This program has contributed to a significant progress in air quality improvement. In 1984 the City of Phoenix and Maricopa County experienced 150 exceedances of the federal standard for Carbon Monoxide (CO). Last year the same area experienced 0 exceedance. (See the graph from ADEQ). Through this program and others we will continue to see this kind of improvement in other air quality pollutants.   Challenges Facing Arizona:   One challenge facing Arizona involves the state of Arizona's 2005 decision to eliminate MTBE from its fuel, which followed a similar step that was taken by the state of California. Eliminating the 15 percent of MTBE by volume from the fuel supply in effect, meant there was a 15 percent reduction in the State's available fuel. This could create some unique challenges for the State and its suppliers. As we move towards requiring a more unique fuel blend, i.e. a more Arizona only blend, the fuel becomes a boutique fuel. This fuel is harder to make and may have a tendency to cost more. This can have an adverse affect on the consumer and restrict supplies. A fine balance needs to be made between environmental benefits and the need for fuel to drive the economy of the Valley. We may need to take a look at the States current requirements to see if changes to those requirements will need to be made in order to balance the need for fuel with the need for good air quality.   Arizona is currently working on meeting the EPA's 8-hour ozone standard. In 2002, the State exceeded this new standard 68 times. This resulted in a portion of the state being designated as non-attainment for the 8-hour standard. As a result Arizona is developing and implementing control measures to meet EPA's 8-hour ozone standards.   Arizona has come a long way in complying with other EPA standards.   For example, Arizona:   ·       Went from 150 exceedances of the Carbon Monoxide standard in the mid 80's to having none in the last 6 years. ·       Reduced concentrations of carbon monoxide starting at 18.1 ug/cm to 5.5 ug/cm (a 70% reduction in the highest concentration readings). ·       Has met the EPA 1-hour ozone standard since 1997.