Regulation of Fuels and Fuel Additives: Standards for Deposit Control Gasoline Additives

Résumé

On December 6, 1993, EPA published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to require the use of deposit control (detergent) additives in all gasoline used in the United States. The NPRM contained a proposed interim program which would take effect beginning January 1, 1995, as well as a proposed performance-based detergent additive certification program to be implemented at a later date. The interim program was finalized on October 14, 1994. The detergent certification program is expected to be finalized by June 30, 1995, and to take effect a year later. As proposed, the detergent certification program was concerned specifically with the control of port fuel injector deposits (PFID) and intake valve deposits (IVD). While also acknowledging the potential importance of combustion chamber deposits (CCD), EPA did not propose any requirements for CCD control because of uncertainty regarding the scope of the problem and the current lack of suitable performance test procedures and standards. Subsequently, some commenters expressed concern that a federal requirement for PFID and IVD control might encourage detergent overuse, which could potentially exacerbate CCD concerns. These commenters