Tier 3 refers to a program crafted by the Environmental Protection Agency to reduce the heavy toll cars take on our air. It combines vehicle emissions standards for new cars (phase-in beginning in 2017, with full compliance by 2025) and sets low sulfur standards for gasoline. Together, these technologies will greatly reduce tailpipe pollution. While all new vehicles will be cleaner as a result of Tier 3, the same can’t be said about all gas.
“Reducing harmful pollutants translates to substantial improvement in public health,” said Mayor Kaufusi, “We are committed to using our communications resources to educate our citizens on both the benefits of Tier 3 gasoline and its available locations.”
There are many ways fuel refineries can comply with the Tier 3 regulations — not all of which require selling cleaner gas in Utah. Three years ago, Gov. Gary Herbert and the Legislature sought to localize the benefits of the new rules through certain tax exemptions for refineries that decided to produce Tier 3 gas locally.
So far, three of the state’s five refineries have opted to produce Tier 3 gas locally to distribute in Utah. “Our hope is that as citizens become aware of locations of cleaner gas options, they will be willing to take this simple step to improve air quality,” said Kaufusi. “We are appreciative of state’s efforts to educate on Tier 3 gas stations and are committed to aiding in this outreach.”
Tier 3 gas creates less of the harmful pollution which causes our yellow and red air days. When used with fully Tier 3 vehicles, key pollutants will be reduced by up to 80%. It will be like taking four out of five cars off the road. When used with older vehicles, the emissions reduction is smaller, but shouldn’t be overlooked, especially because more than 40% of particulate pollution along the Wasatch Front comes from vehicles.
To find out which gas stations are committed to selling Tier 3 gas, however, we’ve created a resource that you can find at Tier3Gas.org.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Comment below (requires Google account), on our Facebook page, through our online comment form, or by contacting Council Members directly. Comments/input on items appearing on an upcoming meeting agenda will be compiled and provided to Council Members the day before the meeting. **Note - your comments will be part of the public record.
No comments:
Post a Comment