HARTFORD – A Connecticut bill signed into law last month will
require nearly every gas station in Connecticut to change their pump nozzles
within the next two years, disconnecting the vapor recovery systems required by
the Clean Air Act of 1991, The Hartford Courant reports.
Those Stage II vapor recovery systems, which include a
bellows or a disk near the pump handle, are no longer needed because of
advancements in car gas valves. The existing nozzles are incompatible with the
new technology and cause leakage of volatile organic compounds.
The change is welcome news for station owners, who pay thousands
of dollars annually to maintain the nozzles. According to Department of Energy
and Environmental Protection estimates, the savings will be $6.6 million
annually.
The law applies to any gas station that dispenses more than
10,000 gallons per month, with decommissioning of the equipment required by
July 1, 2015.
"Since 1998, cars have been required to have control
devices in place that control the vapors, and those systems work much better
and are much more reliable than the stations' control systems that have been
put in place," said Robert Girard, assistant director of air enforcement
with the state's energy department.
The new measure also stiffens the requirement on Stage 1
equipment, with station owners now required to perform a pressure decay test
annually instead of every three years, ensuring there are no leaks in their
underground system.
"With fewer older vehicles in the fleet, Stage II
programs have reached a point where the emissions benefit no longer justifies
the cost of installing new Stage II systems or maintaining existing ones,"
said Daniel Esty, commissioner of the Department of Energy and Environmental
Protection.
For owners, the law means no longer having to undergo an
annual $5,000 maintenance per station, among other repair costs.
"Over the long run it'll be a huge savings [for gas
station owners]," said Michael Fox, executive director of the Gasoline and
Automotive Services Dealers of America, adding that the association has been
pushing for the repeal for about five years. "This was basically getting
the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection off their butt to
recognize that."