EPA waives clean gasoline standards in Louisiana
By RYAN TRACY
WASHINGTON -- The US Environmental Protection Agency waived its clean gasoline requirements for 14 parishes in Louisiana Wednesday, citing “extreme and unusual supply circumstances” as Hurricane Isaac moved through the state.
The agency said the waiver is effective for 10 days.
It allows the sale of conventional gasoline with a higher vapor pressure than usually allowed under the agency's air-pollution rules, easing supply pressures created by the storm.
The hurricane has caused power outages and Gulf-coast refineries in the area have already shut down 936,500 bpd of capacity, according to the Department of Energy.
The EPA said it is monitoring the situation and could expand the geographic reach of the waiver to other parts of the state if it found supply shortages existed there.
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal requested the waiver, the EPA said.
Dow Jones Newswires
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