In the next two years, virtually every gas station in Connecticut will have to change the nozzles on its pumps to disconnect the vapor-recovery systems required by the Clean Air Act of 1991.
Those Stage II vapor recovery systems -- a bellows or a disk near the handle -- are no longer needed because of advances in car gas valves. In fact, the older nozzles actually work against the new technology, causing leakage of the same volatile organic compounds and toxins they were once meant to prevent, a state report says.
The change, mandated by a measure signed into law June 18, is good news for gas station owners, who each pay thousands of dollars yearly to maintain the equipment. The total cost savings will be $6.6 million annually, the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection estimates.
The measure, signed into law on June 18, applies to any owner of a gas station that dispenses more than 10,000 gallons per month. Decommissioning -- or disconnecting the system -- of any vapor recovery equipment is 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.
But while regulation on the gas pump is easing up, the new measure tightened the requirement on Stage I equipment, which applies to the tankers that deliver gasoline to the pumps. Gas station owners will now be required to perform a pressure decay test annually instead of every three years to ensure there are no leaks in the underground system.
In Connecticut, the majority of vehicles have onboard refueling vapor recovery technology to prevent emissions, according to an independent report commissioned by the state's energy department in December 2011.
The report, which sent surveys to the 2,033 active gas stations and received back 908 responses, found that 70 percent of gas stations failed inspection since December 2010, primarily due to tank decays and air or liquid tests.
"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 in his testimony to the state's energy and technology committee.
For owners, that 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."
Maintenance and repairs for the compliant nozzle-and-hose set typically cost an owner about $300 per pump, compared with $80 to $100 per pump for non-compliant equipment, Fox said.
And while there may be a slight decrease on gas prices over the long term as a result, he expects no major impacts on the consumer.
Chris Herb, president of the Connecticut Energy Marketers Association, praised the change in the law, adding that it was a boost to an industry that, in Connecticut, is made up primarily of small business owners.
"This is not a big oil issue," he said. "This is really about local business owners who are being burdened by those additional costs to the detriment of the environment."
