Autos claim 2004 'more than enough time' for Refiners to switch to ULSD

Diesel Fuel News, Jan 21, 2002 by Jack Peckham

In response briefs to U.S. Appeal Court in the National Petrochemical & Refiners Association vs. EPA 2006/7 diesel rules lawsuit, the world's automakers claim that the refining industry has "more than enough time" to switch to ultra-low-sulfur diesel (ULSD) production by 2004, rather than U.S. EPA's mid-2006 deadline.

Autos want the quick switch in order to facilitate earlier introduction of clean-diesel cars and light trucks meeting tough EPA "Tier 2" light-duty limits for particulate matter (PM) and nitrogen oxides (Nox).

U.S. EPA claims auto can "get by" with 500 ppm sulfur diesel until mid-2006 by selling some diesels in the "upper bins" of tier 2 limits. Not so, say the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers (AAM) and Association of Inter-national Automobile Manufacturers (AIAM).

"Even if a light-duty diesel vehicle model could meet the top bin [of Tier 2], it does not follow that the manufacturers' fleet would be able to comply" with the fleet Tier 2 standards, the AAM/AIAM lawyers tell the court.

Reason: ultra-low-sulfur gasoline won't completely phase-in until model year 2006, which means "some gasoline vehicles, such as the Chevrolet Trailblazer, may need to use the top bins to comply during the [cleaner-gasoline] phase-in," the automakers say. That will steal away the diesel opportunity.

* Corporate-Average Problem

"Other models will be unable to offset emissions from 'top-bin' [dirtier] vehicles -- gasoline or diesel -- to meet the [corporate average standard] for NOx. Not only will automakers be unable to reserve the top bin for light-duty diesel vehicles, as EPA implies, but they will be hard-pressed to offset emissions from 'top-bin' light-duty [gasoline] vehicles."

This fleet-average emissions limit becomes even more critical as demand for diesel light-duty cars and light trucks is expected to grow during the Tier 2 phase-in, the autos argue. The result will make it impossible to sell diesels unless ULSD appears quickly.

Oil company arguments that light-duty diesels "have until model year 2009 to meet final Tier 2 standards is misleading, because it assumes, without basis and contrary to current information, that automakers will put diesel engines only in heavier light-duty vehicles," the automaker lawyers counter.

EPA meantime claims that the legal time deadline has already passed for the autos to challenge the Tier 2 rules. But the autos counter by asserting they're only challenging EPA's ULSD deadlines, not the Tier 2 rules entirely, so the deadline hasn't passed.

* Fairness Issue

While EPA timed the 2006 ULSD deadline to coincide with upcoming heavy-duty highway catalyst requirements, it's unfair to leave light-duty out of the earlier Tier 2 deadlines, autos claim.

"Refiners have the technology to produce ULSD and are doing so now; the cost of producing ULSD is not prohibitive," the auto lawyers claim.

"Oils' contention that they cannot provide ULSD by 2004 is reminiscent of their specious objections in the early 1970s to EPA's unleaded gasoline rules," even though conversion to unleaded took only 1-1/2 years, the autos claim.

In the ULSD case, a 2004 deadline would still amount to about 3-4 years' lead time since the rules were first proposed and later finalized. That's "far more time" than refiners really need, the autos claim.

* Predictable Need

Refiners should have seen ULSD coming since at least December 1998, when "they knew... that ULSD would be needed if light-duty vehicles were to meet new, stringent California LEV-II vehicle emissions standards" that require sulfur-sensitive exhaust catalysts, the autos claim.