Air Pollution: EPA's Strategy To Control Emissions of Benzene and Gasoline Vapor
RCED-86-6
Published: Dec 18, 1985. Publicly Released: Feb 05, 1986.
Skip to Highlights
Highlights
Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) decision to regulate benzene emissions through controls on automobile refuelling.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Environmental Protection Agency | To improve the risk assessments for hazardous air pollutants, such as benzene, the Administrator, EPA, should direct that the proposed Operating Manual for the EPA Pollutant Assessment Branch include a requirement that, to the extent possible, current and verified data be used in developing quantitative risk assessments or that an explanation be included in the assessment as to why those data are not being used. |
EPA agreed with this recommendation and implemented it to some extent, but with a clarification. EPA will include a discussion of uncertainty in risk assessment numbers only for regulatory decisions, not pollutant screening or other analyses.
|
| Environmental Protection Agency | To improve EPA cost-effectiveness analysis used to help determine the best alternative for controlling automobile refueling vapor emissions, the Administrator, EPA, should direct that range values be provided to reflect the various uncertainties inherent in its cost-effectiveness analysis. |
EPA issued a Regulatory Import Analysis (RIA) of refueling emission regulations for gasoline-field motor vehicles in July 1978. EPA used RIA to support its decision to propose on-board emission controls for motor vehicles. RIA included range values which reflected the various uncertainties in its cost-effectiveness analysis for the on-board controls.
|
Full Report
Public Inquiries
Topics
Air pollution controlChemicalsEnvironmental monitoringHealth hazardsMotor vehicle pollution controlStatistical dataToxic substancesOzoneGasolineAir quality