JEFFERSONVILLE, Ind. — Some southern Indiana gas stations are selling a more expensive gasoline blend than what's required by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), according to state officials.
The EPA requires Louisville to sell reformulated gasoline, also called RFG. RFG burns cleaner and therefore helps reduce smog in the region.
According to the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM), Clark and Floyd Counties are not required to sell reformulated gasoline (RFG), but because most of the fuel distributed in the greater Louisville market is RFG, it accounts for a significant portion of the fuel sold in both Clark County and Floyd County.
Historically, data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration shows drivers in the midwest paid an extra 15-25 cents per gallon for RFG.
That has been exponentially increasing since the start of the year, and as of this writing, drivers in the midwest are paying roughly 64 cents per gallon more for RFG than they would be for conventional blends.
RFG is different than summer blends of gasoline required across the U.S.
According to the EPA, they require cleaner blends in summer months to reduce evaporative emissions that contribute to ground-level ozone and reduce the effects of ozone-related health problems.
The EPA regulates the vapor pressure of gasoline sold at retail stations from June 1 to Sept. 15. The measure they use is Reid vapor pressure (RVP).
The EPA requires Clark and Floyd Counties to sell gasoline with an RVP at or below 7.8 PSI in the summer.
“Since reformulated gasoline has a Reid vapor pressure limit of 7.2 PSI of vapor pressure, it can be distributed and sold in Clark and Floyd Counties because it is lower than the PSI standard for lower-Reid vapor pressure fuel,” IDEM spokesman Barry Sneed said.
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Typically, the lower RVP, the cleaner the fuel burns, and, according to energy experts, the cleaner a fuel blend burns, the more expensive it is to make.
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