A coalition of advocacy groups, companies and labor unions yesterday called on President Obama to finalize new regulations this year that will cut the amount of sulfur in gasoline and, consequently, lead to cleaner air.

At issue are "Tier 3" regulations that are likely to cut the amount of sulfur permitted in gasoline from 30 parts per million to 10 ppm. Advocates say the reduction will slash harmful carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxide emissions from auto tailpipes.

The 21-member coalition argues that the regulations would build on the "strong foundation" of the administration's clean car standards that will double fuel efficiency by 2025.

"Tailpipe and fuel standards to control smog-forming and particulate emissions from passenger vehicles are key to reducing the health impacts of poor air quality including asthma, respiratory problems, and premature death," the coalition wrote in a letter yesterday to Obama.

It also noted that passenger vehicles are the second-largest emitter of nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds in the country and are responsible for half of all carbon monoxide pollution. The annual health benefits of the Tier 3 regulations, it said, are estimated at between $5 billion and $6 billion by 2020 and between $10 billion and $11 billion by 2030.

The coalition includes Corning Inc., Donaldson Co., Tenneco Inc., NGK Automotive Ceramics USA Inc. and Hug Filtersystems AG; United Auto Workers; and Clean Air Watch, the Environmental Defense Fund, the Sierra Club and the Union of Concerned Scientists.

EPA has indicated that it favors setting the limit at 10 ppm, bringing the United States in line with many European countries and California, which has already set more stringent standards. It is widely believed that the rules have already been drafted, but EPA has yet to officially propose them.

The White House has faced significant opposition to the rules from the petroleum sector, which has argued that the sulfur limit will cause gas prices to go up. That would have been a difficult political pill for the administration to swallow in an election year. In fact, industry representatives met with Obama senior advisory and personal confidante Valerie Jarrett last March, and the Tier 3 proposal was discussed (EnergyWire, Oct. 2, 2012).

EPA has pushed back on their arguments, saying that the rules would cause gas prices to rise only a penny per gallon at most. Further, the agency indicated that it is planning to release the proposal by April in the agenda it recently submitted to the White House.

Those schedules can always slip, but even if EPA meets that deadline, it will be difficult for it to finalize the rule by the end of the year, as the coalition desires.

Click here for the letter.