› Florida: The state Department of Agriculture held a public workshop in late October to gather suggestions from the industry on rule adjustments. The department proposed to adopt a one-pound-per-square-inch increase to the vapor pressure standard year-round, according to Matt Curran, chief of petroleum inspections for the consumer services division. The department is currently reviewing other suggestions made by industry representatives at the meetings to loosen the midpoint distillation (T50) requirement and vapor-to-liquid ratio standard. With the public comment period closed, the new rules were in the review stage before submittal to the Florida Secretary of State for an additional 21-day public comment period.
› South Carolina: Proposed changes following National Institute of Standards and Technology Handbook 130 recommendations have been filed, according to Carol Fulmer, director of the state’s consumer services division within the state Department of Agriculture. Once the legislative session begins in January, the legislature has 120 days to consider the proposal. If no action is taken, it becomes effective. “The current regulations do not really address the [ethanol] issue,” Fulmer said. “All they say is that the fuel has to meet current ASTM standards.”
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Fulmer said while the state currently has E10 and E85 blends available, the changes should encourage more blending. “There is some concern about distillation and vapor pressure, and if you blend with any gasoline, it might fail those specs. The major oil companies have some concern unless there is some allowance for that.”
› North Carolina: “There’s a misconception that we haven’t allowed ethanol blending in this state,” said Steve Benjamin, standards division director at the state Department of Agriculture. “It’s been legal for over 15 years.” He said BP, Marathon and other local distributors have been contacting officials in several southeastern states about adding E10 blends. “They see [ethanol blends] coming and want to be prepared,” he said. He said he’s somewhat puzzled by the questions being posed about specifications or the requests for ethanol blending approval since a set of specifications has been in place since he started at the department 15 years ago.
North Carolina has its own specifications and doesn’t follow the NIST 130 handbook, Benjamin explained. The division has a draft proposal being reviewed now that would loosen the current regulations. He explained the current T50 distillation specs are set at 158 degrees Fahrenheit, and the proposal seeks to drop that to 148 degrees and possibly waive the vapor lock requirement. He said he expects to present the draft proposal to the state gas and oil board meeting in February or March, after which it goes to the state assembly for final approval.
› Georgia: The state Department of Agriculture held two town hall meetings in late November to gauge public and petroleum industry support for changes to the state’s ethanol blending requirements. The department’s fuel and measures division recommended the T50 be dropped to 150 degrees Fahrenheit, the V/L be dropped 10 to 12 degrees, and a waiver of the one-pound psi pressure requirement. After the town meetings, the commissioner of agriculture will decide whether to implement the proposed emergency regulations, possibly in the first quarter of 2008, according to David Au, state oil chemist.
