By Mark Hansel
NKyTribune managing editor
The reformulated gasoline (RFG) requirement could soon be a thing of the past in Northern Kentucky.
NKY Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Brent Cooper speaks at a public hearing conducted to get input on a proposal to eliminate the region’s RFG requirement (photos by Mark Hansel).
Supporters, including the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, have been working to eliminate the program for three years.
RFG costs 22 cents more per gallon than conventional gasoline, on average. The elimination of the program is expected to save motorists money and return millions of dollars to the local economy.
The RFG program was mandated by Congress in the 1990 Clean Air Act amendments. The first phase of the RFG program began in 1995 and the current phase began in 2000.
RFG is gasoline blended to burn more cleanly than conventional gasoline and to reduce pollutants.
Chamber president and CEO Brent Cooper spoke in favor of elimination of RFG at a public hearing conducted by the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet August 24, at the Northern Kentucky Area Development District office in Florence.
He said there have been major advancements in conventional gasoline in the last 25 years and that the EPA recognizes that it is essentially now the same as RFG.
“We are committed to protecting human health and the environment and at the same time preserving and empowering a robust economic climate in our community,” Cooper said. “Our region has enjoyed and is positioned for economic growth, but we must continue to remain competitive in the region.”
Cooper also pointed out that the removal of RFG from the state implementation plan will not interfere with the region’s continued attainment of the ambient air quality standard for ozone and nitrogen oxide.
A letter from the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet requesting approval from the U.S. EPA to allow Boone, Campbell and Kenton counties to opt out of the reformulated gasoline (RFG) requirement (click to enlarge).
In addition, Cooper said, advances in the design and performance of the internal combustion engines that burn gasoline have resulted in the continued decrease in emissions from vehicles.
An estimated 188 million gallons of gasoline is sold in Northern Kentucky each year.
“That means there will be an estimated savings of $41 million per year when RFG is terminated,” Cooper said. “A motorist who drives 15,000 miles per year, with a vehicle that gets 15 miles per gallon, will save $220 per year when RFG is eliminated. Northern Kentucky businesses and residents can direct that money to their savings or spend it on goods and services, a great deal of which will be provided by Northern Kentucky businesses.”
That is, of course, contingent on oil companies passing those savings on to consumers.
The move to eliminate the RFG program began in 2014, when Steve Harper, president of Harper Oil Products, was the Northern Kentucky Chamber Chair. He wrote a column about the disparity between oil prices in Northern Kentucky and the rest of the Greater Cincinnati Metropolitan area and identified RFG as the reason.
Harper questioned whether there was still a need for RFG and formed an ad hoc group of Chamber members and Kentucky Petroleum Marketers Association (KPMA) representativesto explore the issue.
The group included Harper, Philip J. Schworer an attorney with Frost Brown Todd, State Rep. Diane St. Onge (R) Lakeside Park, Boone County Judge Executive Gary Moore, then-Chamber president Trey Grayson and other stakeholders.
The group discovered that Kentucky “opted-in” to the RFG requirement when Brereton C. Jones was governor, while Ohio and Indiana chose other options. The group also determined that RFG is no longer a cost-effective method for reduction of missions, a determination the Division of Air Quality agrees with.
A plan to delete the RFG requirement needed support from the Kentucky Energy and Environmental Cabinet, Division for Air Quality (KyDAQ). In November 2014, the RFG Work Group and KyDAQ representatives began working toward the elimination of the program.
In April, 2017, KyDAQ petitioned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to terminate the RFG requirement for Northern Kentucky.
If the EPA agrees, the RFG program would be eliminated in Boone. Kenton and Campbell counties. Several municipalities, including fiscal courts in Boone and Kenton counties and the cities of Fort Wright, Ft. Mitchell and Florence have passed resolutions in favor of terminating the RFG requirement.
Harper said it will be very rewarding, but more importantly, it will be a big boost to Northern Kentucky if the requirement is eliminated.
“Making this change is basically getting rid of a cost without getting rid of the benefit,” Harper said. “A lot of people told me they didn’t think we could do this and that it would be a difficult to thing to get accomplished. For a while, I thought that was the truth, but here we are.”
Cooper said this type of advocacy work is exactly why the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce was founded and what it is envisioned to do.
“Sometimes people question the role of the Chamber and this is a great example of how we can benefit and advocate for the region,” Cooper said.
In the letter to the EPA, Secretary of the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet Charles G. Snavely indicates a final request will be submitted by early September. While there is no timetable for a response, supporters of the proposal say the support of the Cabinet carries a lot of weight and are optimistic the EPA will act in a timely manner.
Contact Mark Hansel at mark.hansel@nkytrib.com
