GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1999

H	1 

HOUSE BILL 1099

Short Title:  Sulfur Content Limits for Gasoline.	(Public)

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Sponsors: Representative Hackney.

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Referred to:  Environment and Natural Resources.

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April 15, 1999

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO ESTABLISH CERTAIN LIMITS FOR THE SULFUR CONTENT OF GASOLINE.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  Article 3 of Chapter 119 of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new section to read:
"§ 119-26.3.  Sulfur content standards.
(a)	Subject to subsection (b) of this section, no person shall manufacture, sell, or offer for sale gasoline that contains a concentration of sulfur that is greater than 40 parts per million per gallon of gasoline.
(b)	A person is exempt from the requirements of subsection (a) of this section if both of the following apply:
(1)	The person manufactures, sells, or offers for sale during any one-year period gasoline that contains a concentration of sulfur that is not greater than 80 parts per million per gallon of gasoline.
(2)	The average concentration of sulfur in the gasoline manufactured, sold, or offered for sale by the person during the one-year period is less than 30 parts per million per gallon of gasoline.
(c)	No person shall manufacture, sell, or offer for sale diesel motor fuel that contains a concentration of sulfur that is greater than 50 parts per million after the earlier of either October 1, 2005, or October 1 of the year that the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services reports to the General Assembly, pursuant to subsection (e) of this section, that the motor vehicle manufacturers have introduced a significant number of diesel-powered sports utility vehicles, minivans, and light trucks into a market that was previously dominated by gasoline-powered sports utility vehicles, minivans, and light trucks.
(d)	The Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services shall adopt regulations to implement the requirements of this section.
(e)	The Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, in consultation with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Department of Transportation, shall submit a report to the General Assembly no later than October 1 of each year on the transition in the motor vehicle manufacturing industry to using diesel engines in place of gasoline engines in sports utility vehicles, minivans, and light trucks."
Section 2.  In consultation with the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources shall report to the General Assembly by January 1, 2002, on the potential benefits to urban and regional air quality of establishing maximum and average allowable sulfur concentrations for gasoline that are lower than the concentration limitations specified in G.S. 119-26.3, as enacted by Section 1 of this act.
Section 3.  This act becomes effective October 1, 2002, and applies to gasoline manufactured, sold, or offered for sale on or after that date.