Ambient Air Quality Standards for Suspended Particulate Matter and Sulfates

This page last reviewed May 27, 2008

California Reformulated Gasoline Regulations to Postpone Imposition
of the CaRFG3 Standards and the Prohibition of MTBE and
Oxygenates Other than Ethanol in California Gasoline


RULEMAKING TO CONSIDER AMENDMENTS TO CALIFORNIA REFORMULATED GASOLINE
REGULATIONS TO POSTPONE IMPOSITION OF THE CARFG3 STANDARDS AND
THE PROHIBITION OF MTBE AND OXYGENATES OTHER THAN ETHANOL
IN CALIFORNIA GASOLINE FROM DECEMBER 31, 2002
TO DECEMBER 31, 2003

(July 25, 2002 Hearing)


FINAL APPROVAL / OAL ACTION
The final package was filed with OAL on November 8, 2002. The final rulemaking package was approved by OAL and filed with the Secretary of State on December 24, 2002. The Regulation will become effective on December 24, 2002.

ADOPTED REGULATIONS AND MATERIALS SUBMITTED TO OAL
Posted on December 13, 2002:
Under the California Administrative Procedure Act, the Office of Administrative Law (OAL) has 30 working days from the date a final rulemaking package is filed to approve or disapprove the regulatory action; if OAL does not do so within the specified time the regulatory action is deemed approved. Under these provisions, the last day OAL may act on the amendments in this rulemaking is December 26, 2002, 30 working days after November 8.
The ARB has requested that the amendments be made effective on filing with the Secretary of State. If OAL were to approve the amendments on the last permitted day and the ARB's request for early effective date is granted, the amendments would become effective on December 26, six days before the ban on MTBE in California gasoline being extended by this rulemaking would become applicable under the preexisting regulations.
The ARB staff has asked OAL to expedite its review of the amendments due to the limited time before the original MTBE ban is scheduled to go into effect. However, because of other rulemaking packages that are also pending final review at OAL and have earlier statutory review deadlines, ARB staff has been advised that OAL may not be in a position to take final action until near to or on the statutory deadline of December 26. It must be emphasized that the possible timing of OAL's final action is in no way indicative of any concerns OAL may have regarding the approvability of the amendments. The ARB's fuels rulemakings have been almost always approved by OAL in the past and we have no reason to believe there will be a different outcome in this rulemaking.
However, in order to provide certainty to the regulated public regarding the 2003 fuels requirements as early in the holiday season as possible, the ARB is notifying the public of its enforcement policy in the unexpected event that OAL were to disapprove the amendments. In light of the Board's clear intent and the public's reasonable reliance on timely implementation of the Board's action at the July 25, 2002, hearing, in the unlikely event of a disapproval the ARB in its exercise of enforcement discretion would not enforce the December 31, 2002, ban on MTBE in California gasoline pending correction of any deficiencies identified by OAL.
Notification of OAL's final action will be provided on this web page as soon as the ARB learns of it.
Posted November 13, 2002:
The following documents were filed with the Office of Administrative Law on November 8, 2002.
A business or person submitting a comment to a proposed regulation or proposed amendment or repeal of a regulation or any person who specifically requests it has the right to request a copy of the Final Statement of Reasons (FSOR). Upon its completion, the FSOR will be available and copies may be requested from the agency contact persons, or may be obtained in electronic form from this web page.

HEARING ACTION AND SUPPLEMENTAL 15-DAY NOTICES
Posted September 17, 2002:
  • Notice of Public Availability of Modified Text - Deadline for Public Comment: October 2, 2002 (HTML) or (PDF - 11K)

  • Attachment I: Resolution 02-25 (PDF - 25K)

    • Attachment B: Staff's Suggested Modifications to the Orginal Regulatory Proposal, July 25, 2002 (PDF - 33K)             

  • Attachment II: Proposed Modifications to the Proposed Regulation Order, Made Available for Supplemental Public Comment (PDF - 35K)
Also available for downloading is the Proposed Modifications to the Proposed Regulation Order, showing the Complete CaRFG Regulations as Modified. (PDF - 165K) This shows the same modifications that are shown in Attachment II above, but in the context of the 68 pages of the complete CaRFG regulations.

PUBLIC HEARING NOTICE AND RELATED MATERIAL

INFORMAL REGULATORY ACTIVITY



Rulemaking Activity for 2002

preload