Industry Stakeholders Working Through Complex System to Find Solutions

By Maxine Scheer

The Government Affairs department of EAA organized a panel Monday at AirVenture to bring light on the harsh reality that regulations promulgated under the Clean Air Act are fast approaching, and they will eventually prohibit the use of aviation fuels that contain tetral-ethyl lead. Panelists included Glenn Passavant, EPA Office of Transportation and Air Quality Director-Nonroad Programs, Mark Rumizen, Aviation Fuels Specialist in the FAA’s Aircraft Certification Division, Walter Desrosier, Engineering and Maintenance, General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA), and Roger Gobin of Exxon Mobil, Chair of the ASTM panel on Aviation Fuel.

Glenn Passavant

Glenn Passavant of EPA presented the results of the most recent research on the health risks of lead. While it was acknowledged that aviation’s contribution to the lead in the air we breathe is very low percentage of total emissions, (< 0.33% per ~700 tons Pb/yr), he emphasized that EPA legislation will apply to aviation fuel, as it did to automobile fuel back in 1990.

“Removing lead from automotive fuel was one of the greatest accomplishments in cleaning air quality,” said Passavant. “The evidence of the health-risks associated with lead is significant…the most recent research, published in October 2008, demonstrates that serious health risks occur with much lower levels of lead in the blood than previously identified – differences expressed by a factor of 10.” 

Avgas was given a reprieve in 1995, but petitions filed in 2006 required the EPA to focus on the aviation industry.  Panelists referenced looming deadline dates of January 2016 and January 2017 for the elimination of 100LL; the difference of which is based on site monitoring.

Passant noted that studies to monitor air quality around airports are underway and based on results, could require actions that accelerate dates for air quality attainment around airports with large GA activity, primarily those airports that also suffer from residential encroachment and/or those located near schools. An estimated 3 million children attend schools within 1km of an airport.

Glenn has been actively reaching out to the aviation community to encourage a multi-disciplined industry plan to mitigate what could be significant disruption and capital costs to the estimated 200,000 existing piston aircraft configured to use 100LL, half of which are estimated by the Coordinating Research Council (CRC) Unleaded AVGAS Development Panel, to require high octane fuel.

“The solution must be sustainable,” said Passavant, “considering the life expectancy of most aircraft and the downside risks associated with reliance on the oil supply.”  “Eventually, the regulatory path will play out,” he continued, “unless aviation takes a voluntary approach, like what happened with NASCAR.

FAA’s spokesperson, Mark Rumizen emphasized FAA’s role as primarily focused on safety, the biggest issue obviously being engine failure. FAA is funding research and participating in a number of industry initiatives and is providing testing at its Hughes Technical Center in Atlantic City.

Walter Desrosier with GAMA emphasized that this issue is high on the radar screen of its members and provided attendees with an overview of the CRC AVGAS Panel. Since 1990, the panel has looked at over 200 fuels, performed full scale testing on 45 unleaded blends and completed extensive research on about 20. He acknowledged that most of the solutions involved some kind of drop in additive. EPA’s Passavant argued that additives were not the solution and emphasized other fuel options such as high octane synthetics and biomass fuels, such as those being developed by Swift. Passavant mentioned that there was a producer of a 91 octane fuel in Sweden, but that its applications in the US were limited given the diversity of the US piston fleet.

GAMA is championing the development of a strategic plan as a decision making tool that considers the impacts to aircraft owners, the level of involvement of FAA, and the costs associated with development and delivery of the various fuel options.

“I’ve been looking at the aviation fuel issue since 1990, said Passant, and if you asked me then if we’d still be using 100LL in 2009, I’d say no way.” The general consensus from the panel was that this is a complex issue given the life expectancy of most aircraft and the costs of a comprehensive solution.
 
The issue has been on the table for nearly 20 years. The US is the largest consumer of 100LL in the world and while significant effort has been made in research and development, the rest of the world is making changes while we continue to evaluate our options.

FMI: www.crcao.com/publications/aviation