The Department of Environmental Protection published notice of an advanced final rule for comment setting standards for ultra low sulfur fuel oil.

The summary of the rule provided by DEP said the proposed rulemaking contained a sulfur limit of 15 parts per million (ppm) for No. 2 and lighter commercial fuel oil. The draft final rulemaking changes this limit to 500 ppm.

The Department received a number of comments indicating that the 15 ppm limit was not necessary to reduce SO2 and PM2.5 emissions from heating oil and was not necessary for use in high efficiency boilers

The proposed rulemaking contained a compliance date of May 1, 2012, for revised sulfur limits. The draft final rulemaking changes the compliance date for revised sulfur content limits to July 1, 2016.

The actual text of the advanced final rule is available on DEP’s website.

6/25/2012