CAWP News 10-10

Ultra-Low Sulfur Diesel Fuel Makes Official Debut for Most Off-Road Uses

Contractors need to be aware of upcoming changes in off-road diesel fuel standards and labeling requirements. Since June 1, 2010, large refiners and importers have been producing only ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD) fuel (fuel with less than 15 parts per million sulfur content) for use in off-road equipment (except marine and locomotive diesel fuel), per U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rules. By December 1, 2010, all off-road diesel fuel offered for sale must be ULSD fuel, with limited exceptions.

EPA requires fleet operators to use ULSD in ALL highway diesel vehicles and in Model Year (MY) 2011 and later off-road diesel equipment. In addition, contractors who store and dispense their own diesel fuel must label their diesel fuel pumps, per EPA rules.

A local fuel supplier surveyed by CAWP noted one challenge with a full implementation of ULSD in western Pennsylvania is cold weather performance. This fuel supplier annually samples 35 fuel terminals to find the best performing cold weather fuels. Other challenges noted with ULSD were premature pump wear and injector failure due to reduced sulfur content in the fuel.

Click here for the full story that ran in AGC’s Environmental Observer newsletter.