Here at PASS we get all kinds of requests for things that fall outside of our scope of “compliance”, most of the time these questions get answered behind the scenes, but we like to share and have dialogs with our trained UST operators when the subject can benefit them or their customers.  A little knowledge goes a long way!

Recently we have had several customers ask us for information about subjects they were alerted to by patrons of the station or employees, or by watching videos of people making claims through social media such as TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, Over and again, the one subject I constantly hear is “Fuel doesn’t smell like it use to!”

For years now ethanol has been used as an additive to fuels, to both change their octane levels and stabilize the fuel for longer durations, typically in the past the ethanol levels have been around 10% of the makeup of typical gasoline, but in times of global fuel shortages and high demand these percentages can be approved by the EPA up to 15%, in turn lessening the smell of the gasoline, this method has also been used as a way to combat pollution in a metropolitan areas in the past. 

The temporary emergency RVP (Reid Vapor Pressure) waiver was issue on May 1, 2022, by the EPA, allowing for 15% ethanol to be blended with gasoline stock for the 2022 summer driving season, this waiver must be renewed every 20 days and has exempt states and fuel types.  Please consult the EPA website here for a full list of waivers and information on your state.

Other theories online consist of Covid-19 being the reason that gasoline for some people doesn’t smell as strong, while there is no solid evidence to point to this, one social media outlet user suspects that there may be some truth to this and offers up candle reviews pre and post pandemic as evidence of a society affected by the virus.  You can read that article here.

The takeaway for PASS A/B operators is to verify USTs are compatible with the higher percentage of ethanol being used to counteract the demand spike, incompatible systems may develop problems such as leaks, failure of parts, or reduced life expectancy of parts.   Information of tank manufacture and model can be obtained from the registration form filed with the State, or your local Service Provider testing reports such as tank tightness testing.  EPA Guidance on Compatibility of UST Systems with Ethanol Blends Greater Than 10 Percent and Biodiesel Blends Greater Than 20 Percent can be found here.