ATLANTA - The state Board of Natural Resources agreed Wednesday to a revision of its rule that would require the sale of cleaner-burning gasoline in metro Atlanta, considered a central piece of a plan to clean up the area's air. <br>
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The board had initially sought gasoline retailers in metro Atlanta to lower its low-sulfur fuel from the current 150 parts per million to 30 parts per million by May first. <br>
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Some oil companies indicated they needed more time to make the change. <br>
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So the board agreed to allow oil companies to make the changes in two parts. They ordered the retailers to lower the fuel to 90 parts per million by June 1 and to the intended 30 parts per million, or one-tenth the sulfur currently found in most gas, by January 2004. <br>
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Sulfur is a key ingredient of smog. The fuel, which would be the cleanest in the country, would reduce noxious fumes and clear some of the haze that settles over the Atlanta skyline during summer. <br>
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It still expands a clean-fuel zone around Atlanta to 45 counties stretching from Alabama to Athens. <br>
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BP, Chevron and Shell had said they were ready to meet the state's original clean-fuel requirement. <br>
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Most other major oil and gas suppliers, including Marathon Ashland Petroleum, and retailers they sell to such as QuikTrip, said they could not bring enough low-sulfur fuel to the metro Atlanta market in time.
