Issue No. 7

The Environmental & Safety Newsletter 

for Vehicle Maintenance & Refueling Operations

March 21, 2003

A Service of 

Automotive Environmental & Safety Engineering

  Specializing in Environmental/EPA and Safety/OSHA Compliance, Auditing and   Training Guides for Fleet and Vehicle Maintenance Operations.

www.envirosafeshop.com 

Below is a summary of the latest EPA and OSHA news and enforcement activity related to vehicle maintenance and refueling operations and other items of interest since February 2003. Feel free to forward this on to others with all links intact. Feedback welcome: comply@envirosafeshop.com 

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IN THIS ISSUE

Toyota Settles With EPA for $34 Million

Unocal Accused by U.S. of Monopolizing Clean Gasoline

Pure Fuelishness

Disposal of Used Oil Filters

REMINDER: FREE Trial-- AESE Online

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If you are interested in having this service, contact us at 800-288-3599 or email us at comply@envirosafeshop.com and tell us so. We are currently maintaining a list of customers who most likely will subscribe when the site is completed.

To Retrofit 3000 Bus Engines

Toyota Settles With EPA for $34 Million

The Case of the Defective Emissions Warning Light
 

Toyota Motor Corp. has agreed to retrofit fix up to 3,000 school and municipal bus engines to make them pollute less under a $34 million settlement reached with the U.S. government over Clean Air Act violations. Toyota will spend about $20 million to retrofit diesel engines on the older buses and pay a $500,000 civil penalty under the agreement announced Friday with the Justice Department and the Environmental Protection Agency.

The settlement also requires that Toyota accelerate its compliance with a new emissions regulation affecting about 1.4 million new vehicles manufactured between 2004 and 2006, at a cost of about $11 million and spend about $3 million to extend its emission control warranty on an estimated 2.2 million vehicles sold between 1996 and 1998 that were the subject of the Clean Air Act violations. The warranty will be extended from the current two years or 24,000 miles to 14 years or 150,000 miles.

The Clean Air Act violations involved a Toyota diagnostic system that the government claimed in a lawsuit did not properly notify drivers about leaks in vehicle emission control systems. The lawsuit contended that Toyota did not disclose the limitations in the system to the government. "This settlement is a reminder to all drivers that their vehicle's engine light plays an important part in keeping vehicles running clean and protecting the environment," Whitman said.Toyota spokeswoman Martha Voss said the settlement made clear that the vehicles themselves did not violate emissions standards."There were never any emissions problems with the vehicles. It was just the warning light," she said.

Unocal Accused by U.S. of Monopolizing Clean Gasoline

Unocal Corp., the second- largest U.S. independent oil producer, was accused in February by U.S. antitrust officials of creating an illegal monopoly for cleaner- burning gasoline worth hundreds of millions of dollars a year in patent royalties. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission said Unocal fraudulently obtained patents for refining methods already known to the industry. Further, they accuse Unocal acted in secret while lobbying California regulators to adopt clean-air rules that required gasoline refiners to use the company's methods of reducing pollutants, thus obtaining up to $150 million a year in royalties. (Sources: Bloomberg and FTC)

Pure Fuelishness

We are sure that being experienced vehicle maintenance professionals, the information contained herein is not new, but we found it humorous.

With gas and diesel prices on the rise, a lot of folks become more attracted to dozens of “gas saving” products that “increase” mileage. You know, magnets or some exotic metal alloy gizmo that pops on the fuel line that supposedly aligns the fuel molecules up in a way they burn more efficiently. Then there are the chemical additives you can add to the fuel or oil--- that’ll get you 12 to 25% more per gallon.

Pure "fuelishness," say the experts.

"I’ve been with this program for 10 years and from what we’ve seen, none of them works," Peter Kohnken said in an interview.

Mr. Kohnken is a mechanical engineer with the EPA National Vehicle and Fuel Emissions Laboratory in Ann Arbor. His program serves as a truth squad for manufacturers’ often-inflated claims about gas-saving products.

Gas-saving products often claim fuel savings of 12-25 percent. However, EPA evaluations or tests of more than 100 alleged gas-savings products show otherwise.

These “miracle” products usually give you tips on how to make the product work better, like getting a tune-up, avoiding quick stops and acceleration, and engine idling. These suggestions actually give you the better mileage, of course, not the product.

According to the real story, there was a breakthrough from a now legendary Exxon researcher in 1978, who found an oil additive formulation that actually increased gas mileage—by a whopping 1 per cent.  Read the full article from the Toledo Blade.