By Politico…

“Lead was removed from gasoline decades ago. So why is aviation fuel still laced with the metal — a neurotoxin tied to developmental problems in children?

….

Today, toddlers in East San Jose have concentrations of lead in their blood on par with children tested at the height of the drinking water crisis in Flint, Mich., according to a recent study done in coordination with the California Department of Public Health. Meanwhile, aircraft in and out of the airport are flying on leaded gasoline three decades after the U.S. banned the fuel for cars.

Efforts since then to develop unleaded, or even less heavily leaded fuel for small airplanes, have been dependent on the approval of oil and aviation experts who meet through the nonprofit standards organization ASTM International.”

https://www.politico.com/news/2023/02/20/aviation-lead-fuel-00081641

By the State Attorney General’s Office

Wednesday, January 18, 2023

Contact: (916) 210-6000, agpressoffice@doj.ca.gov

OAKLAND – California Attorney General Rob Bonta, leading a multistate coalition of 12 attorneys general, today submitted a comment letter to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) supporting its proposed finding that emissions from the combustion of leaded aviation gasoline (avgas) in piston-engine planes cause or contribute to air pollution that endangers public health and welfare. If finalized, the long-overdue finding will require the EPA to promulgate lead emission standards and regulations for piston-engine planes under the Clean Air Act, and require the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to establish aircraft fuel standards that are consistent with these aircraft lead emission standards. In the comment letter, the attorneys general urge EPA to swiftly finalize its proposed finding and commence its rulemaking process to protect the public – especially environmental justice communities situated near airports for piston-engine planes – from exposure to lead air pollution.
 
“Piston-engine airplanes are the largest source of lead air pollution in the nation, and consequently, communities living, working, and going to school near airports are bearing the brunt of their toxic emissions,” said Attorney General Bonta. “We’re encouraged that the EPA is taking this first important step toward protecting the public from lead pollution from these airplanes. But in order to protect our residents from lead pollution, we urge the EPA to swiftly finalize its proposal and move forward with a rulemaking to set emission standards that do right by our communities and protect public health.” 
 
The negative health impacts of lead exposure are well-documented. Short-term and prolonged lead exposure can cause memory loss, nausea, fatigue, and increase the risk of developing hypertension, heart disease, kidney disease, and infertility. Lead exposure is particularly dangerous for children, whose developing brains and nervous systems are more sensitive to its damaging effects. The impacts of lead exposure in children include behavioral issues, reduced IQ, slowed body growth, and a predisposition to depression, anxiety, or high-risk behavior. There is widespread scientific consensus that there is no safe level of lead exposure for children.
 
The coalition has a vested interest in protecting their residents from lead emissions from piston-engine airplanes. Leaded avgas is the only remaining lead-containing transportation fuel, and its combustion is the single largest contributor of airborne lead emissions in the United States. Piston-engine planes powered by leaded avgas released more than 930,000 pounds of lead in 2017 and are responsible for nearly three-quarters of total lead emissions nationwide.
 
General aviation airports that service these planes are often located near densely populated metropolitan areas, communities impacted by environmental hazards and risks, and residential areas near homes and schools. These emissions are a significant health risk for the more than 16 million people living and 3 million children going to school within one kilometer of an airport. California has 452 general aviation airports that service piston-engine aircraft, which are responsible for 83 percent of the state’s lead emissions. Of these, 111 lead-emitting airports are located in environmental justice communities, where residents are already exposed to excessive levels of ozone, fine particulate matter, and other pollution sources. 
 
Much, if not all, of the lead emissions from piston-engine planes could be avoided. In 2014, the FAA launched the Piston Aviation Fuels Initiative (PAFI) to speed up the “deployment of the most promising unleaded replacements,” but despite FAA’s certification of various unleaded fuels, including two recent fuel replacements suitable for nearly all piston-engine planes, these unleaded aviation fuels have not successfully penetrated the market.  Less than three percent of U.S. airports that service piston-engine planes sell unleaded alternatives.
 
In the comment letter, the attorneys general support EPA’s proposed finding and urge the agency to swiftly issue a final endangerment determination and initiate a rulemaking to regulate lead emissions from avgas. In the comment letter, the attorneys general argue:

• States have a vested interest in protecting their residents from the public health harms associated with exposure to lead pollution from piston-engine planes that use leaded avgas;
• Leaded avgas is a significant and preventable source of airborne lead pollution; and
• EPA must swiftly finalize its proposed finding and address the serious public health and environmental justice harms posed by avgas in a rulemaking for aircraft lead emissions.

Attorney General Bonta and the California Air Resources Board are currently leading multistate litigation challenging the EPA’s ineffective standards regulating greenhouse gas emissions from airplanes.
 
Attorney General Bonta is joined by the attorneys general of Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Wisconsin in filing the comments.
 
A copy of the letter can be found here.

From Seattle Times op-ed…

By Nathan Donley
Special to The Times

“Even small amounts of lead pollution can cause nervous system damage, reduced intelligence, behavioral changes and developmental harms that are often irreversible, especially in children.

Given those well-documented risks, the millions of Americans who live or work in neighborhoods bumping up against the nation’s airstrips have no reason to suspect that the small propeller planes routinely humming overhead are spewing dangerous levels of lead pollution.

But they are. The reality is that leaded aviation fuel, still used in the majority of small propeller planes, is the nation’s largest remaining source of lead emissions, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.”

https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/epa-knows-what-it-must-do-end-the-use-of-leaded-aviation-fuels/

From Flying magazine…

“The aviation community was expecting the announcement and points to progress on unleaded fuel in the market.

On Friday, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its proposed finding on leaded aviation fuel, triggering a response from the consortium of general aviation associations that have been working on the removal of lead from avgas with the FAA and industry partners. Under the EAGLE (Eliminate Aviation Gasoline Lead Emissions) initiative, the collective has demonstrated in recent months its commitment to sunsetting 100LL in a safe, deliberate manner.

The Proposed Endangerment Finding for Lead Emissions from Aircraft Engines that Operate on Leaded Fuel does not call for any immediate ban on avgas containing lead. It’s simply the initial step required for the agency to exercise its authority to “address this source of lead pollution,” which is well known to the GA industry.”

“The performance-enhancing additive prevents engine knock that can lead to sudden engine failure.  But its toxicity has been known since the 1920s, when scientists and health experts warned the federal government in public hearings of the dangers of using it in gasoline fuel.”

“She discovered lots of not great news, with studies showing higher instances of everything from asthma to heart disease to preterm births for those who live and work near airports. But one fact she found stopped her in her tracks.

Shepler learned that, while leaded gas has been fully banned in automobiles due to health concerns since 1996, it’s still widely used by many small planes and helicopters. And out of more than 20,000 airports nationwide, data from the Environmental Protection Agency shows Long Beach Airport ranks No. 2 in country for lead pollution, with planes there emitting nearly 1,600 pounds of lead each year into neighborhoods like the one where Shepler’s twins attend school.”