EPA Releases Proposed Finding on Leaded AvGas

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

Saturday, October 08, 2022 at 09:06 AM ET

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The distribution of unleaded fuel will be initially driven by industry partners to the EAGLE initiative, such as Avfuel. [Photo: Julie Boatman]

Key Takeaways:

The EPA has issued a proposed endangerment finding for lead emissions from aviation fuel, an expected initial step to allow the agency to address lead pollution, primarily citing concerns for children's health.
This EPA finding does not impose an immediate ban on leaded 100LL fuel, and the general aviation industry, through the EAGLE initiative, is already working collaboratively with the FAA towards a safe and deliberate transition to unleaded alternatives.
Significant progress is being made in developing and commercializing unleaded aviation fuels, with GAMI's G100UL receiving FAA approval for nearly all piston engines and Swift Fuels' UL94 already available for a portion of the fleet.

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File it under the category of “We were expecting this.”

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.