FAA Must Move Faster to Remove Leaded Fuels From the Skies, Critics Say

March 3, 2023

The following 2/28/2023 article was written by Dan Ross of Capital and Main.

Fifty years ago, the federal government began a successful process to rid vehicle gasoline of lead, a chemical linked to brain harm and IQ loss. Half a century later, lead continues to be used in the fuels that power the nation's fleet of small aircraft, an additive to stop their piston engines from potentially malfunctioning mid-flight. Today the aviation industry accounts for 70% of lead emissions in the nation — nearly 500 tons that rain down annually. Though ideally not for much longer.

Last September, the federal agency overseeing the nation's aviation industry certified the first lead-free aviation gas for use in the more than 200,000 registered piston engine aircraft that currently use leaded gasolines. This important stamp of approval comes after a mounting, decades-long public outcry and a race among fuel companies like petroleum giant Phillips 66 to create a lead-free aviation alternative.

The winner was a relatively small company out of Oklahoma. But its product, G100UL, is a long way from being widely available on the market. It doesn't have a manufacturer yet. A wholesale transition to unleaded aviation fuels appears years away. And frustrated officials, health experts and community groups blame the Federal Aviation Agency (FAA), saying it is making the switch more difficult than it should be.

"This is the last transportation sector that uses leaded fuel," said U.S. Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), in an interview. The FAA "needs to move faster" to eliminate lead altogether from the nation's aviation industry for the sake of people's health, she added.

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