South San Francisco, CA, May 9, 2011. TEC NV-201 (patent pending) approved by CARB for use at ORVR gasoline dispensing facilities (GDFs); a milestone for reducing operating costs at GDFs while maintaining clean air.

With the propagation of Onboard Refueling Vapor Recovery (ORVR) cars and trucks, the use of bulky nozzles at the gas pump will soon become a thing of the past. These nozzles are bulky because they allow for both fuel delivery into the car-tank, and for vapor return from the car-tank to the storage tank; this process is commonly referred to as vapor recovery (VR) and was implemented in the 1970s for the reduction of air pollution.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) studies have shown the installation of VR into cars and trucks was more economical for the nation than installation, operation, and maintenance of VR at each gasoline dispensing facility. As of the following dates all cars, light trucks, and medium duty trucks produced and sold in the US have been equipped with ORVR: 2000, 2003, and 2006 respectively.

As the proportion of ORVR vehicles on the road has reached 100% in most private fleets, and is nearing 80% in most of the nation's states, different Air Quality Management Districts (AQMDs) have searched for means to monitor and reduce fugitive emissions in an ORVR environment. Since 2008, the intelligence compliance group at Technology, Engineering & Construction, Inc. (TEC Inc.), South San Francisco, California, the manufacturer of TEC NV-201 has developed and perfected a web based telemetry system that allows continuous remote desktop monitoring of pressures inside and hydrocarbon emissions out of gasoline storage tanks.

In May 4th, 2011, after a five month evaluation of the TEC NV-201 system, the California Air Resources Control Board (CARB) issued the following statement in a letter to TEC Inc.: "regulatory agencies, including local air pollution control districts and states outside of California may utilize the NV-201 due to its ability to determine and record gasoline storage tank pressures and to alert operators of conditions which indicated potential emissions or failure of vapor containment system".

The approval for use of the TEC NV-201 by one of the toughest Air Boards in the nation will open the use of continuous pressure monitoring to other states. This development is welcome news at a time when the national economy is feeling the effects of very high gas prices; we expect the savings from the elimination of maintenance and operations of vapor recovery hardware will be passed on to consumers.