Gas station relief.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger last week signed into law a measure allocating $8 million in additional financing for gas station owners struggling to comply with an Air Resources Board regulation to install new vapor recovery systems.

The law--AB 96 by Assemblyman Ira Ruskin, D-Redwood City--diverts $8 million from an existing program to replace underground petroleum storage tanks into a special fund. Gas station owners can then apply to the fund for money to help pay for the vapor recovery upgrades, which can cost anywhere from $25,000 to $75,000 per station, depending on the number of pumps.

The air board's regulation, initially passed in 2000, requires the owners of 11,000 gas stations across the state to install systems to recover fuel vapors that might escape into the atmosphere between underground storage tanks and individual gasoline dispensing pumps.

The bill was introduced because many gas stations missed an April 1 deadline to install vapor recovery equipment because they couldn't get financing.

Staff reporter Howard Fine can be reached at [e-mail] or at [phone], ext. 227.