By Tom Neltner and Mariah Walters Orose
What Happened
After years of analysis, in October 2023, EPA determined that emissions from the use of leaded aviation gas may reasonably be anticipated to endanger public health and welfare. These emissions come primarily from spark-ignition, piston-engine aircraft — typically planes and helicopters that carry 2 to 10 people. Jet aircraft used for commercial transport do not operate on fuel that contains lead. This action triggers a statutory duty for EPA to establish emission standards and for FAA to adopt fuel standards and certification standards to ensure compliance.
In May 2024, Congress directed1 the agencies and industry to safely replace leaded fuel with unleaded alternatives by the end of 2030 outside of Alaska and by 2032 in Alaska.2 It also laid out a process to accomplish this mandate built around the existing FAA industry partnership known as Eliminate Aviation Gasoline Lead Emissions Initiative (“EAGLE Initiative”).
In January 2026, FAA released a draft Transition Plan outlining a comprehensive framework to meet the deadline. The plan consists of four phases: fuel authorizations and comparisons; gain market experience; national transition; and Alaska transition. FAA is taking comment until March 13, 2026.3 The EAGLE Initiative also has excellent interactive tools to track progress including airport adoptions.
Unleaded Kids submitted comments this week in support of the draft transition plan. We had three primary concerns and provided FAA with specific recommendations to address those issues:
- Describe the public health concerns that are motivating FAA and the aviation community to seek alternative fuels.
- Add dates for key interim milestones so stakeholders can evaluate whether plan is on track to meet deadlines.
- Add milestones for FAA and EPA to issue regulations essential to shaping market forces and meeting the deadlines.
Why It Matters
Tetraethyl lead has been added to gasoline for more than 100 years. The U.S. began phasing it out of automobile gasoline in the 1970s. According to FAA, aviation gas is the last transportation fuel to have tetraethyl lead added to it.
Today, the dominant leaded aviation gas is known as 100-octane low lead (100LL), and 180 million gallons of it was produced in 2023. This use spreads roughly 800,000 pounds of lead across the United States each year.4
These emissions are concentrated around the airports serving small aircraft with people living near these airports having higher blood lead levels. EPA found the most significant emissions occur near the areas with greatest fuel consumption — where the aircraft are stationary and running, especially where pilots conduct engine tests during run-up operations prior to take off.
EPA observed that there is a greater prevalence of people of color and of low-income populations within 500 meters or one kilometer of some airports than those living further away. It also found potential impacts to agricultural products and aquatic ecosystems. In addition, pilots and mechanics may be exposed to lead, and they may discard the fuel onto tarmac or ground and contaminate surface or ground water with harmful levels of tetraethyl lead.
Our Take
We are pleased to see FAA issue a draft transition plan, and we hope to see our concerns addressed in the final plan.
The end of 2030 is less than 5 years away. In the coming years, more than 10,000 public and private airports and heliports and more than 175,000 aircraft will have to transition to one or more of the 3 unleaded fuels. It is a huge undertaking that is critical to public health — especially to One Health — for all life around airports. Fortunately, the industry appears to engaged, and the sole provider of tetraethyl lead plans to discontinue production by 2030.
To support the efforts, we encourage state and local lead poisoning prevention programs to include transition to unleaded aviation fuels in their risk assessments and communications. As we explained in a November blog about an EPA study in Cincinnati and Grand Rapids focused on lead pipes, the contribution of small airports cannot be overlooked.
California provides a good example. In a map of the risk of childhood lead exposure, a census tract within 1 kilometer of an airport using leaded aviation fuel is 1 of 8 indicators. In addition, FAA’s EAGLE Initiative tool makes it easier since people can use the map to check the status of airports and heliports in their area.
- See statutory notes to 49 U.S.C. § 44714. ↩︎
- Alaska was given two more years because of its dependence on piston-engine aircraft and cold-weather challenges in making the transition. ↩︎
- Comments must be submitted by email in a specific format. See FAA’s webpage for draft publications open for comment. Click here for the Draft Transition Plan. ↩︎
- The maximum concentration of lead in 100LL is 2.12 grams per gallon. ↩︎