II

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2233

To prohibit the use of, and provide for remediation of water contaminated

by, methyl tertiary butyl ether.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MARCH 8, 2000

Mr. FITZGERALD (for himself, Mr. BAYH, Mr. ABRAHAM, Mr. KOHL, Mr.

GRASSLEY, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. BROWNBACK, and Mr. GRAMS) introduced

the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee

on Environment and Public Works

A BILL

To prohibit the use of, and provide for remediation of water

contaminated by, methyl tertiary butyl ether.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘MTBE Elimination

5 Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF THE SENATE.

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—

8 (1) a single cup of MTBE, equal to the quan9 tity found in 1 gallon of gasoline oxygenated with
2

•S 2233 IS

1 MTBE, renders all of the water in a 5,000,000-gal2 lon well undrinkable;

3 (2) the physical properties of MTBE allow

4 MTBE to pass easily from gasoline to air to water,

5 or from gasoline directly to water, but MTBE does

6 not—

7 (A) readily attach to soil particles; or

8 (B) naturally degrade;

9 (3) the development of tumors and nervous sys10 tem disorders in mice and rats has been linked to

11 exposure to MTBE and tertiary butyl alcohol and

12 formaldehyde, which are 2 metabolic byproducts of

13 MTBE;

14 (4) reproductive and developmental studies of

15 MTBE indicate that exposure of a pregnant female

16 to MTBE through inhalation can—

17 (A) result in maternal toxicity; and

18 (B) have possible adverse effects on a de19 veloping fetus;

20 (5) the Health Effects Institute reported in

21 February 1996 that the studies of MTBE support

22 its classification as a neurotoxicant and suggest that

23 its primary effect is likely to be in the form of acute

24 impairment;
3

•S 2233 IS

1 (6) people with higher levels of MTBE in the

2 bloodstream are significantly more likely to report

3 more headaches, eye irritation, nausea, dizziness,

4 burning of the nose and throat, coughing, disorienta5 tion, and vomiting as compared with those who have

6 lower levels of MTBE in the bloodstream;

7 (7) available information has shown that

8 MTBE significantly reduces the efficiency of tech9 nologies used to remediate water contaminated by

10 petroleum hydrocarbons;

11 (8) the costs of remediation of MTBE water

12 contamination throughout the United States could

13 run into the billions of dollars;

14 (9) although several studies are being con15 ducted to assess possible methods to remediate

16 drinking water contaminated by MTBE, there have

17 been no engineering solutions to make such remedi18 ation cost-efficient and practicable;

19 (10) the remediation of drinking water contami20 nated by MTBE, involving the stripping of millions

21 of gallons of contaminated ground water, can cost

22 millions of dollars per municipality;

23 (11) the average cost of a single industrial

24 cleanup involving MTBE contamination is approxi25 mately $150,000;
4

•S 2233 IS

1 (12) the average cost of a single cleanup involv2 ing MTBE contamination that is conducted by a

3 small business or a homeowner is approximately

4 $37,000;

5 (13) the reformulated gasoline program under

6 section 211(k) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C.

7 7545(k)) has resulted in substantial reductions in

8 the emissions of a number of air pollutants from

9 motor vehicles, including volatile organic compounds,

10 carbon monoxide, and mobile-source toxic air pollut11 ants, including benzene;

12 (14) in assessing oxygenate alternatives, the

13 Blue Ribbon Panel of the Environmental Protection

14 Agency determined that ethanol, made from domes15 tic grain and potentially from recycled biomass, is an

16 effective fuel-blending component that—

17 (A) provides carbon monoxide emission

18 benefits and high octane; and

19 (B) appears to contribute to the reduction

20 of the use of aromatics, providing reductions in

21 emissions of toxic air pollutants and other air

22 quality benefits;

23 (15) the Department of Agriculture concluded

24 that ethanol production and distribution could be ex25 panded to meet the needs of the reformulated gaso-
5

•S 2233 IS

1 line program in 4 years, with negligible price im2 pacts and no interruptions in supply; and

3 (16) because the reformulated gasoline program

4 is a source of clean air benefits, and ethanol is a via5 ble alternative that provides air quality and eco6 nomic benefits, research and development efforts

7 should be directed to assess infrastructure and meet

8 other challenges necessary to allow ethanol use to

9 expand sufficiently to meet the requirements of the

10 reformulated gasoline program as the use of MTBE

11 is phased out.

12 (b) SENSE OF THE SENATE.—It is the sense of the

13 Senate that the Administrator of the Environmental Pro14 tection Agency should provide technical assistance, infor15 mation, and matching funds to help local communities—

16 (1) test drinking water supplies; and

17 (2) remediate drinking water contaminated with

18 methyl tertiary butyl ether.

19 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

20 In this Act:

21 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis22 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ23 mental Protection Agency.

24 (2) ELIGIBLE GRANTEE.—The term ‘‘eligible

25 grantee’’ means—
6

•S 2233 IS

1 (A) a Federal research agency;

2 (B) a national laboratory;

3 (C) a college or university or a research

4 foundation maintained by a college or univer5 sity;

6 (D) a private research organization with

7 an established and demonstrated capacity to

8 perform research or technology transfer; or

9 (E) a State environmental research facility.

10 (3) MTBE.—The term ‘‘MTBE’’ means methyl

11 tertiary butyl ether.

12 SEC. 4. USE AND LABELING OF MTBE AS A FUEL ADDITIVE.

13 Section 6 of the Toxic Substances Control Act (15

14 U.S.C. 2605) is amended by adding at the end the fol15 lowing:

16 ‘‘(f) USE OF METHYL TERTIARY BUTYL ETHER.—

17 ‘‘(1) PROHIBITION ON USE.—Effective begin18 ning on the date that is 3 years after the date of

19 enactment of this subsection, a person shall not use

20 methyl tertiary butyl ether as a fuel additive.

21 ‘‘(2) LABELING OF FUEL DISPENSING SYSTEMS

22 FOR MTBE.—Any person selling oxygenated gasoline

23 containing methyl tertiary butyl ether at retail shall

24 be required under regulations promulgated by the
7

•S 2233 IS

1 Administrator to label the fuel dispensing system

2 with a notice that—

3 ‘‘(A) specifies that the gasoline contains

4 methyl tertiary butyl ether; and

5 ‘‘(B) provides such other information con6 cerning methyl tertiary butyl ether as the Ad7 ministrator determines to be appropriate.

8 ‘‘(3) REGULATIONS.—As soon as practicable

9 after the date of enactment of this subsection, the

10 Administrator shall establish a schedule that pro11 vides for an annual phased reduction in the quantity

12 of methyl tertiary butyl ether that may be used as

13 a fuel additive during the 3-year period beginning on

14 the date of enactment of this subsection.’’.

15 SEC. 5. GRANTS FOR RESEARCH ON MTBE GROUND WATER

16 CONTAMINATION AND REMEDIATION.

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—

18 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a

19 MTBE research grants program within the Environ20 mental Protection Agency.

21 (2) PURPOSE OF GRANTS.—The Administrator

22 may make a grant under this section to an eligible

23 grantee to pay the Federal share of the costs of re24 search on—
8

•S 2233 IS

1 (A) the development of more cost-effective

2 and accurate MTBE ground water testing

3 methods;

4 (B) the development of more efficient and

5 cost-effective remediation procedures for water

6 sources contaminated with MTBE; or

7 (C) the potential effects of MTBE on

8 human health.

9 (b) ADMINISTRATION.—

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—In making grants under this

11 section, the Administrator shall—

12 (A) seek and accept proposals for grants;

13 (B) determine the relevance and merit of

14 proposals;

15 (C) award grants on the basis of merit,

16 quality, and relevance to advancing the pur17 poses for which a grant may be awarded under

18 subsection (a); and

19 (D) give priority to those proposals the ap20 plicants for which demonstrate the availability

21 of matching funds.

22 (2) COMPETITIVE BASIS.—A grant under this

23 section shall be awarded on a competitive basis.

24 (3) TERM.—A grant under this section shall

25 have a term that does not exceed 4 years.
9

•S 2233 IS

1 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is

2 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section

3 $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2001 through 2004.

Æ