II

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2546

To amend the Clean Air Act to prohibit the use of methyl tertiary butyl

ether, to provide flexibility within the oxygenate requirement of the

reformulated gasoline program of the Environmental Protection Agency,

to promote the use of renewable ethanol, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MAY 11, 2000

Mr. BOND (for himself, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. GRASSLEY, Mr. ASHCROFT, and Mr.

FITZGERALD) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works

A BILL

To amend the Clean Air Act to prohibit the use of methyl

tertiary butyl ether, to provide flexibility within the oxygenate requirement of the reformulated gasoline program

of the Environmental Protection Agency, to promote the

use of renewable ethanol, and for other purposes.

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 ‘‘Clean Air and Water

5 Preservation Act of 2000’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress finds that—
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1 (1) the oxygenate requirement of the reformu2 lated gasoline program under the Clean Air Act (42

3 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.) has proven to be effective in re4 ducing emissions of exhaust hydrocarbons, nitrous

5 oxide, and carbon monoxide, which are precursors to

6 smog;

7 (2) methyl tertiary butyl ether (referred to in

8 this Act as ‘‘MTBE’’), an oxygenate selected by gas9 oline refiners to comply with regulations promul10 gated under the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7401 et

11 seq.), has been discovered in water sources through12 out the United States;

13 (3) MTBE renders water undrinkable and is

14 considered to be a probable carcinogen by the Envi15 ronmental Protection Agency;

16 (4) MTBE is highly soluble in water and slow

17 to degrade;

18 (5) as little as 1 gallon of MTBE can contami19 nate 26,000,000 gallons of water;

20 (6) ethanol, an alternative oxygenate, is a

21 biobased product that, as compared with MTBE—

22 (A) produces the same reductions in emis23 sions;

24 (B) is not as soluble in water;

25 (C) biodegrades rapidly; and
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1 (D) is considered safe for the environment;

2 (7) the oxygenate requirement of the reformu3 lated gasoline program requires that 2 percent by

4 weight of an oxygenate be added to gasoline;

5 (8) because ethanol contains approximately

6 twice as much as oxygen as MTBE, supplying the

7 reformulated gasoline program with sufficient eth8 anol to replace MTBE would require half the volume

9 of MTBE currently used;

10 (9) the ethanol industry is expanding rapidly;

11 (10) ethanol production capacity in 1998 was

12 estimated at 1,800,000,000 gallons, but new produc13 tion facilities that began operation in 1999 have

14 greatly increased that capacity;

15 (11) a recent report completed for the Gov16 ernors’ Ethanol Coalition concludes that the United

17 States ethanol industry could easily expand ethanol

18 production to more than 3,400,000,000 gallons by

19 2004, which would amply meet the demand for

20 oxygenates created by any MTBE phase-out without

21 causing supply shortages or increased consumer gas22 oline costs;

23 (12) the Department of Agriculture estimates

24 that replacing MTBE with ethanol would—
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1 (A) increase the demand for corn for eth2 anol by more than 500,000,000 bushels each

3 year, improving the price of corn by 14 cents

4 per bushel each year and increasing average

5 total farm cash receipts by $1,000,000,000

6 each year;

7 (B) create 13,000 new jobs; and

8 (C) increase the average annual United

9 States agricultural net export value by more

10 than $200,000,000 and reduce the average an11 nual United States import value of MTBE by

12 $1,100,000,000, resulting in an improved

13 United States trade balance of $1,300,000,000

14 each year;

15 (13) ethanol is an energy-efficient fuel;

16 (14)(A) a 1995 report by the Department of

17 Agriculture estimated that 1 gallon of ethanol pro18 vides 25 percent more energy than is required to

19 produce the gallon; and

20 (B) other studies demonstrate that the net en21 ergy gain potential of ethanol could exceed 150 per22 cent when state-of-the-art agricultural and produc23 tion technologies are used;

24 (15) ethanol has been proven to enhance the

25 performance of automobiles, and all vehicle manu-
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1 facturers approve the use of 10 percent ethanol2 blended fuels;

3 (16) replacing MTBE with ethanol would main4 tain the emission reductions obtained through the

5 reformulated gasoline program without the water

6 contamination problems associated with MTBE;

7 (17) in implementing Public Law 101–549 and

8 the amendments made by that Public Law (referred

9 to in this section as the ‘‘Clean Air Act Amendments

10 of 1990’’), the Environmental Protection Agency re11 quires, by regulation, that each gallon of gasoline

12 sold under the reformulated gasoline program con13 tain a minimum of 1.5 percent by weight of oxygen14 ate;

15 (18) that requirement—

16 (A) was not the intent of Congress in en17 acting the oxygenate requirement; and

18 (B) prohibits the most efficient use of

19 oxygenates;

20 (19) rescinding that regulatory requirement

21 would provide—

22 (A) to refiners, more flexibility in com23 plying with the reformulated gasoline program;

24 and
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1 (B) to consumers of gasoline, a stable sup2 ply of high performance gasoline;

3 (20) because increased flexibility in the use of

4 oxygenates could lead to increases in the use of aro5 matics (many of which are known carcinogens), and

6 in the emission of toxic air pollutants, a limit on the

7 quantity of aromatics added to gasoline and a prohi8 bition on an increase in emissions of toxic air pollut9 ants above the level achieved by using reformulated

10 gasoline are necessary to protect human health and

11 the environment;

12 (21) when Congress enacted the Clean Air Act

13 Amendments of 1990, volatile organic compounds

14 were thought to be the principal precursors to ozone

15 formation;

16 (22) the weight of the scientific evidence accu17 mulated since the enactment of the Clean Air Act

18 Amendments of 1990 indicates that carbon mon19 oxide is an increasingly significant ozone precursor;

20 (23) off-road engines generate high levels of

21 emissions of volatile organic compounds and carbon

22 monoxide relative to on-road engines, because off23 road engines are not typically equipped with emis24 sion control systems;
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1 (24) emissions of volatile organic compounds

2 and carbon monoxide from off-road engines are sig3 nificantly reduced when oxygenates are present in

4 the fuel;

5 (25) adding oxygen to gasoline provides unique

6 air quality benefits that exceed those ensured by the

7 performance standards under the Clean Air Act (42

8 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.), including reductions in exhaust

9 hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, and fine particu10 lates; and

11 (26) oxygenates are the only means of reducing

12 emissions from non-catalyst off-road engines that

13 are a major source of ozone pollution in urban areas.

14 SEC. 3. USE OF MTBE AS A FUEL ADDITIVE.

15 (a) PROHIBITION ON USE OF MTBE AND OTHER

16 ETHER COMPOUNDS.—Section 211(c) of the Clean Air

17 Act (42 U.S.C. 7545(c)) is amended by adding at the end

18 the following:

19 ‘‘(5) PROHIBITION ON USE OF MTBE AND

20 OTHER ETHER COMPOUNDS.—

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara22 graph (B), the regulations promulgated under

23 paragraph (1) shall prohibit the use of methyl

24 tertiary butyl ether or any other ether com25 pound as a fuel additive.
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1 ‘‘(B) WAIVER.—The Administrator may by

2 regulation waive the prohibition under subpara3 graph (A) with respect to an ether compound

4 other than methyl tertiary butyl ether if the Ad5 ministrator determines that the use of the ether

6 compound as a fuel additive will not pose a sig7 nificant risk to human health or the environ8 ment.’’.

9 (b) REGULATIONS.—As soon as practicable after the

10 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the

11 Environmental Protection Agency shall revise the regula12 tions promulgated under section 211(c)(1) of the Clean

13 Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7545(c)(1)) to conform to the amend14 ment made by subsection (a).

15 (c) LABELING.—During the period beginning on the

16 date of enactment of this Act and ending 3 years after

17 that date, the Administrator of the Environmental Protec18 tion Agency shall require any person selling at retail gaso19 line that contains methyl tertiary butyl ether to promi20 nently label the fuel dispensing system for the gasoline

21 with a notice that the gasoline contains methyl tertiary

22 butyl ether.

23 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Subsection (a) takes effect

24 3 years after the date of enactment of this Act.
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1 SEC. 4. CLEANUP GUIDELINES FOR CONTAMINATION OF

2 WATER BY MTBE.

3 Section 1442 of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42

4 U.S.C. 300j–1) is amended by adding at the end the fol5 lowing:

6 ‘‘(f) CLEANUP GUIDELINES FOR MTBE CONTAMINA7 TION.—The Administrator shall develop technical guide8 lines to assist States in the investigation and cleanup of

9 methyl tertiary butyl ether in ground water.’’.

10 SEC. 5. OXYGEN AVERAGING UNDER THE REFORMULATED

11 GASOLINE PROGRAM.

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 211(k) of the Clean Air

13 Act (42 U.S.C. 7545(k)) is amended—

14 (1) in paragraphs (2)(B) and (3)(A)(v), by in15 serting ‘‘averaged on an annual basis’’ after ‘‘2.0

16 percent by weight’’ each place it appears; and

17 (2) in paragraph (2)(B), by adding at the end

18 the following: ‘‘The regulations shall not specify a

19 minimum oxygen content.’’.

20 (b) REGULATIONS.—Not later than October 1, 2000,

21 the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agen22 cy shall revise the regulations promulgated under section

23 211(k) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7545(k)) to con24 form to the amendments made by subsection (a).
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1 SEC. 6. ANTI-BACKSLIDING.

2 Section 211(k)(3)(B) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C.

3 7545(k)(3)(B)) is amended—

4 (1) by striking ‘‘Any reduction’’ and inserting

5 the following:

6 ‘‘(iii) TREATMENT OF GREATER RE7 DUCTIONS.—Any reduction’’; and

8 (2) by adding at the end the following:

9 ‘‘(iv) OZONE ANTI-BACKSLIDING PRO10 VISION.—

11 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Not later

12 than October 1, 2000, the Adminis13 trator shall revise the performance

14 standards under this subparagraph to

15 ensure that the ozone-forming poten16 tial, taking into account all ozone pre17 cursors (including volatile organic

18 compounds, oxides of nitrogen, and

19 carbon monoxide), of the aggregate

20 emissions during the high ozone sea21 son (as determined by the Adminis22 trator) from baseline vehicles when

23 using reformulated gasoline does not

24 exceed the ozone-forming potential of

25 the aggregate emissions during the

26 high ozone season from baseline vehi-
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1 cles when using reformulated gasoline

2 that complies with the regulations

3 that—

4 ‘‘(aa) were in effect on Sep5 tember 1, 1999; and

6 ‘‘(bb) were applicable to re7 formulated gasoline sold in cal8 endar year 2000 and subsequent

9 calendar years.

10 ‘‘(II) ADJUSTMENT FOR EMIS11 SIONS OF CARBON MONOXIDE.—

12 ‘‘(aa) IN GENERAL.—In car13 rying out subclause (I), the Ad14 ministrator shall adjust the per15 formance standard for emissions

16 of volatile organic compounds

17 under this subparagraph to ac18 count for emissions of carbon

19 monoxide that are greater than

20 or less than the carbon monoxide

21 baseline determined under item

22 (bb).

23 ‘‘(bb) CARBON MONOXIDE

24 BASELINE.—The carbon mon25 oxide baseline shall be equal to
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1 the mass carbon monoxide emis2 sions achieved by reformulated

3 gasoline that contains 2 percent

4 oxygen by weight and meets the

5 other performance standards

6 under this subparagraph.

7 ‘‘(III) UPDATING OF BASELINE

8 VEHICLES.—Not later than 3 years

9 after the date of enactment of this

10 clause, the Administrator shall revise

11 the performance standards under this

12 subparagraph by redefining the term

13 ‘baseline vehicles’ as used in this

14 clause to mean vehicles representative

15 of vehicles (including off-road vehi16 cles) in use as of January 1, 2000.

17 ‘‘(v) TOXICS AND PARTICULATE MAT18 TER ANTI-BACKSLIDING PROVISION.—

19 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Not later

20 than October 1, 2000, the Adminis21 trator shall revise the performance

22 standards under this subparagraph to

23 ensure that the aggregate emissions of

24 precursors of pollutants specified in

25 subclause (II) from baseline vehicles
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1 when using reformulated gasoline do

2 not exceed the aggregate emissions of

3 precursors of pollutants specified in

4 subclause (II) from baseline vehicles

5 when using reformulated gasoline that

6 complies with the regulations that—

7 ‘‘(aa) were in effect on Jan8 uary 1, 2000; and

9 ‘‘(bb) were applicable to re10 formulated gasoline sold in cal11 endar year 2000 and subsequent

12 calendar years.

13 ‘‘(II) SPECIFIED POLLUTANTS.—

14 The pollutants referred to in sub15 clause (I) are—

16 ‘‘(aa) toxic air pollutants, as

17 measured according to their tox18 icity;

19 ‘‘(bb) PM–10; and

20 ‘‘(cc) fine particulate mat21 ter.

22 ‘‘(vi) AROMATIC CONTENT OF REFOR23 MULATED GASOLINE.—

24 ‘‘(I) AVERAGE.—Subject to sub25 clause (II), the average aromatic hy-
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1 drocarbon content of reformulated

2 gasoline shall not exceed the average

3 aromatic hydrocarbon content of re4 formulated gasoline sold in covered

5 areas for use in baseline vehicles when

6 using reformulated gasoline during

7 calendar year 2000.

8 ‘‘(II) MAXIMUM.—No reformu9 lated gasoline shall have an aromatic

10 hydrocarbon content in excess of 30

11 percent.

12 ‘‘(vii) OLEFIN CONTENT OF REFOR13 MULATED GASOLINE.—

14 ‘‘(I) AVERAGE.—Subject to sub15 clause (II), the average olefin content

16 of reformulated gasoline shall not ex17 ceed the average olefin content of re18 formulated gasoline sold in covered

19 areas for use in baseline vehicles when

20 using reformulated gasoline during

21 calendar year 2000.

22 ‘‘(II) MAXIMUM.—No reformu23 lated gasoline shall have an olefin con24 tent in excess of 10 percent.’’.
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1 SEC. 7. REVISION OF WAIVER PROVISION.

2 Section 211(k) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C.

3 7545(k)) is amended—

4 (1) in paragraph (2)(B), by striking the second

5 sentence;

6 (2) by redesignating paragraph (10) as para7 graph (11); and

8 (3) by inserting after paragraph (9) the fol9 lowing:

10 ‘‘(10) TEMPORARY REDUCTION OF OXYGEN

11 CONTENT REQUIREMENT.—

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If the Secretary of

13 Energy, with the concurrence of the Secretary

14 of Agriculture, finds that there is an insuffi15 cient domestic supply of oxygenates to meet the

16 oxygen content requirement of paragraphs

17 (2)(B) and (3)(A)(v), the Administrator may, in

18 accordance with section 307, promulgate regu19 lations temporarily reducing the oxygen content

20 requirement to the extent necessary to ensure

21 an adequate supply of oxygenates.

22 ‘‘(B) DURATION OF REDUCTION.—

23 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A temporary re24 duction in the oxygen content requirement

25 under subparagraph (A) shall remain in ef26 fect for a period of 90 days unless the Sec-
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1 retary of Energy finds, before the end of

2 that period, that an adequate supply of

3 oxygenates exists.

4 ‘‘(ii) EXTENSION.—Upon the expira5 tion of the 90-day period under clause (i),

6 the temporary reduction in the oxygen con7 tent requirement may be extended for an

8 additional 90-day period in accordance

9 with subparagraph (A).

10 ‘‘(C) MAINTENANCE OF ENVIRONMENTAL

11 BENEFITS.—Regulations promulgated under

12 subparagraph (A) shall ensure that the environ13 mental benefits of reformulated gasoline are

14 maintained during the period of the temporary

15 reduction in the oxygen content requirement.’’.

16 SEC. 8. ADDITIONAL OPT-IN AREAS UNDER REFORMU17 LATED GASOLINE PROGRAM.

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

19 7545(k)(6)) is amended—

20 (1) by striking ‘‘(6) OPT-IN AREAS.—(A)

21 Upon’’ and inserting the following:

22 ‘‘(6) OPT-IN AREAS.—

23 ‘‘(A) CLASSIFIED AREAS.—

24 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Upon’’;
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1 (2) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘(B) If’’

2 and inserting the following:

3 ‘‘(ii) EFFECT OF INSUFFICIENT DO4 MESTIC CAPACITY TO PRODUCE REFORMU5 LATED GASOLINE.—If’’;

6 (3) in subparagraph (A)(ii) (as so redesig7 nated)—

8 (A) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘sub9 paragraph (A)’’ and inserting ‘‘clause (i)’’; and

10 (B) in the second sentence, by striking

11 ‘‘this paragraph’’ and inserting ‘‘this subpara12 graph’’; and

13 (4) by adding at the end the following:

14 ‘‘(B) NONCLASSIFIED AREAS.—

15 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Upon the applica16 tion of the Governor of a State, the Ad17 ministrator shall apply the prohibition

18 specified in paragraph (5) in any area in

19 the State that is not a covered area or an

20 area referred to in subparagraph (A)(i).

21 ‘‘(ii) PUBLICATION OF APPLICA22 TION.—As soon as practicable after receipt

23 of an application under clause (i), the Ad24 ministrator shall publish the application in

25 the Federal Register.’’.
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1 SEC. 9. ANTI-DUMPING RULES.

2 The Administrator of the Environmental Protection

3 Agency shall revise the regulations promulgated under sec4 tion 211(k)(8) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C.

5 7545(k)(8)) to ensure that this Act and the amendments

6 made by this Act do not result in any increased emissions

7 in areas that are not covered areas (as defined in section

8 211(k)(11) of the Clean Air Act (as redesignated by sec9 tion 7(a)(2))).

10 SEC. 10. STATE REASONABLE FURTHER PROGRESS DEM11 ONSTRATIONS.

12 Section 182(c)(2)(B) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C.

13 7511a(c)(2)(B)) is amended by adding at the end the fol14 lowing: ‘‘In making the demonstration required under this

15 subparagraph, a State may claim as a credit toward the

16 requirement for VOC emission reductions an amount

17 equivalent to the ozone-forming potential of carbon mon18 oxide emission reductions attributable to any amount by

19 which the average oxygen content of reformulated gasoline

20 sold in the State exceeds 2 percent.’’.

21 SEC. 11. PREVENTION OF EFFECTS ON HIGHWAY APPOR22 TIONMENTS.

23 (a) SURFACE TRANSPORTATION PROGRAM.—Section

24 104(b)(3) of title 23, United States Code, is amended by

25 adding at the end the following:
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1 ‘‘(C) DETERMINATION OF ESTIMATED TAX

2 PAYMENTS.—For the purpose of determining

3 under subparagraph (A)(iii) the estimated tax

4 payments attributable to highway users in a

5 State paid into the Highway Trust Fund (other

6 than the Mass Transit Account) in a fiscal

7 year, the amount paid into the Highway Trust

8 Fund with respect to the sale of gasohol or

9 other fuels containing alcohol by reason of the

10 tax imposed by section 4041 (relating to special

11 fuels) or 4081 (relating to gasoline) of the In12 ternal Revenue Code of 1986 shall be treated as

13 being equal to the amount that would have been

14 so imposed with respect to that sale without re15 gard to the reduction in revenues resulting from

16 the application of the regulations promulgated

17 under section 211(c)(5) of the Clean Air Act

18 (42 U.S.C. 7545(c)(5)) and the following provi19 sions of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986:

20 ‘‘(i) Section 4041(b)(2) (relating to

21 exemption for qualified methanol and eth22 anol fuel).

23 ‘‘(ii) Section 4041(k) (relating to fuels

24 containing alcohol).
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1 ‘‘(iii) Section 4041(m) (relating to

2 certain alcohol fuels).

3 ‘‘(iv) Section 4081(c) (relating to re4 duced rate on gasoline mixed with alco5 hol).’’.

6 (b) MINIMUM GUARANTEE.—Section 105(f)(1) of

7 title 23, United States Code, is amended—

8 (A) by striking ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Be9 fore’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘(1) IN GEN10 ERAL.—

11 ‘‘(A) ADJUSTMENT.—Before’’; and

12 (B) by adding at the end the following:

13 ‘‘(B) DETERMINATION OF ESTIMATED TAX

14 PAYMENTS.—For the purpose of determining

15 under this subsection the estimated tax pay16 ments attributable to highway users in a State

17 paid into the Highway Trust Fund (other than

18 the Mass Transit Account) in a fiscal year, the

19 amount paid into the Highway Trust Fund with

20 respect to the sale of gasohol or other fuels con21 taining alcohol by reason of the tax imposed by

22 section 4041 (relating to special fuels) or 4081

23 (relating to gasoline) of the Internal Revenue

24 Code of 1986 shall be treated as being equal to

25 the amount that would have been so imposed
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1 with respect to that sale without regard to the

2 reduction in revenues resulting from the appli3 cation of the regulations promulgated under

4 section 211(c)(5) of the Clean Air Act (42

5 U.S.C. 7545(c)(5)) and the following provisions

6 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986:

7 ‘‘(i) Section 4041(b)(2) (relating to

8 exemption for qualified methanol and eth9 anol fuel).

10 ‘‘(ii) Section 4041(k) (relating to fuels

11 containing alcohol).

12 ‘‘(iii) Section 4041(m) (relating to

13 certain alcohol fuels).

14 ‘‘(iv) Section 4081(c) (relating to re15 duced rate on gasoline mixed with alco16 hol).’’.

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