I
106TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4011
To amend section 211 of the Clean Air Act to prohibit the use of MTBE,
to provide flexibility within the oxygenate requirement of the Environ-
mental Protection Agency’s Reformulated Gasoline Program, to promote
the use of renewable ethanol, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 16, 2000
Mr. GANSKE (for himself, Mr. SHIMKUS, Mr. BARRETT of Nebraska, Mr.
EVANS, Mr. LEACH, Mr. BOSWELL, Mr. LATHAM, Mr. MINGE, Mr.
LAHOOD, Mr. RAMSTAD, Mr. TERRY, Mr. PHELPS, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr.
WELLER, Mr. BLUNT, Ms. DANNER, Mr. EWING, Mr. UPTON, Mr.
THUNE, Mr. HULSHOF, Mr. VENTO, Mr. BOEHLERT, Mr. MANZULLO,
Mr. SOUDER, and Mr. STRICKLAND) introduced the following bill; which
was referred to the Committee on Commerce
A BILL
To amend section 211 of the Clean Air Act to prohibit
the use of MTBE, to provide flexibility within the oxy-
genate requirement of the Environmental Protection
Agency’s Reformulated Gasoline Program, to promote
the use of renewable ethanol, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited at the ‘‘Clean Air and Water
Preservation Act of 2000’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds that:
(1) The oxygenate requirement of the reformu-
lated gasoline (‘‘RFG’’) program has proven effec-
tive in reducing emissions of exhaust hydrocarbons,
nitrous oxide and carbon monoxide, known precur-
sors to smog.
(2) One oxygenate chosen by gasoline refiners
to comply with the Clean Air Act regulations, methyl
tertiary butyl ether (‘‘MTBE’’), has been discovered
in water sources throughout the nation.
(3) MTBE renders water undrinkable and is
considered a probable carcinogen by the Environ-
mental Protection Agency.
(4) MTBE is highly soluble in water and slow
to degrade. Only one gallon of MTBE is required to
contaminate 26 million gallons of water.
(5) An alternative oxygenate, ethanol, is a
biobased product which produces the same reduc-
tions in emissions, is not as soluble in water, bio-
degrades rapidly, and is considered safe for the envi-
ronment.
(6) The oxygenate requirement of the RFG pro-
gram requires 2 percent by weight of an oxygenate
be added to gasoline. Ethanol contains approxi-
mately twice as much as oxygen as MTBE, therefore
supplying the RFG program with sufficient ethanol
to replace MTBE would require half the volume of
MTBE currently used.
(7) The ethanol industry is expanding rapidly.
Production capacity in 1998 was estimated at 1.8
billion gallons. New production facilities that came
on line in 1999 has greatly increased this capacity.
(8) The Department of Agriculture projects the
domestic ethanol industry will be able to produce the
approximately 3.1 billion gallons of ethanol nec-
essary to replace MTBE by 2004.
(9) The U.S. Department of Agriculture esti-
mates that replacing MTBE with ethanol will (A) in-
crease the demand for corn for ethanol by more than
500 million bushels each year, improving the price of
corn by 14 cents per bushel each year and increasing
average total farm cash receipts by $1 billion each
year; (B) create 13,000 new jobs; and (C) increase
average US agricultural net export value by more
than $200 million and reduce US import value of
MTBE by $1.1 billion for an improved US trade
balance of $1.3 billion each year.
(10) Ethanol is an energy efficient fuel. A 1995
report by the USDA estimated one gallon of ethanol
provides 25 percent more energy than production re-
quires. Other studies show the net energy gain po-
tential of ethanol could exceed 150 percent when
state-of-the art agricultural and production tech-
nologies are used.
(11) Ethanol is proven to enhance the perform-
ance of automobiles. Currently, all vehicle manufac-
turers approve the use of 10 percent ethanol blended
fuels.
(12) Replacing MTBE with ethanol would
maintain the emissions reductions obtained through
the RFG program without the water contamination
problems associated with MTBE.
(13) When implementing the Clean Air Act
Amendments of 1990, the Environmental Protection
Agency required, by regulation, that each gallon of
gasoline sold in the RFG program contain a min-
imum of 1.5 percent by weight of oxygenate. This
was not the intent of Congress in passing the oxy-
genate requirement and prohibits the most efficient
use of oxygenates. Lifting this regulatory require-
ment will provide refiners more flexibility for com-
plying with the RFG program and provide high per-
formance gasoline year-round.
(14) Providing such flexibility in the use of
oxygenates could lead to an increase in the use of