I
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 608
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
FEBRUARY 14, 2001
Mr. GANSKE (for himself, Mr. SHIMKUS, Mr. EVANS, Mr. LATHAM, Mr.
WELLER, Mr. BLAGOJEVICH, Mr. LEACH, Mr. COSTELLO, Mr. PHELPS,
Mr. RAMSTAD, Mr. UPTON, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. LAHOOD, Mr. BOSWELL,
Mr. MANZULLO, Mr. TERRY, Mr. ENGLISH, Mr. JOHNSON of Illinois,
Mrs. THURMAN, Mr. RYUN of Kansas, Mr. BEREUTER, Mr. SOUDER, Mr.
SIMPSON, Mr. GRAVES, Mr. OSBORNE, Mr. WHITFIELD, and Mrs. EMER-
SON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee
on Energy and 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 2001’’.
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
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
aromatics, many of which are known carcinogens.
Therefore, a limit on the amount of aromatics added
to gasoline is necessary to protect public health.
(15) Providing such flexibility in the use of
oxygenates could lead to an increase in emissions.
Therefore, a prohibition against an increase in emis-
sions above the level achieved by RFG gasoline is
necessary to protect air quality.
SEC. 3. USE OF MTBE AS A FUEL ADDITIVE.
(a) MTBE BAN.—Section 211(c) of the Clean Air
Act (42 U.S.C. 7545(c)) is amended by adding at the end
of paragraph (1) the following: ‘‘The regulations under
this paragraph shall prohibit the use of methyl tertiary
butyl ether (MTBE) as a fuel additive.’’.
(b) REGULATIONS.—The Administrator of the Envi-
ronmental Protection Agency shall amend the regulations
under section 211(c)(1) of the Clean Air Act as promptly
as practicable after the date of enactment of this Act to
conform to the amendment made by subsection (a) of this
section.
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Subsection (a) of this section
shall take effect upon the expiration of the three-year pe-
riod beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act.
(d) LABELING.—During the period beginning on the
date of enactment of this Act and ending three years from
the date of enactment, the Administrator of the Environ-
mental Protection Agency shall require any person selling
gasoline that contains methyl tertiary butyl ether at retail
to prominently label the fuel dispensing system for the
gasoline with a notice that the gasoline contains methyl
tertiary butyl ether (‘MTBE’).
SEC. 4. EXISTING MTBE WATER CONTAMINATION.
(a) STATE
SOURCE
WATER
ASSESSMENT
PRO-
GRAMS.—Section 1453(a) of the Safe Drinking Water Act
is amended by adding the following at the end thereof:
‘‘(8) MTBE CONTAMINATION.—The Adminis-
trator shall amend the guidelines under this sub-
section to require that State source water assess-
ment programs be revised to prioritize groundwater
areas and aquifers that have been contaminated, or
are most vulnerable to contamination, by methyl ter-
tiary butyl ether (‘MTBE’). Each such revision shall
be submitted and approved or disapproved by the
Administrator in accordance with the same deadlines
as applicable to the original program under para-
graph (3).’’.
(b) EPA CLEANUP GUIDELINES.—Section 1442 of
the Safe Drinking Water Act is amended by adding the
following at the end thereof:
‘‘(f) CLEANUP GUIDELINES FOR MTBE.—The Ad-
ministrator shall develop a clear set of technical guidelines
to assist States in the investigation and cleanup of methyl
tertiary butyl ether (‘MTBE’) in groundwater.’’.
SEC. 5. ALLOWING FOR OXYGEN AVERAGING WITHIN THE
RFG PROGRAM.
(a) AMENDMENT
OF CLEAN AIR ACT.—Subpara-
graph (B) of section 211(k)(2) of the Clean Air Act and
clause (v) of subparagraph (A) of section 211(k)(3) of
such Act are each amended by inserting ‘‘an average of’’
before ‘‘2.0 percent’’.
(b) REGULATION INVALIDATED.—The provisions of
section 80.41(b) of part 80 of title 40 of the Code of Fed-
eral Regulations establishing a per-gallon minimum oxy-
gen content (percent, by weight) shall cease to have any
force and effect on the date of the enactment of this Act.
SEC. 6. ANTI-BACKSLIDING.
(a) 
OZONE
FORMING
POTENTIAL.—Section
211(k)(1) of the Clean Air Act is amended by adding the
following at the end thereof: ‘‘No later than June 1, 2001,
the Administrator shall revise the regulations under this
paragraph as necessary to ensure that the ozone forming
potential, taking into account all ozone precursors (includ-
ing volatile organic compounds, oxides of nitrogen, and
carbon monoxide), of the aggregate emissions during the
high ozone season (as defined by the Administrator) from
baseline vehicles when using reformulated gasoline does
not exceed the ozone forming potential of the aggregate
emissions from such vehicles when using reformulated gas-
oline that complies with the regulations that were in effect
on January 1, 2000, and applicable to reformulated gaso-
line sold in calendar year 2000 and thereafter.’’.
(b) AROMATIC HYDROCARBON CONTENT.—Section
211(k)(2) of the Clean Air Act is amended by adding the
following new subparagraph at the end thereof:
‘‘(E) 
AROMATIC
HYDROCARBON
CON-
TENT.—The aromatic hydrocarbon content of
the gasoline shall be not greater than the aver-
age aromatic hydrocarbon content of reformu-
lated gasoline sold in covered areas for use in
such vehicles during the year 2000.’’.
SEC. 7. DEVELOPING OXYGENATE ALTERNATIVES TO MTBE.
The Secretary of Energy and the Administrator of
the Environmental Protection Agency shall evaluate by
December 31, 2001 and report to the President and the
Congress on the potential for development of oxygenate
alternatives to methyl tertiary butyl ether (‘‘MTBE’’) not
otherwise identified in this Act, and shall evaluate what
steps, if any, would be appropriate to foster development
of such alternatives should they be found to be an accept-
able substitute for MTBE.
SEC. 8. TRANSITION TO ETHANOL.
It is the Sense of the Congress that the United States
should promote renewable ethanol to replace methyl ter-
tiary butyl ether (‘‘MTBE’’) and encourage oil refiners to
make the transition from MTBE-blended fuel to ethanol-
blended fuel as soon as possible.
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