Democrat seeks to remove MTBE provision from House energy bill

Washington (Platts)--19Apr2005

US Representative Lois Capps plans to offer an amendment to address the
controversial MTBE-liability provision of the energy bill slated to be debated
on the House of Representatives' floor this week. The California Democrat said
in a statement she would ask the House Rules Committee Tuesday to allow a vote
on her amendment. 

The amendment aims to eliminate from the underlying energy bill the "safe
harbor" protections that would shield MTBE manufacturers from defective
product lawsuits. The inclusion of a similar MTBE liability provision in last
year's negotiated House-Senate energy bill led to the death of the bill after
senators whose states have been affected by MTBE groundwater contamination
threatened to filibuster the bill. The amendment also would speed up the
national phase out of the gasoline additive. The current energy bill allows
MTBE to be used until 2014; the amendment would require a ban of MTBE
nationwide in four years.

Capps' amendment also would remove provisions from the underlying bill that
would give MTBE makers about $1.8-bil in assistance to shift to other
businesses in advance of the ban.

This story was originally published in Platts Global Alert
http://www.globalalert.platts.com

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