EPA Says California, New York,
Connecticut Must Use Ethanol
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced last week that it will
reject petitions made by the states of California, Connecticut and New York to
waive the oxygen content requirement for reformulated gasoline (RFG).
In announcing the action, Assistant Administrator of Air Jeff Holmstead
explained "Congress has required the use of oxygenates as part of the clean
fuels program and has made it clear that this requirement can only be waived if
a state demonstrates that it prevents or interferes with the state's ability to
meet national air quality standards. California, New York and Connecticut did
not make this demonstration."
RFG is a cleaner-burning gasoline required by the Clean Air Act to be used in
certain metropolitan areas of the United States with the worst ozone air
pollution. It has been used since 1995 and continues to be an effective strategy
to reduce harmful emissions from motor vehicles that cause smog, the EPA says.
RFG also reduces emissions of harmful toxics, such as benzene.
The Clean Air Act also requires RFG to contain 2 percent oxygen by weight. The
law does not specify which oxygenate must be used and most refiners use either
ethanol or MTBE (methyl tertiary butyl ether). RFG sold in California, New York
and Connecticut, however, contains only ethanol, since each state has banned the
use of MTBE due to water contamination concerns. In the absence of a waiver, the
three states must use RFG with ethanol since they all ban MTBE.
The EPA's action follows an extensive review of the information submitted by
each state in support of its petition. This is EPA's second response to
California, which sued EPA after the agency denied the state's original petition
in 2001. The EPA decision was made after EPA reviewed new information submitted
by California and after EPA scientists and engineers conducted additional
analysis to address the 9th Circuit Court's decision to vacate the agency's
original denial.
While EPA agrees with California's claim that an oxygen content waiver would
lead to a decrease in certain vehicle emissions that contribute to the formation
of smog and particulate matter, EPA concludes that the overall impact on
emissions is slight. The agency found that total volatile organic compound (VOC)
and nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions are likely to decrease with a waiver while
carbon monoxide (CO) emissions are likely to increase.
EPA's denial of California's petition is based on the lack of evidence proving
that the emission impacts of a waiver would lead to any earlier attainment of
the air quality standards for smog or particulate matter than would occur
without a waiver. In other words, California has not demonstrated that the
oxygen content requirement prevents or interferes with the state's efforts to
achieve clean air.
EPA found that neither New York nor Connecticut submitted the technical data
necessary for the agency to determine what impact the waiver would have on
emissions and air quality. Without this information, EPA could not evaluate
whether the oxygen content requirement prevents or interferes with attainment of
the smog or particulate matter standards, and therefore must deny the waiver
request.
The current administration supports efforts by Congress to remove the oxygen
requirement from the RFG program and replace it with a flexible national
renewable fuels program. "This legislation would provide California,
Connecticut, New York and other RFG areas the relief they are seeking through
these waiver requests without compromising the benefits of clean fuel,"
Holmstead added.
Published 06/09/2005
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2005 Greenmedia Publishing Ltd.