{ "id": "RL32787", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "number": "RL32787", "active": false, "source": "EveryCRSReport.com, University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "versions": [ { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 314152, "date": "2006-04-14", "retrieved": "2016-04-07T19:05:11.005029", "title": "MTBE in Gasoline: Clean Air and Drinking Water Issues", "summary": "As gasoline prices have risen in March and April 2006, renewed attention has been given to\nmethyl\ntertiary butyl ether (MTBE), a gasoline additive being phased out of the nation's fuel supply. Many\nargue that the phaseout of MTBE and its replacement by ethanol have been a major factor in driving\nup prices.\n MTBE has been used by refiners since the late 1970s. It came into widespread use when leaded\ngasoline was phased out -- providing an octane boost similar to that of lead, but without fouling the\ncatalytic converters used to reduce auto emissions since the mid-1970s. MTBE has also been used\nto produce cleaner-burning Reformulated Gasoline (RFG), which the Clean Air Act has required in\nthe nation's most polluted areas since 1995. The act didn't mandate the use of MTBE (ethanol or\nother substances could have been used to meet the act's oxygenate requirement), but price and\nhandling characteristics of the additive led to its widespread use.\n Under the Energy Policy Act of 2005 ( P.L. 109-58 ), the RFG program's oxygen mandate\nterminates on May 6, 2006, and refiners are scrambling to remove MTBE from the nation's gasoline\nsupply by that date. The phaseout of MTBE (like its use) is not required by federal law, but gasoline\nrefiners have focused on the May 6 date because of concerns over their potential liability for its\ncontinued presence. MTBE has contaminated drinking water in a number of states, and about half\nhave passed legislation to ban or restrict its use. Hundreds of suits have been filed to require\npetroleum refiners and marketers to pay for cleanup of contaminated water supplies, the cost of\nwhich has been estimated to be in the billions of dollars. The petroleum industry has maintained that\nit used MTBE to meet the RFG program's oxygen mandate and therefore should not be held liable. \nThat position could become more difficult to maintain once the oxygen mandate is removed. To\nreplace MTBE, refiners are switching to ethanol as swiftly as they can, leading temporarily\nto supply shortages and higher prices. The ethanol industry maintains that there will be sufficient\nethanol to meet demand but concedes that temporary shortages exist in some parts of the country that\ncould affect prices until the end of June. These shortages and higher prices have led to renewed\ndiscussion by some of exempting gasoline refiners from liability for MTBE cleanup (a so-called\n\"safe harbor\" provision). Others have renewed their call for federal legislation to stimulate the\nconstruction of new refining capacity.\n Besides removing the RFG program's oxygen requirement, Congress provided a major incentive\nto the production of ethanol in the Energy Policy Act of 2005. Under a Renewable Fuels Standard,\nan increasing amount of the nation's motor fuels must consist of renewable fuel, such as ethanol. \nThe law requires 4.0 billion gallons in 2006 (a level already being achieved) and an increase of 700\nmillion gallons each year through 2011, before reaching 7.5 billion gallons in 2012.\n This report provides background regarding MTBE and summarizes the actions taken by states\nand Congress to address problems raised by MTBE contamination of the nation's water supplies. \nIt will be updated if future developments warrant.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/RL32787", "sha1": "de154592afa215a7b5f621f3a855c5935d037bd9", "filename": "files/20060414_RL32787_de154592afa215a7b5f621f3a855c5935d037bd9.html", "images": null }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/RL32787", "sha1": "db9c0ab2b5c9ee5a5fec813f3b14fdc44dfa26f7", "filename": "files/20060414_RL32787_db9c0ab2b5c9ee5a5fec813f3b14fdc44dfa26f7.pdf", "images": null } ], "topics": [] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc815999/", "id": "RL32787_2005Aug17", "date": "2005-08-17", "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26", "title": "MTBE in Gasoline: Clean Air and Drinking Water Issues", "summary": null, "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20050817_RL32787_9812e247aaa4e4240f551135474e4c3af5528ef8.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20050817_RL32787_9812e247aaa4e4240f551135474e4c3af5528ef8.html" } ], "topics": [] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc815946/", "id": "RL32787_2005May06", "date": "2005-05-06", "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26", "title": "MTBE in Gasoline: Clean Air and Drinking Water Issues", "summary": null, "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20050506_RL32787_98f3af8c5adc9d0c1cb3f42ab706524ad80c3207.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20050506_RL32787_98f3af8c5adc9d0c1cb3f42ab706524ad80c3207.html" } ], "topics": [] } ], "topics": [ "Energy Policy", "Environmental Policy", "Science and Technology Policy" ] }