Senate Panel Deals Ethanol a Blow

October 1, 2001

The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee last week approved a bill that would eliminate the Clean Air Act oxygen standard and phase out the use of MTBE. Introduced by Sen. Bob Smith (R-NH) the legislation, however, fails to address several other issues including a renewable fuels standard.

Bob Dinneen, president of the Renewable Fuels Association, said the committee "took a giant step backward, approving legislation that sounds retreat on air quality, consumer protection and energy security. This is a bill that has no chance of ever becoming law."

Dinneen continued, "While the committee's objective of eliminating the use of MTBE in gasoline to protect precious drinking water supplies is laudable, S. 950 deliberately ignores the impact such action will have on gasoline supplies, consumer prices, air quality and the continued development of domestic renewable energy resources such as ethanol."

The Department of Energy has said the bill would reduce gasoline supplies by 500,000 to 1 million barrels per day, Dinneen said. The bill would lead to additional "boutique fuels," driving up gasoline prices across the country. And it fails to adequately preserve the air quality gains from the federal reformulated gasoline (RFG) program, allowing increased toxic, exhaust hydrocarbon, particulate, and carbon monoxide emissions, he added.

"Finally, unlike a similar effort last year, S. 950 ignores the recommendation of the Environmental Protection Agency's Blue Ribbon Panel on MTBE to replace the RFG oxygen standard with a mechanism to assure the continued growth of renewable fuels like ethanol. The committee abdicated its responsibility to report comprehensive and thoughtful legislation. Thankfully, this is the beginning of the process, not the end," he added.