Feinstein Asks EPA to Waive Rule on Fuel
Sen. Dianne Feinstein on Wednesday called for the Environmental Protection Agency to waive some federal gasoline rules for California after the EPA proposed dropping certain pollution restrictions for gas sold in New Hampshire.
The EPA last week proposed that fuel producers in New Hampshire could make reformulated gasoline without adding in an “oxygenate,” such as ethanol or MTBE, as required under the federal Clean Air Act.
California officials sought the same waiver in 1999, presenting evidence the state insists proves that adding oxygenates is unnecessary in helping it meet federal emission standards. The officials also say that ethanol, the additive currently in use, is potentially harmful to the state’s air quality. The state’s request was denied by the EPA in 2001.
EPA officials say the California and New Hampshire cases are dissimilar. “The air quality is different and there are different facts,” said EPA spokesman John Millett. “The geography is different and the climate is different, and all of those things constrain California’s options.”
Some California officials believe otherwise, and they are hopeful that the New Hampshire decision signals a softening stance at the EPA.
By proposing to allow New Hampshire to use reformulated gasoline without special additives, the EPA has essentially acknowledged that “you can make perfectly clean gasolines without oxygenates,” said Thomas Gieskes, a California consultant who has researched gasoline issues for the state and federal governments.
“Like New Hampshire, California’s refiners can produce gasoline that is cleaner than that made in the federal reformulated gasoline program,” Feinstein, a Democrat, said in her letter to EPA chief Michael Leavitt. “It is well past the time for the EPA to act to grant California a waiver.”
The California Environmental Protection Agency called the pending New Hampshire waiver “a positive step forward.” Cal/EPA spokeswoman Michele St. Martin added: “It gives the impression that the Bush administration is willing to be flexible on the issue.”
California sued the EPA over the 2001 waiver denial. And this week the EPA must decide whether to continue appealing a court ruling that the agency “abused its discretion” by not considering all the elements of the California petition.
New Hampshire’s request was driven by the desire to reduce the use of MTBE, or methyl tertiary butyl ether, an additive that satisfies federal clean air requirements but is prone to contaminating water when it leaks. The state has not switched to ethanol because of fears about the adequacy of supplies, according to Michael Fitzgerald of New Hampshire’s Department of Environmental Services.
California banned MTBE on Jan. 1, forcing refiners to begin blending gasoline with ethanol, the only other additive available to meet the oxygenate mandate.
“We would hope that the EPA treats California in a nondiscriminatory fashion when it comes to the waivers of this requirement,” said Tom Dresslar, spokesman for California Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer.
