BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE Bill No: SB 1972
Senator BETTY KARNETTE, Chair Author: Mountjoy
VERSION: 3/27/00
Analysis by: Steve Schnaidt Fiscal:yes
SUBJECT:
Reformulated gasoline: study of fuel components.
DESCRIPTION:
This bill would enact the Alternative Oxygenate Public
Health and Environmental Protection Act of 2000. The bill
would appropriate $500,000 from the Motor Vehicle Fuel
Account in the Transportation Tax Fund to the University of
California for a specified study and assessment of the
human health and environmental risks and benefits, if any,
of using oxygenates or alkylates, other than MTBE, in
gasoline. The bill would require the report to be
submitted to the Governor by January 1, 2002. The bill
would require the Governor to take prescribed actions,
including certifying whether there is a risk to human
health or the environment of using oxygenates or alkylates
in gasoline, and taking appropriate action to protect
public health and the environment if there is such a risk.
BACKGROUND:
Emissions from motor vehicles and other gasoline-powered
equipment are responsible for approximately half of the
smog-forming pollutants emitted into California's air and
one of the major reasons that California has some of the
most serious air quality problems in the country. To
address the problem, local, state and federal agencies have
developed and implemented numerous air quality improvement
and emissions control strategies, including statutory and
regulatory requirements affecting vehicles and the fuels
they use.
In recent years, California and the federal government have
adopted a number of requirements on the content and
operational properties of vehicle fuel types, including
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requirements for winter-oxygenated gasoline, reformulated
diesel fuel and reformulated gasoline (RFG). A key aspect
of reformulated gasoline is the emphasis on increasing the
fuel's combustion capabilities and octane through an
increase in the fuel's oxygen content. Following the
federal Clean Air Act amendments, the California Air
Resources Board (CARB) in 1991 adopted regulations
requiring the production of cleaner-burning gasoline, to be
produced beginning in March 1996 with a full changeover to
the new fuel by June 1996.
The CARB's specifications for RFG did not dictate the
specific oxygenate component of the new fuel, and producers
were given their choice of components, provided the fuel
met various evaporative, combustion, emission and other
technical standards. The oxygenate of choice proved to be
methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) which on average
constituted approximately 15% by volume of the new fuel.
MTBE previously appeared in gasoline in concentrations of
2-3% and was used as a fuel additive for 20 years for
various reasons, including boosting the octane in fuel.
Controversy over MTBE's use in gasoline grew quickly as the
additive was discovered in many wells, groundwater supplies
and other water sources. In 1997, the Legislature and the
Governor approved SB 521 (Mountjoy) which appropriated
$500,000 to the University of California (UC) to conduct a
comprehensive study and assessment of the human health and
environmental risks and benefits of using MTBE in gasoline.
Among the findings and conclusions of the UC study of
fuels and MTBE were the following:
California's mandated, reformulated gasoline, in
comparison to conventional gasoline, shows significant
improvement on several measures of air quality, while
vehicle emission control technology also significantly
reduces emissions of air pollutants and precursors.
MTBE and other oxygenates had no significant effect on
exhaust emissions from advance technology vehicles; there
is no significant additional air quality benefit to the
use of oxygenates (such as MTBE) in gasoline relative to
alternative reformulated gasoline without oxygenates.
There are significant risks and costs associated with
water contamination due to the use of MTBE.
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Non-oxygenated gasoline achieves air quality benefits at
the least cost, followed by reformulated gasoline with
ethanol.
The addition of any chemical compound to the environment
in quantities that constitute a significant fraction of
the total content of gasoline may have unintended
environmental consequences. Therefore, (we) recommend a
full environmental assessment of any alternative to MTBE
? before any changes are made in state law.
On March 25, 1999, Governor Davis issued an Executive Order
directing a phaseout of MTBE from California's gasoline
supply by the end of 2002.
ANALYSIS:
This bill would enact the Alternative Oxygenate Public
Health and Environmental Protection Act of 2000. The bill
would appropriate $500,000 to the University of California
for an independent assessment of the human health and
environmental risks and benefits, if any, associated with
the use of oxygenates and alkylates as an alternative to
MTBE in gasoline.
The bill would specify the numerous components of the
study, including the effects of the alternative chemicals
and compounds on air, soil and water, an assessment of the
substances' corrosive effects and transport, various
economic analyses, carcinogenicity and neurotoxicity
studies, and an evaluation of the scientific peer-reviewed
research and literature on the human health and
environmental effects of the oxygenates and alkylates.
The bill would require a draft report by January 1, 2002,
public hearings, written certification by the Governor on
the health and environmental risks of the alternative
compounds, as specified, and require the Governor to take
appropriate action to protect health and the environment if
the study and related assessments find significant risks
from using alternative oxygenates or alkylates in gasoline.
The bill would prohibit any future use of oxygenates or
alkylates in gasoline if their use is discontinued through
the processes described above.
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COMMENTS:
1.According to the author, any plans to substitute ethanol
or some other oxygenate for MTBE should be preceded by a
thorough assessment of the effects and potential risks to
humans and the environment of adding such substances to
gasoline.
2.The proposed study would be comprehensive and complex,
and it is not clear whether the $500,000 proposed
appropriation would be sufficient.
3.Federal law requires the use of oxygenates in
reformulated gasoline and requires certain cities and
states, including California, to use such fuel. The
bill, however, contemplates actions by the Governor to
take appropriate action to reduce or eliminate risks from
the specified fuel compounds and additives, which actions
presumably could include a ban on such oxygenates; a ban
or limitation, however, could conflict with, or be
stifled by, the federal requirements.
4.To the extent the proposed study could draw from prior
studies and assessments and not duplicate that work and
expense, the bill should acknowledge the foregoing
studies and available data and include a requirement to
make use of such resources to the extent possible.
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the Committee before noon on
Wednesday,
3/29/00)
SUPPORT: California Oxybusters
Association of California Car Clubs, Inc.
Petition from 196 individuals, plus 6
individual letters
Rentals Limited
OPPOSED: None received.
3/29/00
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