In a letter to Vice President Gore, Governors Vilsack of Iowa, Graves of Kansas and Ryan of Illinois urged delay in the implementation of Phase 2 reformulated gasoline until next summer, when issues of ethanol's continued use in the program can be addressed. "We do not want to see any reduction in the environmental gains that our states have achieved, whether it be in our water or our air," they said.
The governors expressed concern regarding widespread MTBE water contamination and the pending California waiver from the federal oxygenate requirement in reformulated gasoline. "We do not want to see the United States backslide on water quality improvement sand public water safety. This may happen if MTBE moves into new markets such as Chicago, Milwaukee and other Midwestern cities."
With regard to the continued use of ethanol in reformulated gasoline, the governors said, "USEPA has not yet incorporated the findings of the National Academy of Science study to reflect this new scientific data in a credit for carbon monoxide reductions." They referred to an analysis by the Illinois EPA which supports up to an 0.8 pounds per square inch credit for 10T percent ethanol blends due to reductions in carbon monoxide emissions and the resulting decrease in ozone formation.
The governors expressed strong support for maintaining the oxygen requirement, stating, "We do not want to backslide by eliminating the oxygen requirement and allow more toxics into our gasoline. The challenge is to allow ethanol to reach its full market potential and air quality potential in all reformulated gasoline markets."
The letter to Vice President Gore is at www.ethanol-gec.org/ag123199.htm
