Two groups representing 32 states prodded the Senate to phase-out MTBE's use in gasoline while maintaining a role for renewable transportation fuels in the nation's gasoline.

In a joint letter to Senator Robert Smith, chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee, the Coalition and the 8-state Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management outlined a set of principles for the withdrawal of MTBE, a fuel additive that has contaminated water supplies across the nation. In part, the letter states:

"While our states are not in agreement on the efficacy of the oxygenate standard, we all agree that the consequence of inaction on MTBE this year is unacceptable. Thus in a spirit of cooperation we have come together in support of the following principles for legislative action:

• MTBE must be phased out nationally as expeditiously as possible, but no longer than 4 years; state should be provided financial assistance in dealing with MTBE clean-up; and EPA will work to insure that consumers are provided information about the characteristics and health affects of gasoline constituents and additives;
• In order to provide states and refiners with increased flexibility in meeting reformulated gasoline standards, the oxygen content requirement may be waived at the request of a governor. Recognizing the attendant public policy goals of the Clean Air Act's oxygen requirement (e.g., national security, rural economic stimulus, competition, global warming), Congress must adopt a competitive Clean Alternative Fuels Program that will allow steady expansion of domestically-produced renewable fuels such as ethanol, including provisions which would promote new biomass production; and,
• The air quality and public health benefits of reformulated gasoline and the oxygenate standard should be preserved, including a cap to prevent any increase in the use of aromatics in reformulated gasoline. Toward this end, EPA must be required to perform comprehensive testing of gasoline components and renewable fuels to ensure that the full environmental attributes of all fuel constituents are understood and credited.

The complete text of the letter is at the Coalition's web site at www.ethanol-gec.org/smithletter.pdf