[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1705 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1705

To amend the Clean Air Act to waive the oxygen content requirement for 
 reformulated gasoline and to phase-out the use of MTBE, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 5, 1999

 Mr. Pallone introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                         Committee on Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Clean Air Act to waive the oxygen content requirement for 
 reformulated gasoline and to phase-out the use of MTBE, and for other 
                               purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. WAIVER OF OXYGEN CONTENT REQUIREMENT FOR CERTAIN 
              REFORMULATED GASOLINE.

    Section 211(k)(2)(B) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7545(k)(2)(B)) 
is amended as follows:
            (1) In the first sentence, by striking ``The oxygen'' and 
        inserting the following:
                            ``(i) Requirement.--The oxygen''.
            (2) In the second sentence--
                    (A) by striking ``The Administrator'' and inserting 
                the following:
                            ``(ii) Waivers.--The Administrator'';
                    (B) by striking ``area upon a'' and inserting the 
                following: ``area--
                                    ``(I) upon a'';
                    (C) by striking the period at the end and inserting 
                ``; or''; and
                    (D) by adding at the end the following:
                                    ``(II) if the Administrator 
                                determines, by regulation, that 
                                reformulated gasoline that contains 
                                less than 2.0 percent by weight oxygen 
                                and meets all other requirements of 
                                this subsection will achieve an 
                                equivalent or greater reduction in 
                                total actual emissions of ozone 
                                precursors, particulate matter, and 
                                potency-weighted toxic air pollutants, 
                                respectively, than that resulting from 
                                reformulated gasoline that contains at 
                                least 2.0 percent by weight oxygen and 
                                meets all other requirements of this 
                                subsection.''.

SEC. 2. PHASE-OUT OF MTBE ADDITIVES.

    (a) Amendment of Clean Air Act.--Section 211(c) of the Clean Air 
Act (42 U.S.C. 7545(c)) is amended by adding at the end of paragraph 
(1) the following: ``The regulations under this paragraph shall 
prohibit the use of methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) as a fuel 
additive.''.
    (b) Regulations.--The Administrator of the Environmental Protection 
Agency shall amend the regulations under section 211(c)(1) of the Clean 
Air Act as promptly as practicable after the date of enactment of this 
Act to conform to the amendment made by this Act.
    (c) Effective Date.--Subsection (a) shall take effect upon the 
expiration of the 3-year period beginning on the date of the enactment 
of this Act unless the Secretary of Energy determines at that time that 
there is an inadequate supply or availability of gasoline or the 
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency determines that 
requirements of the Clean Air Act would not be met.

SEC. 3. NAS STUDY.

    The Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency shall 
enter into contracts or other appropriate arrangements with the 
National Academy of Sciences to conduct a study of all oxygenates used 
as gasoline additives and their combustion byproducts to determine the 
effects of such additives and byproducts on public health and 
environment and the availability of alternatives. The results of such 
study shall be made available to the public.
                                 <all>