[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 16 (Monday, February 10, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E196-E197]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    H.R. 630--CLEANER-BURNING FUEL MEANS CLEANER AIR FOR CALIFORNIA

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. BRIAN P. BILBRAY

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, February 10, 1997

  Mr. BILBRAY. Mr. Speaker, the quality of the air we breathe is of 
great concern to all of us. Young and old, rich and poor, liberal or 
conservative, we are all vulnerable to poor air quality. While we have 
seen great strides in the last decade in terms of improved air quality, 
it is incumbent upon us to work to ensure that sound science lies at 
the foundation of any modifications or improvements to existing law. By 
the same token, when opportunities exist to actually improve the 
service provided by our environmental and public health strategies, we 
have not only the right, but also the responsibility to implement them, 
based on that same common denominator of sound science.
  Such an opportunity now exists in California, which has long been at 
the forefront of our national efforts to improve air quality and reduce 
ambient pollution levels. As a former member of the California Air 
Resources Board [ARB], I am very proud of California's historic role in 
this regard. I am pleased to be able to introduce bipartisan 
legislation, H.R. 630, which will further enhance the air quality of my 
State by building upon the progressive work already done by the State 
of California, under the direction of the Clean Air Act.
  The Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 directed the Environmental 
Protection Agency [EPA] to adopt a Federal reformulated gasoline 
program for urban areas with the most serious smog problems. The 1990 
amendments required that Federal reformulated gasoline contain various 
specified properties, and established limitations on the level of 
flexibility that EPA could build into the program. Federal reformulated 
gasoline regulations were promulgated in early 1994, and became 
applicable in December of that year. In California, the Federal 
regulations now apply in the greater Los Angeles, San Diego, and 
Sacramento regions.
  At the same time, the California Air Resources Board [CARB] was 
developing a comprehensive clean fuels program. These regulations, 
which were adopted in 1991 and became applicable in the spring of 1996, 
established the most stringent and comprehensive gasoline standards in 
the world. It includes specifications for eight different properties 
which affect emissions of toxic air pollutants and ozone forming 
compounds. The State regulations also contain a predictive model which 
is based on analysis of a large number of vehicle emission test 
studies. Refiners have the option of using this predictive model to 
produce reformulated gasoline, subject to an alternative set of 
specifications, that has been shown by the model to achieve equivalent 
or greater reductions in emissions than result from use of the Federal 
RFG. This model is being utilized in California to produce much of the 
reformulated gasoline now consumed in the State. Recent studies have 
shown that the expanded use of reformulated gasoline in California has 
resulted in measurable and continuing decreases in emissions and air 
pollution in that region. I would like to include with this statement a 
recent article from the January 16, 1997 San Diego Union Tribune which 
elaborates further on these air quality improvements.

  However, the overlapping applicability of the Federal and State 
reformulated gasoline regulations has reduced the ability to take 
advantage of the flexibility and public health benefits provided by the 
more stringent California program. Compliance with the Federal standard 
is still required, despite the fact that the California standard has 
been demonstrated to achieve equal or superior air quality benefits. 
H.R. 630 will streamline this unwieldy process, and build upon the 
existing Clean Air Act to permit the more stringent California 
regulations to apply in lieu of the Federal standards, only if they 
will achieve equivalent or greater emission reductions. The EPA has 
already provided this determination in the form of a final rulemaking 
for California reformulated gasoline, which was published in the 
Federal Register on February 16, 1994. In that rule, EPA drew the 
following conclusions: First, that VOC and toxic emission reductions 
resulting from the California Phase II standards would be equal to or 
more stringent than the Federal reformulated gasoline standards; 
second, that the content standards for oxygen and benzene under the 
California Phase II standards would in practice be equivalent to the 
Federal content standards; and third, that the California Air Resources 
Board's compliance and enforcement program is sufficiently rigorous.
  Additionally, the California standards have been approved by the EPA 
as part of California's State Implementation Plan [SIP], and thus are 
federally enforceable.
  H.R. 630 has been carefully written to apply exclusively to the State 
of California. As prescribed by section 211(c)(4)(6) of the Clean Air 
Act, a State which has received a waiver under section 209(b)(1) may 
``at any time prescribe and enforce, for the purpose of motor vehicle 
emission control, a control or prohibition respecting any fuel or fuel 
additive.'' In order to receive a 209(b)(1) waiver, a State must have 
adopted emissions standards for new motor vehicles prior to March 30, 
1996. Because California is the only State which has qualified for a 
waiver under section 209(b)(1), H.R. 630 is therefore applicable only 
to California--no other State is eligible.
  This bipartisan bill is supported by the California Air Resources 
Board, and I am grateful for the continued dialog and input I have 
received from colleagues, the State, industry, and several public 
health organizations, which has helped to further focus and clarify the 
intent of the legislation. I believe that H.R. 630, while narrowly 
targeted, will help to further accomplish the broader goals of the 
Clean Air Act that we all share, which are to provide the cleanest and 
healthiest air possible for the American people. I further believe that 
this bill can provide an example of how we ought to interpret and 
manage our environmental and public health laws, so that they can be 
made more effective in terms of product, by being kept as dynamic and 
flexible as possible in terms of process. Just as the vehicles which we 
all drive need to be fine-tuned from time to time in order to keep them 
running efficiently, so too do our environmental strategies.

           [From the San Diego Union-Tribune, Jan. 16, 1997]

New Gasoline Formula is Fueling Air-Pollution Decline--It Dramatically 
                        Cuts Smoggy Day Numbers

                           (By Steve La Rue)

       San Diego County had fewer smoggy days in 1996 than in any 
     year since health standards were set and air-pollution 
     measurement began. Most of the credit is being given to a new 
     blend of gasoline.
       The air was unhealthy to breathe by state standards on 51 
     days last year at one or more of the county's nine monitoring 
     stations--a sharp drop from the 96 smoggy days in 1995, 139 
     days in 1990, and the 151 smoggy days in 1978, the year the 
     California Clean Air Act applied the state standards.
       The pollutant involved is ozone, a colorless, odorless gas 
     that can sting the throat and eyes. It also can reduce lung 
     capacity temporarily or permanently, depending on the 
     exposure.
       ``We have had a dramatic reduction in the number of days 
     over (health) standards, and there was no dramatic 
     meteorological difference in the two years,'' said Richard 
     Sommerville, county air pollution control officer.
       ``That implies that the big change that did occur was due 
     to the introduction of reformulated gasoline.''
       County air quality violated federal health standards, which 
     are about 25 percent less stringent than the state's, only 
     twice last year. That is the fewest federal violations since 
     air quality monitoring began here in 1955, county officials 
     said.
       By comparison, smog made the air unhealthy to breathe on 12 
     days in 1995 under the federal standard, 39 days in 1990 and 
     90 days in 1978. It was also the first year on record that 
     all of the county's federal violations were caused by smog 
     migrating south from Los Angeles and Orange counties.
       The state's refiners and service stations started selling 
     the cleaner-burning fuel early last spring to meet state 
     specifications for a fuel that produced fewer hydrocarbon and 
     nitrogen emissions. Southern California's sunny summer and 
     fall skies cook those emissions into a stew of pollutants, 
     mostly ozone.
       Scientists say this lower-level ozone pollution never rises 
     18 miles or higher to merge with the ragged atmospheric ozone 
     layer that shields the earth from ultra-violet radiation.
       Air quality also made dramatic gains last year in the South 
     Coast Air Quality Management District, which includes Los 
     Angeles and Orange counties and parts of Riverside and San 
     Bernardino counties.
       As of the end of October, the end of the smog season, there 
     had been seven Stage 1 smog alerts in the district, compared 
     with 14 in 1995, 23 in 1994, and 40 in 1992.
       Such alerts are called when ozone levels are twice the 
     federal health maximum. During the alerts, the public is 
     advised to reduce strenuous activity. The last Stage 1 alert 
     in San Diego County occurred in 1991.
       Peak ozone levels during smog sieges in 1996 were 
     calculated to be 10 to 11 percent less severe than expected 
     in the San Francisco Bay Area and the Sacramento area, said 
     state Air Resources Board spokesman Allan Hirsch.
       ``Much of the state showed improvements in air quality in 
     1996, and cleaner burning gasoline was the main clean air 
     measure that was introduced last year, so we think it had a 
     significant effect,'' he said.
       ``We are very confident that the same thing occurred in San 
     Diego County, too.''

[[Page E197]]

       Jan Cortez, program director for the San Diego-Imperial 
     County branch of the American Lung Association, voiced 
     concern that the drop in ozone pollution may cause people to 
     overlook the danger of ultra-fine particulate matter--from 
     diesel exhaust and various types of combustion--that the 
     federal Environmental Protection Agency is seeking to 
     regulate.
       ``The report doesn't even mention particulate air 
     pollution, so it is giving the public only part of the 
     picture,'' she said. The public is still breathing 
     particulate pollution, she said, and it contributes to asthma 
     attacks and increased visits to the hospital.''
       The smog decline has not come without a price. The 
     estimated $4 billion cost to retool refineries was considered 
     an important factor in the steep rise in gasoline prices last 
     spring and early summer.
       Many motorists still wonder how much the less-volatile fuel 
     has reduced their gas mileage, although state spokesmen 
     estimate the penalty at 1 to 3 percent. Averaging three-year 
     periods, which minimizes the influence of weather, the number 
     of days of ozone pollution in San Diego County under the 
     state standard declined 55 percent between 1979-1981 and 
     1994-1996.

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