SENATE PASSES CLEAN AIR ACT AMENDMENTS

April 9, 1990
The Senate has voted 89-11 to pass sweeping U.S. clean air legislation after accepting an amendment on reformulated gasoline the oil industry had opposed. The bill, the first major revision of the Clean Air Act in 13 years, is very similar to the compromise Senate leaders and the Bush administration negotiated last month (OGJ, Mar. 12, p. 23). The administration estimated the Senate bill will cost the nation $20 billion/year in addition to the $33 billion/year currently being spent.

The Senate has voted 89-11 to pass sweeping U.S. clean air legislation after accepting an amendment on reformulated gasoline the oil industry had opposed.

The bill, the first major revision of the Clean Air Act in 13 years, is very similar to the compromise Senate leaders and the Bush administration negotiated last month (OGJ, Mar. 12, p. 23).

The administration estimated the Senate bill will cost the nation $20 billion/year in addition to the $33 billion/year currently being spent.

The House energy and commerce committee was working on its bill last week. House leaders hope to bring that legislation to the floor this spring.

WHAT IT WILL DO

Enactment of the Senate measure will require industry to install "best available technology" by 2000 to control emissions of 200 toxic substances.

EPA will issue regulations covering major sources of the 200 pollutants. A major source is one that emits any one of the listed pollutants in volumes greater than 10 tons/year or any combination greater than 25 tons/year.

To control emissions believed to cause acid rain, the bill will require utilities to reduce sulfur dioxide emissions by 10 million tons and nitrogen oxide emissions by 4 million tons in two stages by the end of the century. It will cut sulfur emissions by about 50% from 111 coal fired power plants, mostly in the Mid-west.

The bill will permit the Minerals Management Service to continue regulating Outer Continental Shelf air emissions, but it will require MMS air rules for the California OCS to be as stringent as California onshore rules.

Much of the bill is directed at controlling pollution from automobiles, the main source of hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides that form smog.

Beginning in 1993, nitrogen oxide emissions must be cut 60% and hydrocarbons 40%. By 2004, those emissions must be halved again.

Depending on the severity of the pollution problem, nonattainment regions must attain the ozone health standard within 5, 10, or 15 years-20 years for Los Angeles.

And in problem areas, service stations selling more than 20,000 gal/month of gasoline must install vapor recovery equipment on pumps.

DASCHLE AMENDMENT

Although the oil industry won a major battle when the compromise bill dropped a preference for methanol fueled autos, it lost another battle on the Senate floor.

The Senate adopted 69-30 an amendment by Sen. Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) setting standards for reformulated gasoline and requiring its use in nine cities that did not meet ozone attainment standards. It will phase in during 1992-94. The American Petroleum Institute warned the measure will add 15-25/gal to the price of gasoline and only promotes the interests of ethanol producers.

"The Daschle amendment will not necessarily improve air quality because it dictates from Capitol Hill an arbitrary, untested recipe for reformulating gasoline," API said. "It would make it impossible to continue providing existing reformulated gasolines that have helped reduce air pollution in areas such as southern California."

API reminded that the petroleum and auto industries have under way a joint research program to test new formulations of gasoline, searching for the cleanest combination of fuels and motor vehicles.

"The results of this scientific research are due later this year," API said, "and we strongly urge the House of Representatives to take this into account during its own considerations on the Clean Air Act renewal."

Daschle backers said the amendment would more than double the market for ethanol and current demand for 320 million bu/year of corn to make ethanol.

Daschle said his amendment would add only about 1/gal to the cost of gasoline. The standard will limit the aromatic hydrocarbon content to 25%, down from about 33% today, and benzene content to 1%.

Reformulated gasoline will be required to have at least 2.7% oxygen content, with ethanol being the leading candidate for the increase. One of the leading reformulated gasolines today, ARCO's EC1, contains only 1% oxygen.

HOUSE BILL

The House energy committee defeated 22-21 an amendment that would have required EPA to set standards for cleaner gasoline but limited the benzene content to 0.8%, aromatic hydrocarbons to 25%, and oxygen content to 2.7%.

It accepted an amendment exempting most oil wells from the toxic air pollution controls. Only the largest wells, producing 10 million tons/year of one or 25 tons/year of a combination of toxics will fall under the controls.

Copyright 1990 Oil & Gas Journal. All Rights Reserved.