Clean Air, RFG & Ethanol

Clean Air Act
As the primary statute governing air quality in the  United States, the Clean Air Act (first enacted in 1967) assigns  responsibilities to government and industry to reduce emissions from pollution  sources such as automobiles, refineries, chemical plants and power plants. It  is administered by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which develops  regulations for its provisions. Since the 1970s, clean air laws have steadily become more stringent and, in many ways, successful.  Cars built in the late  1990s typically emit 70 percent to 90 percent less pollution than their  counterparts 25 to 30 years ago.

Despite this progress, the EPA says unhealthy air pollution levels still plague virtually every major city in the United States.  Infrastructure development and urban sprawl have contributed to a doubling of vehicle travel  since 1970.  Scientists and the public have increasingly become concerned about  previously unrecognized environmental threats such as global warming, acid rain  and air toxics.  With this in mind, Congress and the Bush Administration in 1990 amended the Clean Air Act for the first time since 1977.

1990 Clean Air Act Amendment
The 1990 Act is considered to be landmark legislation because it focused on the fuel rather than the vehicle engines to reduce ozone-forming and carbon monoxide emissions from automobiles.  It required the EPA to set National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for  six pollutants – carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), ozone (O3), lead, sulfur dioxide (SO) and particulate matter (PM)“ to control levels around the  country.  The amendment lists 189 air pollutants deemed hazardous to health  and/or environment. The EPA regulates these air toxics and can add to the list  as necessary.

The 1990 amendment also provides methods to clean up fuels:
Oxy-fuel program: Required 39 areas nationwide to use 2.7 percent of oxygen in gasoline to reduce carbon monoxide emissions and to create cleaner-burning fuels.
Federal Reformulated Gasoline (RFG) program: Adopted by the EPA in 1995 and  required the nation’s nine worst ozone nonattainment areas “ geographic areas  that do not meet one or more of the air quality standards established by the EPA “ to use new gasoline blends.

The amendment created a national permits program to ensure compliance and  enhanced the EPA's ability to enforce the law.  Individual states run their own  programs, which must be approved by the federal EPA and are subject to oversight.

Urban Air Pollution
Ozone is a natural forming gas.  High above  the Earth, ozone is a shield that protects human health and the environment from the sun’s harmful rays.  Near the ground, ozone is the main harmful ingredient in urban smog, which according to the EPA is the most widespread and persistent  urban pollution problem.
Clean Air, RFG & Ethanol, cont’d.

Urban smog derives from many sources, including smokestacks, cars, paints and  solvents. When a car burns gasoline it releases exhaust fumes that contain smog-forming pollutants, including volatile organic compounds (VOCs), nitrogen oxides (NOx) and Carbon Monoxide (CO).  These pollutants, when baked by  sunlight, produce urban smog. Ground-level ozone or urban smog has been known  to create breathing problems, trigger asthma, irritate the eyes and reduce resistance to colds and other infections.  Ozone also damages plants, trees and  other natural landscape.

Oxy-fuels program  Focus on carbon monoxide
The Oxy-fuel program was designed to reduce CO, a colorless, odorless, poisonous gas produced by  incomplete burning of fuels such as gasoline, oil and wood.  Exposure to CO is especially harmful to people with heart, lung and circulatory system diseases  because it curbs oxygen flow.  The Wintertime Oxyfuels program regulates CO  emissions in cold weather, when both fuel combustion and pollution control equipment in sources such as motor vehicles don’t operate as well.

Under the wintertime program, gasoline must contain 2.7 percent oxygen by  weight in areas that don’t meet minimum federal levels for CO. Corn-based ethanol is the prevalent fuel used as an oxygenate to counter the carbon  monoxide and the program has been a success.  In 1992, when the oxygenated fuels  program began, there were 36 areas in the program.  Since then, CO  concentrations are down as much as 10 percent, and 24 areas now meet the federal  CO standards and no longer need to participate in the program.

RFG  Focus on Urban Smog
The RFG program was designed to address  urban smog in the nine cities with the highest smog across the country: Los Angeles, San Diego, Chicago, Houston, Milwaukee, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New  York and Hartford.  In addition, Kentucky, Texas, Missouri and several areas in the Northeast with “nonattainment ozone levels have voluntarily joined the RFG program to curb air pollution in their respective regions.

The RFG program covers 30 percent of U.S. gasoline consumption.  RFG standards required the sale of cleaner gasoline in the nine cities and mandated  the fuel to include 2 percent oxygen by weight.  The plan called for oxygenated  gasoline to reduce VOC and air toxic emissions by displacing the components of smog-forming pollutants in the gasoline.

Having been used in fuel for years to boost octane, refiners made the  decision to use MTBE, and the petroleum-derived chemical secured 80 percent of the growing oxygenate market. Ethanol, which could have developed the  infrastructure to meet the same demand, obtained another 10 percent.  Oil refiners and ethanol producers invested billions of dollars modifying their production plants to meet the demand for oxygenates.  At the time there was a slight cost increase in gas, but the overall economic impact was minimal.
 

RFG Phase I and Phase II
The federal RFG program included Phase I (1995-1999) and Phase II (beginning January 2000).  Each phase establishes cleaner fuel blend requirements that reduce smog-forming pollutants against baseline 1990 standards.  From a clean air perspective, Phase I has been a  success.  Emission benefits have exceeded the standards for VOCs, NOx and  toxics.  Overall toxic reductions are about twice that required, with about a 30  percent reduction rather than a 17 percent requirement.

RFG Phase II will mandate tougher restrictions, requiring refiners to mix  gasoline that further decreases VOC, NOx and toxic emissions.  VOC standards  center around how smog-forming VOCs are released into the air when gasoline evaporates.  The higher the vapor pressure in gas, the faster gas evaporates.  Ethanol“ in addition to reducing carbon monoxide (CO) pollution“ also  increases the vapor pressure in gasoline, especially during the heat and humidity of summer. Ethanol RFG is specially blended, particularly in the  summer, to compensate for the increased vapor pressure.

Illinois officials including the governor and the 23-member Governors’ Ethanol Coalition have asked the White House and federal EPA to maintain a role  for ethanol in the RFG program.  They want to ensure the benefits of ethanol are not overlooked:
Ethanol-blended gasoline reduces CO emissions by 780 tons  and ozone-causing emissions by 24 tons each day in the Chicago region. Illinois corn growers would forfeit a market of at least 160 million gallons of ethanol and 70 million bushels of grain, translating into the loss of  millions of dollars and possibly hundreds of jobs.
Ethanol reduces  dependence on foreign oil.
MTBE has been banned by the states of California,  Maine and Iowa due to water contamination issues.
 
California RFG Program “ Higher standards
Under a special provision of the Clean Air Act Amendment of 1990, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) formed its own  reformulated gasoline program with higher standards to address what CARB called the worst urban smog situation in the country. Seventy percent of the state was  required to follow the federal oxygenate requirement, while 30 percent of the state met air quality standards without using an oxygenate. According to the EPA-mandated Blue Ribbon Panel study, overall smog-forming emissions from motor vehicles in the state are down 15 percent since the program began in 1996, which are about twice the benefits produced by federal RFG Phase I. CARB believes it  can exceed all federal clean air standards without the oxygen mandate.

Ground water contamination
An unexpected side effect of the RFG oxygenate requirement has been ground water contamination caused by leakage of MTBE-blended gasoline. A colorless liquid that smells like turpentine, MTBE moves faster through groundwater than any other gasoline component because it is non-biodegradable and soluble in water.  MTBE has entered underground wells and drinking water supplies across the country and caused symptoms such as  respiratory irritation, headaches, dizziness, irritated eyes, nausea and burning  of the nose and throat.

MTBE was detected in more than 4,000 wells in Maine where the additive was banned. In Wisconsin, after public outcry, public hearings, and public pressure  from the Governor and other elected officials, refiners switched from MTBE to  ethanol.  In California, Santa Monica lost half its underground drinking water to MTBE contamination and South Lake Tahoe had to shut off approximately  one-third of its wells. The University of California Davis conducted a formal study and recommended in November 1998 that California implement a swift phase-out of MTBE.  California Gov. Gray Davis followed this report by calling  for a ban of MTBE in the state by December 31, 2002. These events created a  national debate around MTBE and opened the door to criticism of the oxygenate standard mandated by the federal EPA.

MTBE problems projected on oxygenates
Despite problems with MTBE, ethanol  continues to provide environmental health benefits to the EPA’s RFG program and  Oxy-fuels program. Ethanol is a viable alternative oxygenate to MTBE since it is  produced from natural products such as corn and grains, and biodegrades quickly enough to eliminate any potential water contamination threats.

While the nation’s air pollution has improved with Clean Air Act oxygenate requirements, increased negative national attention directed toward MTBE is  allowing critics to question the oxygenate standard.  Bi-partisan federal  legislation has been introduced that would remove the oxygenate standard from  the federal RFG program.

In November 1999, U.S. Sens. James Inhofe (R - Okla.) and Dianne Feinstein (D  - Calif.) introduced a bill that would allow states to remove the oxygen standard by showing the federal EPA they are meeting all gasoline requirements.  This bill, pushed by the oil industry, does not call for the banning of MTBE; instead, it looks to eliminate the federal oxygenate standard and the numerous environmental benefits it offers.  In the U.S. House of Representatives, Rep.  Bill Bilbray of California also has introduced legislation calling for the end of the oxygenate mandate.  Rep. Bilbray’s bill, which has stalled in a House  committee, would give refineries flexibility to meet air quality standards.  In  response, Sen. Tom Daschle (D-SD) is planning to introduce legislation that would allow California to leave the federal RFG program, but require other states to continue using the oxygenate standard.