Clean Air Act Issues in the 107th Congress

Order Code IB10065

Issue Brief for Congress

Received through the CRS Web

Clean Air Act Issues in the 107th Congress

Updated February 4, 2003

James E. McCarthy

Resources, Science, and Industry Division

Congressional Research Service ˜ The Library of Congress

CONTENTS

SUMMARY

MOST RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

BACKGROUND AND ANALYSIS

Issues in the 107th Congress

Energy and Air Quality

New Source Review and Multi-Pollutant Legislation

MTBE and Reformulated Gasoline

LEGISLATION

CONGRESSIONAL HEARINGS, REPORTS, AND DOCUMENTS

FOR ADDITIONAL READING

CRS Reports

IB10065

02-04-03

Clean Air Act Issues in the 107th Congress

SUMMARY

This issue brief, which will not be updated, discusses air quality issues and legislation in the 107th Congress. For information on

the 108th Congress, see CRS Issue Brief

IB10107.

th

In the 107 Congress, the most prominent air quality issue was whether state and

federal regulations designed to protect air

quality are having a negative impact on energy

production, and, if so, whether such regulations should be reformed. The early discussion focused primarily on California, but with

the release of the Administration’s energy

policy recommendations in May 2001 and

subsequent congressional action, attention

shifted to issues more national in scope.

Among these were whether the Clean Air

Act’s New Source Review requirements have

been enforced consistently, whether they have

prevented power plants from making improvements that would expand power output, and

whether Congress should enact “multi-pollutant” legislation for power plants in order to

provide certainty regarding future regulatory

requirements. The Senate Environment and

Public Works Committee approved a multipollutant bill, S. 556, June 27, 2002. The

Administration also submitted legislation, S.

2815 / H.R. 5266, but no action was taken on

it.

A second set of air issues in the 107th

Congress concerned regulation of the gasoline

additive MTBE. MTBE is used to meet Clean

Air Act requirements that gasoline sold in the

Congressional Research Service

nation’s worst ozone nonattainment areas

contain at least 2% oxygen, but the additive

has been implicated in numerous incidents of

ground water contamination.

Since mid-1999, bills to diminish the use

of MTBE have been near the top of the clean

air agenda. On September 25, 2001, the

Senate Environment and Public Works Committee approved one of these bills, S. 950, to

ban MTBE use, waive the oxygen requirement, and provide additional funding for

ground water cleanup (S.Rept. 107-131).

Similar provisions, plus requirements that

motor vehicle fuel contain ethanol or other

renewable fuels were included in the Senate

version of H.R. 4, the comprehensive energy

bill passed by the Senate, April 25, 2002. The

House version of H.R. 4 did not contain such

provisions, however—one of many issues on

which the House and Senate bills differed.

H.R. 4 died in conference.

Congress last enacted major amendments

to the Clean Air Act in 1990, and EPA is still

implementing numerous provisions of those

amendments. Recent efforts have included

development of tighter emission standards for

nonroad engines and for diesel engines and

fuels. Review of state implementation plans

for attaining ozone air quality standards is

another ongoing agency activity. EPA decisions regarding implementation of these and

other programs mandated by the Clean Air

Act will provide continuing opportunities for

oversight and possible legislation.

˜ The Library of Congress

IB10065

02-04-03

MOST RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

The 107th Congress did not pass major legislation amending the Clean Air Act. Of the

bills that might have amended the Act, H.R. 4, the comprehensive energy bill, came closest

to passage: it died in conference at the end of the Congress. The Senate version of the bill,

passed April 25, 2002, would have banned use of the gasoline additive MTBE, eliminated

the requirement to use MTBE or other oxygenates in reformulated gasoline, authorized

additional funding for cleanup of ground water contaminated by the substance, and required

that motor vehicle fuel contain ethanol or other renewable fuels. The House bill, passed on

August 2, 2001, contained only the ground water cleanup provisions, not the ban on MTBE

or the provisions requiring the use of ethanol.

Another issue that saw committee action was the regulation of electric power plants (socalled multi-pollutant legislation). On June 27, 2002, the Senate Environment and Public

Works Committee narrowly approved S. 556, a bill to control emissions of sulfur dioxide,

nitrogen oxides, mercury, and carbon dioxide from electric power plants (S.Rept. 107-347).

Although the bill did not proceed to the Senate floor, it marked the first time a congressional

committee reported legislation to reduce utility emissions of the suspected “greenhouse” gas,

carbon dioxide. S. 2815 / H.R. 5266, an Administration bill with less stringent requirements

and no provisions on carbon dioxide, was introduced in late July 2002. It may serve as the

starting point for future action on the issue.

EPA recommendations regarding the Clean Air Act’s New Source Review (NSR)

program were released June 13 and November 22, 2002. Under the Administration’s energy

plan, EPA and the Justice Department had been directed to review the impact on utilities and

refineries of NSR and of recent enforcement actions taken under its authority. The new NSR

rules (some proposed and others promulgated by EPA November 22) will make it easier for

companies to modify their facilities without installing new pollution controls. A separate

Justice Department review was released in January 2002; it concluded that EPA’s

enforcement actions “are supported by a reasonable basis in law and fact,” but many argue

that the enforcement actions will be undercut by the changes in the NSR regulations now

being implemented by EPA.

BACKGROUND AND ANALYSIS

The Clean Air Act requires the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish

minimum national standards for air quality, and assigns primary responsibility to the states

to assure compliance. Areas not meeting the standards, referred to as nonattainment areas,

are required to implement specified air pollution control measures. The Act requires federal

emission standards for autos and other mobile sources of air pollution, for sources of 188

hazardous air pollutants, and for sources of acid rain. It establishes a comprehensive

state-run permit system for all major sources of air pollution. It also addresses the prevention

of pollution in areas with clean air, as well as protection of the stratospheric ozone layer.

The last comprehensive amendments to the Act, enacted November 15, 1990 (P.L.

101-549), included the program to control acid rain, new standards for emissions of

CRS-1

IB10065

02-04-03

hazardous air pollutants, new requirements for motor vehicles and fuels, stringent new

requirements for nonattainment areas, and the comprehensive permit program.

Many of these provisions (notably the acid rain and air toxics provisions, and some of

the requirements for autos and fuels) were strenuously debated, but most have not been

subject to controversy since enactment. The new provisions on acid rain and automobiles

and some of those on air toxics have been implemented on schedule, in many cases at less

cost than anticipated. There have also been noticeable improvements in air quality in recent

years: of 98 metropolitan areas not attaining the 1-hour ozone standard in 1990, about half

now do so. Even greater progress has been achieved with carbon monoxide: 36 of the 42

areas not in attainment in 1990 now meet the standard.

Nevertheless, major controversies remain concerning implementation of the Act. In

addition, recent studies of the impact of air pollutants have led many to conclude that air

pollution has harmful health effects at levels formerly considered safe. Based on this

research, EPA tightened the standards for ozone and particulate matter in 1997. The Agency

expects to implement the new standards beginning in 2004.

Issues in the 107th Congress

Two sets of air quality issues were on the agenda in the 107th Congress: (1) whether

Congress should address the connections between energy production and air quality

regulation; and ( 2) whether Congress should modify Clean Air Act requirements that have

led to the use of a substance called MTBE in gasoline, in response to a growing number of

ground water contamination incidents involving the substance.

Energy and Air Quality

In the early months of the 107th Congress, the most prominent air quality issue was

whether state and federal regulations designed to protect air quality had a negative impact

on energy production, and, if so, whether legislation should be enacted to temporarily or

permanently relax such regulations.

The early discussion focused primarily on California. As California’s energy situation

worsened in the winter of 2001 (in part, it now appears, through manipulation of energy

markets by trading companies such as Enron), the Bush Administration and others issued

statements implying that air regulations may have contributed to the problem. Anticipating

such concerns, federal and state air pollution officials, beginning in the summer of 2000, took

steps to relax controls that might have prevented the use of emergency generators to cope

with power shortages, and to lower the cost of emissions “allowances” under a California air

pollution control program. Congress also briefly considered legislation that would have

waived emission controls for both new and existing power plants (H.R. 1647). This bill was

approved by the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Energy and Air Quality

Subcommittee on May 10, 2001. Less than a month later, Energy and Commerce Committee

Chairman Tauzin announced, after protracted negotiations, that further efforts to enact the

bill would be suspended indefinitely.

CRS-2

IB10065

02-04-03

New Source Review and Multi-Pollutant Legislation. With the release of Vice

President Cheney’s energy policy recommendations in mid-May 2001 and the easing of the

shortage of electricity in California over that summer, the focus of discussion on air quality

and energy issues shifted to issues more national in scope. The National Energy Policy

(NEP) generally ignored California-specific issues. Instead, it took a longer and broader

view, addressing issues that affect power production and energy supply nationally.

Two of the NEP’s most important recommendations addressed air issues: the policy

recommended a review of the air emission regulatory process known as New Source Review

(NSR); simultaneously, it proposed to strengthen emission controls on power plants through

new legislation (referred to as “multi-pollutant legislation”).

The Administration was slow in developing the details of both its legislative and

regulatory proposals. It announced some details in its “Clear Skies” proposal on February

14, 2002. It sent legislative language to Congress (H.R. 5266 / S. 2815) in late July 2002,

only after the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee had ordered a more

stringent bill (S. 556) reported. Regulatory proposals on NSR were released on June 13,

2002, and some were finalized November 22, 2002; other regulatory changes to the NSR

rules are still in proposed form.

New Source Review. In an effort to ease regulatory burdens on power plants and

refineries and provide additional incentives to expand output at existing facilities, the NEP

recommended a review of the Clean Air Act’s New Source Review requirements, with the

EPA Administrator to report to the President within 90 days regarding the impact of NSR

regulations on investment in new utility and refinery generation capacity, energy efficiency,

and environmental protection. (The review was not completed until June 13, 2002, more

than a year later. Regulations implementing the review’s recommendations were released

November 22.) The NEP also recommended that the Attorney General review existing NSR

enforcement actions to ensure “that they are consistent with the Clean Air Act and its

regulations.” This review was completed on January 15, 2002, with the Justice Department

concluding that EPA “reasonably may conclude that the enforcement actions are consistent

with the Clean Air Act and its regulations.”

The controversy over the NSR process stems from EPA’s application of New Source

Performance Standards to existing stationary sources of air pollution that have been

modified. In Section 111, the Clean Air Act states that new sources (subject to NSR) include

modifications of existing sources as well as plants that are totally new; industry has

generally avoided the NSR process, however, by claiming that changes to existing sources

were “routine maintenance” rather than modifications. In the 1990s, EPA began reviewing

records of electric utilities, petroleum refineries, and other industries to determine whether

the changes were routine or not. As a result of these reviews, since late 1999, EPA and the

Department of Justice have filed suit against 14 electric utilities, claiming that they made

major modifications to 53 units in 14 states, extending their lives and increasing their electric

generating capacity without undergoing required New Source Reviews and without installing

best available pollution controls. With one exception, these suits were filed by the Clinton

Administration.

Two of the 14 utilities charged with NSR violations (Tampa Electric and PSEG of New

Jersey) have settled with EPA, agreeing to spend more than $1.3 billion over the next decade

CRS-3

IB10065

02-04-03

on pollution controls or fuel switching in order to reduce emissions at their affected units.

Two other utilities (Virginia Power and Cinergy) reached agreement in principle 2 years ago

to spend more than $1 billion each to resolve NSR violations, but final settlement

negotiations have not been concluded. A fifth utility, the Tennessee Valley Authority, has

announced plans to spend $1.5 billion to reduce emissions at four of its plants, although not

as part of a settlement agreement. Between July 25, 2000 and December 20, 2001, the

Agency also reached agreement with nine petroleum refiners representing more than 30%

of industry capacity. The refiners agreed to settle potential charges of NSR violations by

paying fines and installing equipment to eliminate 153,000 tons of pollution.

Companies that have not settled with EPA and other critics of the Agency’s actions

claim that EPA reinvented the rules, and, in the process, provided disincentives for power

producers and refineries to expand output. Critics have included the National Coal Council,

an advisory committee to the Secretary of Energy composed largely of industry executives.

It stated in a May 3, 2001 report that existing coal-fired power plants could make technical

improvements to produce an additional 40,000 megawatts of electricity if the EPA would

loosen current NSR restrictions.

In its November 22, 2002 announcement, EPA promulgated four sets of changes to the

NSR requirements: first, it will allow facilities to use Plantwide Applicability Limits, rather

than emissions from the individual units being replaced, to determine whether emissions will

increase from a plant modification (this is expected to make it easier to modify facilities

without triggering NSR); second, certain environmentally beneficial pollution control and

prevention projects will be allowed to proceed without NSR permits, upon submission of a

notice to the permitting authority; third, plants that install state-of-the-art pollution controls

(referred to as “clean units”) will be allowed to modify their facilities during the ensuing 10

years without undergoing further review provided they meet emission limits specified in their

permit; and fourth, the methodology used to calculate whether emissions will increase

(triggering NSR) will be changed—for example, facilities other than power plants will be

able to compare projected emissions after a modification to the highest levels reached during

any 24-month period during the previous 10 years.

In addition to the four promulgated changes, the Agency also proposed new regulations

defining what constitutes routine maintenance, which is exempt from review. The proposal

would exempt from NSR modifications that cost less than threshold amounts.

The proposed and promulgated changes (characterized by the Administration as

streamlining or improvement of the program, and by environmental groups and a number of

states as a significant weakening) are almost certain to trigger litigation, with enforcement

of NSR blocked for the immediate future. In the meantime, the mere prospect of an NSR

rollback, critics argue, has already caused utilities to withdraw from settlement negotiations

over the pending lawsuits, delaying emission reductions that could have been achieved in the

near future. (For additional discussion of NSR issues, see CRS Report RL30432, Air Quality

and Electricity: Enforcing New Source Review.)

Multi-Pollutant Legislation. Simultaneous with its proposal for review of the NSR

requirements, the National Energy Policy proposed to strengthen emission controls on sulfur

dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and mercury from power plants through new legislation. Such

legislation would replace numerous existing regulatory programs, including NSR, New

CRS-4

IB10065

02-04-03

Source Performance Standards, Prevention of Significant Deterioration, Lowest Achievable

Emission Rate standards, Best Available Retrofit Technology, and regulations under

development to control mercury emissions from electric utilities.

The number of current and prospective regulations on power plant emissions has

suggested to many in industry, environmental groups, Congress, and the Administration that

the time may be ripe for such comprehensive, multi-pollutant legislation to regulate power

plant emissions. The key questions are how stringent the controls will be, and whether

carbon dioxide (CO2) will be among the emissions subject to controls.

Regarding the stringency issue, seven bills that were introduced prior to the

Administration’s proposal would have required reduction of NOx emissions to 1.5 or 1.6

million tons (a nearly 80% reduction from 1998 levels) and reduction of sulfur dioxide

emissions to 2.23-4.45 million tons (a reduction of roughly 65%-80% versus 1998).

Regarding mercury, the bills would have either required EPA to determine the level of

reductions, or required about a 90% reduction from current levels of emissions (from 48 to

4.5 or 5 tons). In general, these reductions would have taken place by 2005 or 2008,

depending on the bill. Three of the bills would also have set caps on CO2 emissions, at the

level emitted in 1990. (For additional information and a detailed comparison of the

legislative proposals, see CRS Report RL31326, Air Quality: Multi-Pollutant Legislation.)

The Administration bill (H.R. 5266 / S. 2815), known as the “Clear Skies” bill,

envisions less stringent standards phased in over a longer period of time. For NOx, the

Administration would reduce emissions to 1.7 million tons by 2018, with an intermediate

limit of 2.1 million tons in 2008. For sulfur dioxide, the limit would be 3.0 million tons in

2018, with an intermediate limit of 4.5 million tons in 2008. For mercury, the limit would

be 26 tons in 2010, declining to 15 tons in 2018.

The Administration opposes controls on CO2, viewing them as a step towards

implementing the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate

Change, which it opposes. Its critics, however—and even some of its supporters—note that

the goal of providing regulatory certainty to power companies may not be met without the

inclusion of CO2 controls.

Whatever the merits of CO2 regulation, some form of multi-pollutant legislation may

remain on the agenda over the next few years. Hearings on multi-pollutant legislation were

held November 1 and 15, 2001, and January 29 and June 12, 2002, by the Senate

Environment and Public Works Committee. Senator Jeffords’ bill, S. 556, was reported by

the committee, with amendments (S.Rept. 107-347), on November 19, 2002. Opposed by

the Administration and by the electric utility and coal industries, the bill died without

reaching the Senate floor; but it marked the first time a congressional committee has reported

legislation to reduce utility emissions of carbon dioxide. In addition to S. 556 and the other

bills discussed above, an effort to reach middle ground (S. 3135) was introduced by Senator

Carper, October 17, 2002. The Carper bill would have regulated CO2 as well as the other

three pollutants, but its deadlines and the required reductions in emissions fell somewhere

between the Jeffords bill and the Administration’s Clear Skies bill.

(For additional information on regulation of electric utility emissions, see CRS Report

RS20553, Air Quality and Electricity: Initiatives to Increase Pollution Controls.)

CRS-5

IB10065

02-04-03

MTBE and Reformulated Gasoline

Another set of issues that was on the agenda of the 107th Congress was whether

Congress should modify the requirements of the Clean Air Act’s reformulated gasoline

program or regulate use of the substance MTBE in gasoline in response to incidents of

ground water contamination by the substance. Under the Clean Air Act Amendments of

1990, numerous areas with poor air quality are required to add chemicals called “oxygenates”

to gasoline as a means of improving combustion and reducing emissions. The Act has two

programs that require the use of oxygenates; the more significant of the two is the

reformulated gasoline (RFG) program, which took effect January 1, 1995. Under the RFG

program, areas with “severe” or “extreme” ozone pollution (82 counties with a combined

population of 55 million) must use reformulated gas; areas with less severe ozone pollution

may opt into the program as well, and many have. In all, portions of 17 states and the

District of Columbia use RFG, and a little more than 30% of the gasoline sold in the United

States is RFG.

The law requires that RFG contain at least 2% oxygen by weight. Refiners can meet

this requirement by adding a number of ethers or alcohols, any of which contains oxygen and

other elements. By far the most commonly used oxygenate is MTBE. In 1999, 87% of RFG

contained MTBE. MTBE has also been used since the late 1970s in non-reformulated

gasoline, as an octane enhancer, at lower concentrations. As a result, gasoline with MTBE

has been used virtually everywhere in the United States, whether or not an area has been

subject to RFG requirements.

State and local environmental agencies and EPA attribute marked improvements in air

quality to the use of oxygenated and reformulated gasoline. The improvements in air quality

have not come without controversy. In Alaska and Wisconsin, residents complained of a

wide array of effects, including headaches, dizziness, nausea, sore eyes, and respiratory

irritation, from exposure to gasoline/MTBE exhaust, before refiners switched to alternative

gasoline formulations using ethanol. MTBE from a number of sources, including leaking

underground storage tanks, has also been linked to contamination of drinking water supplies.

Removing MTBE from ground water is a costly and difficult process.

The principal issues for Congress are whether Clean Air Act provisions concerning

oxygenate use in reformulated gasoline should be waived to allow refiners to discontinue or

lessen their use of MTBE without substituting another oxygenate and whether stronger steps,

such as a ban on MTBE use, should be considered.

Support for eliminating the oxygen requirement on a nationwide basis is widespread

among environmental groups, the petroleum industry, and states. In general, these groups

have concluded that gasoline can meet the same low emission performance standards as RFG

without the use of oxygenates. But a potential obstacle to enacting legislation to remove the

oxygen requirement lies among agricultural interests. About 6% of the nation’s corn crop

is used to produce a competing oxygenate, ethanol. If MTBE use is reduced or phased out,

but the oxygen requirement remains in effect, ethanol use would likely soar, increasing

demand for corn. Conversely, if the oxygen requirement is waived by EPA or legislation,

not only would MTBE use decline, but so, likely, would demand for ethanol. Thus,

Members of Congress and Governors from corn-growing states have taken a keen interest

CRS-6

IB10065

02-04-03

in MTBE legislation. Unless their interests are addressed, they could pose a potent obstacle

to its passage.

Concerns over MTBE have focused on California for much of the past 5 years.

California has the most extensive reformulated gasoline program in the country, with state

requirements separate and in addition to the federal requirements. In addition, it has

experienced the most significant contamination of drinking water by MTBE. Responding

to the drinking water contamination incidents, on March 25, 1999, Governor Davis of

California signed an Executive Order to require a phase-out of MTBE use in the state by

December 31, 2002 (amended earlier this year to December 31, 2003), and requested a

waiver of federal requirements to use oxygenates in reformulated gasoline. (Fourteen other

states—Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan,

Minnesota, Nebraska, New York, Ohio, South Dakota, and Washington—have subsequently

passed legislation to limit or phase out MTBE.)

The California request for a waiver of the oxygen requirement resulted in two years of

negotiation between EPA and the state before the Agency finally denied California’s request,

on June 12, 2001. Without a waiver, gasoline sold in ozone nonattainment areas in the state

will be required to contain another oxygenate (most likely, ethanol) when the MTBE ban

takes effect, unless Congress acts to change the oxygenate requirement. Legislation to waive

the oxygen requirement for California (the Cox amendment to H.R. 4) was rejected by the

House, 300-125, August 1, 2001, during debate on the House version of comprehensive

energy legislation.

Besides the Cox amendment, many proposals to change the oxygen requirement have

been advanced, and Congress has considered several bills over the last three years. On

August 4, 1999, the Senate adopted by voice vote Senator Boxer’s amendment to the

FY2000 Agriculture appropriations bill (S. 1233) expressing the sense of the Senate that use

of MTBE should be phased out. Since then, congressional committees have conducted

hearings and marked up MTBE legislation several times. The Senate passed MTBE

provisions in its version of comprehensive energy legislation, H.R. 4, April 25, 2002. The

bill died, however, when the 107th Congress adjourned.

The MTBE provisions in the Senate version of H.R. 4 built on legislation reported by

the Environment and Public Works Committee in December 2001, S. 950. S. 950 would

have banned the use of MTBE, allowed Governors to waive the RFG program’s oxygen

requirement, provided additional authority to EPA to regulate fuel additives and emissions,

authorized a one-time appropriation of $200 million from the Leaking Underground Storage

Tank Trust Fund to clean up MTBE leaks from tanks, and authorized another $200 million

over 6 years for states to use to oversee and enforce tank leak prevention and detection

regulations. It would also have authorized $750 million in grants to assist conversion of

merchant MTBE production facilities to production of cleaner fuel additives. The bill was

reported on December 20, 2001 (S.Rept. 107-131). The Chairman and other members of the

committee said they expected to engage in negotiations to add renewable fuel requirements

to the bill before it could be brought to the floor.

Instead of S. 950 coming to the floor, however, similar MTBE provisions were added

to the Senate’s energy bill, as Sections 83-839 of S.Amdt. 2917. The amendment also

provided for tripling the use of ethanol or other renewable fuels in motor vehicles by 2012,

CRS-7

IB10065

02-04-03

in Section 820. These provisions passed the Senate in the Senate version of H.R. 4, April

25, 2002. The House passed its own version of H.R. 4 in August 2001, minus most of the

MTBE and ethanol provisions, and different in many other respects, as well. The conferees

did not reach agreement on the conflicting versions, and the bill died when the Congress

adjourned.

As the deadlines for state phaseout of MTBE move closer, investment decisions

involving hundreds of millions of dollars hang on the regulatory framework of the postMTBE gasoline market. Thus, pressure for congressional action on this issue is likely to

remain high. Whether this pressure will produce enacted legislation is less clear. (For

additional discussion of the MTBE issue, see CRS Report 98-290, MTBE in Gasoline: Clean

Air and Drinking Water Issues. For information on ethanol, see CRS Report RL30369, Fuel

Ethanol: Background and Public Policy Issues.)

LEGISLATION

H.R. 4 (Tauzin)

Securing America’s Future Energy Act of 2001. Comprehensive energy legislation.

As amended and passed by the Senate, the bill includes provisions that would ban use of the

gasoline additive MTBE within 4 years of enactment (but allow states to authorize its

continued use), eliminate the requirement to use oxygenates in reformulated gasoline, require

maintenance of the toxic emission reductions achieved by the RFG program, authorize

additional funding for cleanup of ground water contaminated by MTBE, and triple use of

ethanol and other renewable fuels in motor vehicles by 2012. S.Amdt. 2917 (Daschle)

proposed February 15, 2002, and further modified March 5, 2002. Amendment agreed to by

voice vote, April 25, 2002. Amendment incorporated into H.R. 4 and passed by the Senate,

April 25, 2002. Conferees appointed by the Senate, May 1, 2002, and by the House, June

12, 2002.

H.R. 20 (Greenwood)

Amends Section 211 of the Clean Air Act to require the EPA Administrator to waive

the reformulated gasoline program’s oxygen content requirement in response to a state

petition; requires EPA to limit use of MTBE beginning in 2005; and allows EPA to control

or prohibit the use of any oxygenate, or to permit the states to do so under limited

circumstances. Introduced January 3, 2001; referred to Committee on Energy and

Commerce.

H.R. 25 (Sweeney)

Acid Rain Control Act. To reduce acid deposition by requiring additional controls on

sources of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides. Introduced January 3, 2001; referred to

Committee on Energy and Commerce.

H.R. 52 (Condit)

Amends the Clean Air Act to permit the exclusive application of California state

regulations regarding reformulated gasoline in federal RFG areas within the state. Introduced

January 3, 2001; referred to Committee on Energy and Commerce.

CRS-8

IB10065

02-04-03

H.R. 454 (T. Johnson)

MTBE Elimination Act. Prohibits the use of MTBE as a fuel additive, effective 3 years

after the date of enactment; establishes an MTBE ground water contamination and

remediation research grants program within the Environmental Protection Agency; and

allows reformulated gasoline containing 3.5% ethanol to exceed current standards for

volatility. Introduced February 6, 2001; referred to Committee on Energy and Commerce.

H.R. 608 (Ganske)

Clean Air and Water Preservation Act of 2001. Amends Section 211 of the Clean Air

Act to prohibit the use of MTBE 3 years after the date of enactment, to provide flexibility

within the oxygenate requirement of the RFG program, and to prevent backsliding on

emissions by limiting the aromatic hydrocarbon content of RFG. Introduced February 14,

2001; referred to Committee on Energy and Commerce.

H.R. 1256 (Waxman)

Clean Smokestacks Act of 2001. Amends the Clean Air Act to reduce emissions of

sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, mercury, and carbon dioxide from electric powerplants.

Introduced March 27, 2001; referred to Committee on Energy and Commerce.

H.R. 1335 (Allen)

Clean Power Plant Act of 2001. Requires reductions in emissions of mercury, carbon

dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and sulfur dioxide from fossil fuel-fired electric utility generating

units. Introduced April 3, 2001; referred to Committee on Energy and Commerce.

H.R. 1647 (Barton)

Electricity Emergency Relief Act. Includes provisions designed to temporarily waive

NOx emission requirements for power plants during electricity emergencies. Introduced May

1, 2001; referred to Committees on Energy and Commerce and on Resources. Approved,

amended, by Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy and Air Quality, May 10,

2001.

H.R. 1695 (Pombo)

Amends Section 211 of the Clean Air Act to require EPA to prohibit the use of MTBE

as a fuel additive and to prohibit any additive in gasoline unless it has been determined

(through scientific testing and peer review) not to have any adverse effects on the public.

Introduced May 3, 2001; referred to Committee on Energy and Commerce.

H.R. 1891 (Bryant)

Clean Diesel Fuel Provider Relief Act. Amends Section 211 of the Clean Air Act to

eliminate the phase-in period (2006 to 2010) for the reduction of sulfur content in diesel fuel,

making EPA’s new sulfur standard effective September 1, 2006, and sets cetane and aromatic

content requirements for such fuel. Introduced May 17, 2001; referred to Committee on

Energy and Commerce.

H.R. 1999 (Nussle)

Ethanol Energy Promotion Act of 2001. Amends the Clean Air Act to prohibit the use

of MTBE as a fuel additive and to require federal vehicles to use ethanol fuel, and to modify

the small-ethanol-producer tax credit. Introduced May 24, 2001; referred to Committees on

Energy and Commerce and on Ways and Means.

CRS-9

IB10065

02-04-03

H.R. 2017 (Green)

Directs the EPA Administrator to conduct a study of the feasibility of developing

regional vehicle fuel specifications for the United States and of implementing the use of a

uniform blend of gasoline in the Midwest. Introduced May 25, 2001; referred to Committee

on Energy and Commerce.

H.R. 2116 (Taylor)

Great Smoky Mountains Clean Air Act of 2001. Requires reductions of emissions of

sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, mercury, and carbon dioxide from Tennessee Valley

Authority electric powerplants by January 1, 2007. Introduced June 7, 2001; referred to

Committee on Energy and Commerce.

H.R. 2230 (King)

Amends Section 211 of the Clean Air Act to prohibit the use of the fuel additive MTBE

in gasoline. Introduced June 19, 2001; referred to Committee on Energy and Commerce.

H.R. 2249 (Blunt)

Gasoline Access and Stabilization Act of 2001. Amends Section 211 of the Clean Air

Act to require a more uniform formula for gasoline and diesel fuel so that gasoline and diesel

fuel manufactured for one region of the country may be transported to and sold in other

regions. Introduced June 20, 2001; referred to Committee on Energy and Commerce.

H.R. 2270 (Issa)

Identical to H.R. 52. Introduced June 21, 2001; referred to Committee on Energy and

Commerce.

H.R. 2729 (Allen)

Amends the Clean Air Act to require reduced emissions of mercury from fossil

fuel-fired electric utility steam generating units, commercial and industrial boiler units, solid

waste incineration units, medical waste incinerators, hazardous waste combustors,

chlor-alkali plants, and Portland cement plants. Introduced August 2, 2001; referred to

Committee on Energy and Commerce.

H.R. 3362 (Condit)

Transported Air Pollution Mitigation Act of 2001. Amends the Clean Air Act to impose

certain requirements on areas upwind of ozone nonattainment areas. Introduced November

28, 2001; referred to Committee on Energy and Commerce.

H.R. 3596 (Ryan)

Amends the Clean Air Act to ban the use of MTBE in gasoline, eliminate the RFG

program’s oxygen requirement, require the use of renewable fuel, and reduce the number of

“boutique” fuels. Introduced December 20, 2001; referred to Committee on Energy and

Commerce.

H.R. 3880 (Fossella)

Provides a temporary waiver from certain transportation conformity requirements and

metropolitan transportation planning requirements under the Clean Air Act for areas in New

York where the planning offices and resources have been destroyed by acts of terrorism.

Introduced March 6, 2002; referred to Committees on Energy and Commerce and on

CRS-10

IB10065

02-04-03

Transportation and Infrastructure. Forwarded by Subcommittee on Energy and Air Quality

to Full Committee on Energy and Commerce, July 24, 2002. Reported, amended, by

Committee on Energy and Commerce, September 9, 2002 (H.Rept. 107-649 Part 1). Passed

the House (377-0), September 10, 2002. Passed the Senate by unanimous consent,

September 12, 2002. Signed into law October 1, 2002.

H.R. 3946 (Sensenbrenner)

Fuel Price Stability Act of 2002. Amends the Clean Air Act to allow the Governors of

Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin to permit the sale of conventional gasoline in reformulated

gasoline areas if the Governor finds that reduced availability of RFG has resulted in, or is

likely to result in, a significant price increase in that area Introduced March 12, 2002;

referred to Committee on Energy and Commerce.

H.R. 4611 (Olver)

Amends the Clean Air Act to establish an inventory, registry, and information system

of United States greenhouse gas emissions. Introduced April 25, 2002; referred to

Committee on Energy and Commerce.

H.R. 5261 (Kirk)

Great Lakes Mercury Reduction Act. Prohibits the issuance of new source permits

under the Clean Air Act for certain sources that would result in the deposition of mercury

into the Great Lakes. Introduced July 26, 2002; referred to Committee on Energy and

Commerce.

H.R. 5266 (Barton, by request)

Clear Skies Act of 2002. The Administration’s multi-pollutant legislation for electric

utility emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and mercury. Introduced July 26, 2002;

referred to Committee on Energy and Commerce.

H.R. 5433 (Barcia)

Amends the Clean Air Act to ensure reasonable emissions standards for highway

motorcycles. Introduced September 24, 2002; referred to Committee on Energy and

Commerce.

H.R.5732 (K. Brady)

Amends the Clean Air Act regarding the conformity of transportation projects to state

implementation plans. Introduced November 14, 2002; referred to Committee on Energy and

Commerce.

S. 60 (Byrd)

National Electricity and Environmental Technology Act. Authorizes accelerated

research and development programs for advanced clean coal technologies for use in

electricity generating facilities; amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide financial

incentives to encourage retrofitting, repowering, or replacement of coal-based electricity

generating facilities to protect the environment and improve efficiency and encourage the

early commercial application of advanced clean coal technologies. Introduced January 22,

2001; referred to Committee on Finance.

CRS-11

IB10065

02-04-03

S. 265 (Fitzgerald)

MTBE Elimination Act. Prohibits the use of MTBE as a fuel additive, effective 3 years

after the date of enactment and establishes an MTBE ground water contamination and

remediation research grants program within the Environmental Protection Agency.

Introduced February 6, 2001; referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.

S. 389 (Murkowski)

National Energy Security Act of 2001. To protect the energy and security of the United

States and decrease America’s dependency on foreign oil sources to 50% by the year 2011

by enhancing the use of renewable energy resources, conserving energy resources, improving

energy efficiencies, and increasing domestic energy supplies; to improve environmental

quality by reducing emissions of air pollutants and greenhouse gases; and to mitigate the

effect of increases in energy prices on the American consumer, including the poor and the

elderly. Introduced February 26, 2001; referred to Committee on Finance.

S. 517 (Bingaman)

Energy Policy Act of 2002. Comprehensive energy legislation. As modified by

S.Amdt. 2917 (Daschle), Section 819 requires increasing use of ethanol or other renewable

fuels in motor vehicle fuel each year from 2004 to 2012. Sections 831-839 would ban the

use of MTBE in gasoline within 4 years, allow governors to waive the oxygenate requirement

in reformulated gasoline, prevent backsliding on emissions of air toxics from RFG, and

authorize funds for remediation of MTBE leaks. S. 517 introduced March 12, 2001.

Amendment in the nature of a substitute introduced February 15, 2002; amendment, as

modified, adopted March 5, 2002. Senate consideration began March 5, 2002.

S. 556 (Jeffords)

Clean Power Act of 2001. Amends the Clean Air Act to reduce emissions of sulfur

dioxide, nitrogen oxides, mercury, and carbon dioxide from electric powerplants. Introduced

March 15, 2001; referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works. Hearings

held, November 1 and 15, 2001, and January 29 and June 12, 2002. Reported with

amendments (S.Rept. 107-347), November 19, 2002.

S. 588 (Schumer)

Acid Rain Control Act. Amends the Clean Air Act to reduce emissions of sulfur

dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and mercury from electric powerplants. Establishes a NOx

emissions trading program. Introduced March 21, 2001; referred to the Committee on

Environment and Public Works.

S. 670 (Daschle)

Renewable Fuels Act of 2001. Amends the Clean Air Act to ban MTBE from the U.S.

fuel supply not later than 4 years after the date of enactment, to increase production and use

of ethanol, and to authorize $400 million from the Leaking Underground Storage Tank Fund

for remediation of MTBE contamination. Introduced March 30, 2001; referred to the

Committee on Environment and Public Works.

S. 892 (Harkin)

Clean and Renewable Fuels Act of 2001. Amends the Clean Air Act to phase out the

use of MTBE in fuels or fuel additives and to promote the use of renewable fuels. Introduced

May 15, 2001; referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.

CRS-12

IB10065

02-04-03

S. 947 (Feinstein)

Amends the Clean Air Act to allow Governors to waive the oxygen content requirement

for reformulated gasoline. Introduced May 24, 2001; referred to the Committee on

Environment and Public Works.

S. 950 (B. Smith)

Federal Reformulated Fuels Act of 2001. Requires EPA to ban the use of MTBE as a

fuel additive within 4 years of enactment; allows Governors to waive the oxygen content

requirement for reformulated gasoline; requires maintenance of toxic air pollution reductions

achieved under the reformulated gasoline program; authorizes $400 million from the Leaking

Underground Storage Tank Trust Fund for remediation of MTBE leaks, release prevention,

and compliance; requires studies of the health and environmental effects of MTBE

substitutes; expands the authority for states to opt in to the RFG program; and other

provisions. Introduced May 24, 2001; referred to the Committee on Environment and Public

Works. Reported December 20, 2001 (S.Rept. 107-131).

S. 1131 (Leahy)

Clean Power Plant and Modernization Act of 2001. Promotes economically sound

modernization of U.S. electric power generation capacity, establishes requirements to

improve the combustion heat rate efficiency of fossil fuel-fired electric utility generating

units, reduces emissions of mercury, carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and sulfur dioxide,

requires that all U.S. fossil fuel-fired electric utility generating units meet new source review

requirements, promotes the use of clean coal technologies, and promotes alternative energy

and clean energy sources. Introduced June 28, 2001; referred to the Committee on Finance.

S. 1870 (Corzine)

Amends the Clean Air Act to establish an inventory, registry, and information system

of United States greenhouse gas emissions. Introduced December 20, 2001; referred to the

Committee on Environment and Public Works.

S. 1875 (Leahy)

Amends the Clean Air Act to establish requirements concerning the operation of fossil

fuel-fired electric utility steam generating units, commercial and industrial boilers, solid

waste incinerators, medical waste incinerators, hazardous waste combustors, chlor-alkali

plants, and Portland cement plants to reduce emissions of mercury to the environment.

Introduced December 20, 2001; referred to the Committee on Environment and Public

Works.

S. 2065 (Campbell)

To implement air quality programs on the Southern Ute Indian Reservation in Colorado.

Introduced March 21, 2002; referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.

S. 2579 (Bond)

Amends the Clean Air Act to limit access to off-site consequences analysis information

submitted to EPA by facilities handling hazardous chemicals, in order to reduce the risk of

criminal release from stationary sources. Introduced June 5, 2002; referred to the Committee

on Environment and Public Works.

CRS-13

IB10065

02-04-03

S. 2815 (B. Smith, by request)

Clear Skies Act of 2002. The Administration’s multi-pollutant legislation for electric

utility emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and mercury. Introduced July 29, 2002;

referred to Committee on Environment and Public Works.

S. 3135 (Carper)

Clean Air Planning Act of 2002. Amends the Clean Air Act to establish a national

uniform multiple air pollutant regulatory program for the electric generating sector.

Introduced October 17, 2002; referred to Committee on Environment and Public Works.

CONGRESSIONAL HEARINGS, REPORTS, AND DOCUMENTS

U.S. Congress. House. Committee on Energy and Commerce. Subcommittee on Energy

and Air Quality. H.R. 1647, The Electricity Emergency Act of 2001. May 1 and May

3, 2001.

––. Accomplishments of the Clean Air Act and Clean Air Act Implementation: Experience

of State and Local Regulators. May 1 and June 5, 2002.

––. Committee on Science. Health Effects of Particulate Air Pollution: What Does the

Science Say? May 8, 2002.

U.S. Congress. Senate. Committee on Environment and Public Works. S. 556, the Clean

Power Act. November 1 and 15, 2001; January 29 and June 12, 2002.

––. Impact of Air Emissions from the Transportation Sector on Public Health and the

Environment. August 1, 2001.

––. Health and Environmental Effects of Power Plant Emissions. July 26, 2001.

––. Health Effects of PM2.5 Emissions. October 2, 2002.

––. MTBE in Gasoline. April 27, 2001.

––. Subcommittee on Clean Air, Wetlands, Private Property, and Nuclear Safety. Clean Air

Act and National Energy Policy. March 21, 2001.

—. Committee on the Judiciary. New Source Review Program of the Clean Air Act. July 16,

2002.

CRS-14

IB10065

02-04-03

FOR ADDITIONAL READING

CRS Reports

CRS Report RL30432. Air Quality and Electricity: Enforcing New Source Review, by Larry

B. Parker and John E. Blodgett.

CRS Report RS20553. Air Quality and Electricity: Initiatives to Increase Pollution

Controls, by Larry B. Parker and John E. Blodgett.

CRS Report 98-236. Air Quality: EPA’s Ozone Transport Rule, OTAG, and Section 126

Petitions — A Hazy Situation?, by Larry Parker and John Blodgett.

CRS Report RL31326. Air Quality: Multi-Pollutant Legislation, by Larry Parker and John

Blodgett.

CRS Report RL31515. Air Toxics: What Progress Has EPA Made in Regulating Hazardous

Air Pollutants? by Anne L. Hardenbergh.

CRS Report RL30853. Clean Air Act: A Summary of the Act and Its Major Requirements,

by James E. McCarthy.

CRS Report RL30737. Diesel Fuel and Engines: An Analysis of EPA’s Proposed

Regulations, by Brent D. Yacobucci, James E. McCarthy, John W. Fischer, Alejandro

E. Segarra, and Lawrence C. Kumins.

CRS Report RL30878. Electricity Generation and Air Quality: Multi-Pollutant Strategies,

by Larry Parker and John Blodgett.

CRS Report RL30369. Fuel Ethanol: Background and Public Policy Issues, by Brent D.

Yacobucci and Jasper Womach.

CRS Report RL30131. Highway Fund Sanctions and Conformity Under the Clean Air Act,

by James E. McCarthy.

CRS Report 98-290. MTBE in Gasoline: Clean Air and Drinking Water Issues, by James

E. McCarthy and Mary Tiemann.

CRS Report RL31531. Particulate Matter Air Quality Standards: Background and Current

Developments, by Anne L. Hardenbergh.

CRS Report RL31149. Snowmobiles, Environmental Standards, and Access to National

Parks: Regulatory and Legislative Issues, by James E. McCarthy.

CRS Report RS20860. The Supreme Court Upholds EPA Standard-Setting Under the Clean

Air Act: Whitman v. American Trucking Ass’ns, by Robert Meltz and James E.

McCarthy.

CRS-15