NEWS RELEASE
Committee on Energy and Commerce Democrats
Congressman John D. Dingell, Ranking Member

Energy Legislation Markup Continues
Title XV - Ethanol and Motor Fuels
Republican Bill Will Cost Taxpayers A Bundle

Washington, D.C. – During Committee consideration of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, Democrats will continue to offer several amendments to address anti-environmental provisions and to remove provisions that would provide costly subsidies to polluters while taxpayers foot the bill for cleanup.

Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether (MTBE)

The Republican energy bill contains several provisions pertaining to the fuel additive methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE), which has caused widespread contamination to water supplies. The provisions would protect manufacturers of MTBE from liability for contaminating water supplies, provide a nine-year phase out for the use of MTBE (by 2014), and provide $2 billion in transition assistance. In addition, the President would be given the power to eliminate the MTBE ban.

“These Republican provisions represent a direct assault on the nation’s safe drinking water supply,” said Congressman John D. Dingell, Ranking Member of the Committee on Energy and Commerce. “Given the fact that the manufacturers have known for years that MTBE was a problem, nine years is much too long to let it fester.”

“This bill would allow MTBE to be used with immunity while the taxpayers shoulder the cost of unnecessary subsidies and the cleanup,” said Congresswoman Lois Capps (D-CA).

A combination of three amendments by Capps would:

1. Strike the liability waiver;
2. Ban the use of MTBE with a four-year phase out and eliminate the Presidential override; and
3. Strike the $2 billion in transition assistance.

Leaking Underground Storage Tanks

The Leaking Underground Storage Tank (LUST) Trust Fund was created by Congress in 1986 and is financed by a 0.1 cent a gallon tax on motor fuels. The LUST Trust Fund was specifically created to address contamination from leaking underground storage tanks at gas stations and other facilities, which are often the source of MTBE and petroleum contamination in groundwater.

According to EPA, MTBE contamination can increase cleanup costs by 25 percent to more than 100 percent. EPA’s FY2006 Annual Performance Plan and Congressional Justification indicates that “states face multi-million dollar cleanup costs at sites with widespread MTBE contamination such as Santa Monica, CA, Long Island, NY, Pascoag, RI, and Hopkins, SC.”

Committee Democrats will offer two amendments to the Committee Print that provide important additional protections to the public health and the environment including:

An amendment by Congresswoman Lois Capps (D-CA) would establish a periodic inspection requirement of three years for underground storage tanks regulated under the Solid Waste Disposal Act. The current language in the bill would postpone inspections by beginning the three-year periodic inspections 24 months after enactment of the bill, with a one-year waiver after that. Tanks that have not been inspected since 1999 may not be inspected until as long as 2010 or 2011.

In an effort to stop leaks before they enter into the environment, Congressman Bart Stupak (D-MI) will offer an amendment that would require secondary containment for new and replacement tanks installed within 1,000 feet of any existing community water system or existing potable drinking water well or other sensitive areas. More than 20 states have secondary containment provisions.

- 30 -