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92_HB0171
LRB9201997LBgc
1 AN ACT concerning methyl tertiary butyl ether.
2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3 represented in the General Assembly:
4 Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the MTBE
5 Elimination Act.
6 Section 5. Findings. The General Assembly finds that:
7 (1) a single cup of MTBE, equal to the quantity found in
8 one gallon of gasoline oxygenated with MTBE, renders all of
9 the water in a 5,000,000-gallon well undrinkable;
10 (2) the physical properties of MTBE allow MTBE to pass
11 easily from gasoline to air to water, or from gasoline
12 directly to water, but MTBE does not readily attach to soil
13 particles or naturally degrade;
14 (3) the development of tumors and nervous system
15 disorders in mice and rats has been linked to exposure to
16 MTBE and tertiary butyl alcohol and formaldehyde, which are
17 2 metabolic byproducts of MTBE;
18 (4) reproductive and developmental studies of MTBE
19 indicate that exposure of a pregnant female to MTBE through
20 inhalation can result in maternal toxicity and have possible
21 adverse effects on a developing fetus;
22 (5) the Health Effects Institute reported in February
23 1996 that the studies of MTBE support its classification as a
24 neurotoxicant and suggest that its primary effect is likely
25 to be in the form of acute impairment;
26 (6) people with higher levels of MTBE in the bloodstream
27 are significantly more likely to report more headaches, eye
28 irritation, nausea, dizziness, burning of the nose and
29 throat, coughing, disorientation, and vomiting, as compared
30 with those who have lower levels of MTBE in the bloodstream;
31 (7) MTBE significantly reduces the efficiency of
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1 technologies used to remediate water contaminated by
2 petroleum hydrocarbons;
3 (8) the costs of remediation of MTBE water contamination
4 throughout the United States could run into the billions of
5 dollars;
6 (9) although several studies are being conducted to
7 assess possible methods to remediate drinking water
8 contaminated by MTBE, there are currently no engineering
9 solutions to make such remediation cost effective and
10 practicable;
11 (10) the remediation of drinking water contaminated by
12 MTBE, involving the stripping of millions of gallons of
13 contaminated ground water, can cost millions of dollars per
14 municipality;
15 (11) the reformulated gasoline program under Section
16 211(k) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7545(k)) has resulted
17 in substantial reductions in the emissions of a number of air
18 pollutants from motor vehicles, including volatile organic
19 compounds, carbon monoxide, and toxic air pollutants from
20 mobile sources, including benzene;
21 (12) in assessing oxygenate alternatives, the Blue Ribbon
22 Panel of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency determined
23 that ethanol, made from domestic grain and potentially from
24 recycled biomass, is an effective fuel component that
25 provides carbon monoxide emission benefits and high octane
26 and appears to contribute to the reduction of the use of
27 aromatics, providing reductions in emissions of toxic air
28 pollutants and other air quality benefits;
29 (13) the U.S. Department of Agriculture concluded that
30 ethanol production and distribution could be expanded to meet
31 the needs of the reformulated gasoline program in 4 years,
32 with negligible price impacts and no interruptions in supply;
33 and
34 (14) because the reformulated gasoline program is a
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1 source of clean air benefits, and ethanol is a viable
2 alternative that provides air quality and economic benefits,
3 research and development efforts should be directed to assess
4 infrastructure and meet other challenges necessary to allow
5 ethanol use to expand sufficiently to meet the requirements
6 of the reformulated gasoline program as the use of MTBE is
7 phased out.
8 Section 10. Definitions. As used in this Act:
9 "MTBE" means methyl tertiary butyl ether.
10 "Agency" means the Illinois Environmental Protection
11 Agency.
12 Section 15. Local government assistance. The Illinois
13 Environmental Protection Agency shall adopt all necessary
14 rules to implement a program to provide technical assistance
15 and information to units of local government, and, subject to
16 appropriations from the General Assembly, the Agency shall
17 make matching funds available to assist units of local
18 government in testing drinking water supplies and in
19 remediating drinking water contaminated with MTBE.
20 Section 20. MTBE prohibitions. Beginning 3 years after
21 the effective date of this Act, no person shall use, sell,
22 offer for sale, blend, or manufacture MTBE as a fuel additive
23 in Illinois, nor shall any person transport fuel containing
24 MTBE within or through the State of Illinois.
25 Section 25. Grants for research on MTBE ground water
26 contamination and remediation.
27 (a) There is established a MTBE research grants program
28 to be administered by the Agency. The Agency shall develop by
29 rule a grant program to provide funding for the costs of
30 research on the development of more cost effective and
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1 accurate MTBE ground water testing methods and the
2 development of more efficient and cost effective remediation
3 procedures for water sources contaminated with MTBE.
4 (b) In making grants under this Section, the Director
5 shall seek and accept proposals for grants, determine the
6 relevance and merit of proposals, award grants on the basis
7 of merit, quality, and relevance to advancing the purposes
8 for which a grant may be awarded under subsection (a), and
9 give priority to those proposals for which matching funds are
10 available.
11 (c) Grants under this Section shall be awarded on a
12 competitive basis.
13 (d) No grant under this Section shall have a term longer
14 than 4 years.
15 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
16 becoming law.