publications and resources
Technical Reports
Ethanol
Section 211(k) of the Clean Air Act, as amended in 1990, directs EPA to issue regulations that require gasoline to be "reformulated" in order to burn cleaner (i.e. to reduce emissions of ozone-forming (smog) and toxic air pollutants). EPA responded by creating the Reformulated Gasoline (RFG) program, which is designed to reduce emissions of motor vehicle pollutants by setting emission performance standards and by requiring a minimum oxygen content. Refiners have opted to comply with the oxygen requirement by selling RFG containing MtBE. While that is beneficial from an air quality standpoint, a problem arises when fuel containing MtBE, a suspected carcinogen, leaks from underground storage tanks and makes its way to groundwater. Many states have concluded that MtBE poses an unacceptable threat to drinking water supplies.
In May 2000, the New England Governors' Conference Committee on the Environment asked NEIWPCC and the Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management (NESCAUM) to assess the potential public health, environmental, regulatory and economic impacts of adding ethanol, instead of MtBE, to gasoline in the Northeast.
This NEIWPCC and NESCAUM collaborative effort resulted in a three-volume multimedia assessment of increased ethanol use in our region. Published in July 2001, the report is available in PDF format.
Note: The appendices for Volume 3 are not accessible in the PDF version. To obtain a printed version of the report with appendices, please contact us at mail@neiwpcc.org.
Please contact Kara Sergeant, NEIWPCC, with any questions concerning this report. To receive a printed copy, contact us at mail@neiwpcc.org.