The Push to Reduce MTBE in Gasoline
Federal legislation that would dramatically reduce methyl tertiary butyl ether ("MTBE") use in gasoline has been introduced by Senator Bob Smith, Chairman of the Senate Environmental and Public Works Committee. MTBE currently is widely used as a gasoline additive to reduce carbon monoxide emissions from vehicles (see December 1999 UPDATE for more on the use of MTBE). Spills and subsurface releases of MTBE, however, have resulted in groundwater contamination that tends to spread quickly and resist remediation. In particular, MTBE has been detected in many public water supplies.
The proposed bill promotes the use of ethanol, as well as other renewable fuels, as alternative gasoline additives. Under the proposed bill, MTBE usage in gasoline would be reduced to one percent (1%) or less, while providing states and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency with the option of banning MTBE use completely if it continues to threaten water quality. The bill also provides for a phased-in increase in the percentage of renewable fuels that must be used in gasoline.
The bill is expected to generate extensive debate, since so many parties - ethanol-producing states, oil companies and states trying to meet reformulated gasoline requirements - have a large stake in the resulting legislation.
While the bill moves through Congress, states and private parties continue to struggle with the remediation of MTBE contamination. For example, New York and California each will receive $1 million in federal funds to remediate such MTBE pollution.
Effluent Treatment Bills
A-2695, a companion bill to S-1210, reported on in the July issue of UPDATE, was introduced in the New Jersey Assembly in July and referred to the Assembly Solid and Hazardous Waste Committee. Both bills would establish a business tax credit for taxpayers who enter into an agreement to take effluent from a wastewater treatment facility prior to its being discharged into the waters of the State and transport it to the taxpayer's industrial facility for further treatment and subsequent use in the taxpayer's industrial process. S-1210 remains in the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee.
The Sales and Use Tax Review Commission has reviewed and recommended enactment of two bills on which we reported in the July issue of UPDATE. Companion bills A-2381 and S-1234 would exempt from the Sales and Use Tax Act receipts from the sale of equipment used exclusively for the removal of effluent from a wastewater treatment system for purposes of additional treatment and reuse in an industrial process. S-1234 resides in the Senate Economic Growth, Agriculture and Tourism Committee. A-2381 was reported out of the Appropriations Committee and has had its second reading in the Assembly.
Limiting Use Of The State Plan
The Assembly has introduced a bill that would prohibit State agencies from utilizing the State Development and Redevelopment Plan (the "State Plan") as a basis for State permit or funding determinations. A-2691 would restore the State Plan to its intended purpose to serve as an advisory document to assist the State and its political subdivisions in planning for the future. The bill resides in the Assembly Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee. Identical bill S-114, introduced in the Senate in January, remains in the Senate State Government Committee.
These bills echo the intent of various legislation introduced in the 1998 - 1999 legislative session to limit the application of the State Plan in the coastal area. Twin bills sought to prevent the draft Coastal Area Facility Review Act ("CAFRA") regulations from incorporating or implementing any provisions of the State Plan until a cross-acceptance process had been completed between the State and local governments in the coastal areas. Two concurrent resolutions declared that the proposed CAFRA rules were inconsistent with the legislative intent that the State Planning Commission rely on the CAFRA regulations in developing the State Plan in the coastal area. All of these measures died in committee.
Proposed Watershed Rules Inconsistent with Legislative Intent
Two pending concurrent Assembly resolutions, ACR-124 and ACR-126, determine that the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection's ("NJDEP") proposed Watershed Rules (see July UPDATE) are inconsistent with the intent of the Legislature in that they fail to adequately clean up and protect the State's waters. The resolutions, introduced in September, were referred to the Assembly Regulatory Oversight Committee. An identical Senate resolution, SCR-76, was introduced in June and resides in the Senate Legislative Oversight Committee.
