WASHINGTON, D.C., Dec. 17, 2001 — U.S. Senator Bob Smith (R-NH), advocating action on his MTBE bill, received a commitment from Majority Leader Tom Daschle recently that there would be a vote on Smith's legislation to deal with the gasoline additive MTBE no later than the end of February, 2002.
Senator Smith's bill, which was approved by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on which he is the top Republican, in late September, addresses the contamination problems that have resulted from the use MTBE, as well as the banning of the product in 4 years. In May, as then Chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee, Smith held a hearing in New Hampshire on MTBE.
Senator Smith stated, "I am pleased to receive assurances that this problem will be addressed on the Senate floor in the near future. This is common sense legislation. The people of New Hampshire, and across the Nation, deserve clean, safe drinking water. This legislation will not only help to cleanup affected areas throughout New Hampshire, it will eliminate the threat of future MTBE contamination."
Specifically, Smith's bill authorizes $400 million for the cleanup of contamination and prevention of future contamination caused by MTBE. The bill would also ban the use of MTBE in gasoline within four years and allow Governors to waive the oxygen mandate in the Clean Air Act. Additionally, the bill includes provisions to prevent backsliding, ensuring that it will not have a negative impact on the environment.
According to the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services, there may be as many as 40,000 private wells with some MTBE contamination in the state. Of those, up to 8,000 may have MTBE contamination over state health standards.
