South Dakota Farmers Union to Senator Rounds: Time for EPA to Do Its Duty
Source: By Karla Hofhenke, S.D. Farmers Union • Posted: Tuesday, December 12, 2017
Barrosso reminded Pruitt that “EPA cannot ignore the will of Congress and the requirements of the Clean Air Act for 17 years.”
Sombke told Rounds that “EPA’s dereliction of duty goes well beyond its failures with the RFS. It is well past time for EPA to enforce the mandatory requirements of Section 202(l) of the Clean Air Act, the so-called “clean octane” provision.”
Millions of urban Americans, especially children, would benefit the most from proper enforcement of the “clean octane” provision, which Congress enacted in the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments while it was banning leaded gasoline. To prevent a repeat of the horrific lead health effects, Congress required EPA to limit “to the greatest achievable extent” the use of benzene-based additives (known as BTEX) which refiners use to increase gasoline octane ratings. Typical gasoline contains at least 25% BTEX, and tens of billions of gallons are combusted every year. Last week, the respected Center for Environmental Health released a report on the devastating effects BTEX emissions products can have on the fetus and infants. https://endocrinedisruption.org/audio-and-video/oil-and-gas/uoged-webb
Recently, EPA scientists belatedly admitted what experts have been saying for many years: gasoline exhaust is the predominant source of the most dangerous urban pollutants, including ultrafine particulates that carry carcinogens through the blood stream to the brain and other organs. Some of the most potent of these are polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which the Surgeon General identified years ago as the most deadly agents in tobacco smoke. Gasoline PAHs are even more pervasive and lethal than tobacco PAHs, and there is no way for urban residents to escape them because they travel long distances, and penetrate into homes, schools, and cars.
Automakers have told EPA that they require higher octane gasoline to power more efficient, higher compression engines. US Department of Energy labs have singled out ethanol’s superior octane properties as the preferred way to produce higher octane gasoline. Ethanol’s superior octane rating comes at a lower cost than oil-derived BTEX compounds, so consumers and the economy are also big winners.+
On October 19, 1017, Pruitt told Rounds and other Senators that his “responsibility as Administrator of the EPA is to faithfully administer the laws passed by the U.S. Congress”. Sombke strongly urged Senator Rounds to ensure that EPA ends its 25 years of obstruction, and fulfills its sworn duty to protect the public health and welfare.
Link to S.D. Farmers Union letter to Rounds here.and below.
December 11, 2017
The Honorable Mike Rounds
United States Senate
Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works Washington, DC 20510
Dear Senator Rounds:
On December 1, 2017, Senator John Barrosso, Chairman of the Senate EPW Committee, wrote EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt to urge that his agency comply with certain study requirements of the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) under EISA 2007. Criticizing EPA’s failure to meet the statutory deadlines, Chairman Barrosso stated that EPA cannot ignore the will of Congress and the requirements of the Clean Air Act for 17 years .
The South Dakota Farmers Union strongly agrees with Chairman Barrosso EPA should honor Congressional compliance deadlines. However, EPA’s dereliction of duty goes well beyond its failures with the RFS. It is well past time for EPA to enforce the mandatory requirements of Section 202(l) of the Clean Air Act, the so-called clean octane provision. That law has been on the books since the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments, and Congress has since then reaffirmed its importance, including in the 2005 EPACT law, the same one that created the first RFS.
It is shocking that more than a quarter of a century later, EPA continues to defy the will of Congress on a matter of such great importance to the nation’s public health and welfare. It is time that EPA did its duty.
Urban Americans, especially children, would benefit the most from proper enforcement of Section 202(l), also known as the Mobile Source Air Toxics (MSAT) provision. After months of debate in the 1990 CAAA, Congress made its own endangerment finding about the serious health threats posed by the compounds that comprise 25 – 30% of U.S. gasoline that refiners use to increase octane ratings, benzene-based additives known as benzene, toluene, ethyl-benzene, and xylene (BTEX). In 1990, Congress was banning the use of lead in gasoline, and wanted to make sure that refiners did not increase BTEX levels, and subject Americans to a repeat of the horrific leaded gasoline experience. (Congress was in part forced to act because, if left unchecked, EPA would have allowed increased BTEX usage, as much as 45 – 50 percent or more!)
In June of this year, EPA’s Office of Research and Development finally admitted what scientists have been saying for many years now: gasoline exhaust is the predominant source of the most dangerous urban pollutants, including fine particulates and secondary organic aerosols (SOAs). ORD found that gasoline accounted for thirteen times more SOA-bound toxics than diesel, a fact which EPA has known but hidden for years. Despite the best efforts of auto manufacturers, the microscopic, highly toxic nanoparticles that are produced by the incomplete combustion of BTEX compounds defy capture by even the most advanced emissions control systems. In fact, experts warn that as automakers move to advanced engine technologies such as direct injection (needed to facilitate compliance with tighter fuel efficiency and carbon rules), ultrafine particulate emissions will get significantly worse unless gasoline quality is improved.
Fortunately, these environmental and engineering challenges can be solved in a timely and cost effective manner, without the need for Congress to enact new legislation. EPA has the statutory authority to encourage an orderly transition to commercially available, cost effective, and clean-burning high octane fuels (HOFs) containing mid-level ethanol blends (AKA E30). The U.S. Department of Energy’s national labs, and auto industry scientists, have singled out ethanol’s superior octane boosting properties as the best way to produce 98 – 100 RON HOFs that car makers require to power more efficient, higher compression engines. Ethanol’s higher octane rating also comes at a lower cost than oil-derived BTEX compounds, so consumers and the economy are also big winners.
The BTEX health threat is huge, immediate, and growing. Americans have recently been seeing full- page, court-ordered ads paid for by the tobacco companies that warn them of the many dangers of smoking. Years ago, the Surgeon General warned that the most dangerous toxics found in cigarette smoke are carcinogens known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). In its 2001 MSAT rule, EPA listed gasoline PAHs as one of the MSATs it is required to regulate under Section 202(l), and the agency has warned of their potency and pervasiveness in several rulemaking (yet taken no action).
Gasoline BTEX compounds are without doubt the predominant source of urban air toxics, including BTEX and SOA-bound PAHs. In concentrations as low as parts-per-trillion, they seriously damage the fetus, infants, and children, causing premature births, cognitive learning disorders, asthma, and a wide range of cancers. You will find more detail on how serious a threat BTEX/PAHs pose to our most vulnerable citizens in the attached Center for Environmental Health materials.
Senator Rounds, Chairman Barrosso is correct when he says that EPA cannot ignore the will of Congress…for 17 years . EPA Administrator Pruitt wrote to you and other Senators on October 19, 2017, saying that My responsibility as Administrator of the EPA is to faithfully administer the laws passed by the U.S. Congress. This Agency must and will respect those laws. We therefore strongly urge you to exert your considerable influence as a member of the Senate EPW Committee to ensure that EPA ends its 25 year stonewall, and complies with Section 202(l) of the Clean Air Act. The nation’s children will thank you, as will automakers, consumers, taxpayers, and farmers.
Sincerely,
Doug Sombke
President, South Dakota Farmers Union