ACWA Calls MTBE Ban Delay Unjustified.Business/News Editors SACRAMENTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 24, 2002 In a letter July 24 to the California Air Resources Board California Air Resources Board (CARB) is the "clean air agency" of the state of California in the United States. Established originally in 1967, it is a part of the California Environmental Protection Agency, an organization which reports directly to the California (ARB), the Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA ACWA Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America ACWA Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives ACWA Administrative Careers With America ACWA Assembled Chemical Weapons Assessment ACWA American Civil War Association ACWA American Clean Water Association ) expressed its opposition to Governor Davis' decision to delay the ban on MTBE MTBE Methyl-tert-butyl-ether Surgery An aliphatic ether that rapidly dissolves cholesterol stones in vivo, introduced under local anesthesia via a percutaneous transhepatic cholecystectomy catheter, as a non-invasive method for treating gallstones; after injection, in gasoline gasoline or petrol, light, volatile mixture of hydrocarbons for use in the internal-combustion engine and as an organic solvent, obtained primarily by fractional distillation and "cracking" of petroleum, but also obtained from natural gas, by by one year. The Board is attempting to incorporate the Governor's one-year extension into its official gasoline regulations. However, the Board's proposal did not include a single mention of the impacts to water supplies while MTBE remains in gas for an additional year. "ACWA is extremely disappointed with the regulatory justification for this postponement," the letter stated. Gasoline manufacturers who use MTBE were expected to phase it out by the end of 2002. In March, Davis extended the ban by one year and set a new phase-out deadline of December 31, 2003. ACWA believes that delaying the ban by even one more day is another opportunity for MTBE to find its way into another community's water supplies. Given the choice between the continued use of MTBE use or protection of our water supplies and water quality, ACWA believes the public would put the safety of their water supply first. ACWA is urging the Board to provide an analysis of potential statewide water supply impacts and resulting costs as part of its regulatory decision to postpone post·pone tr.v. post·poned, post·pon·ing, post·pones 1. To delay until a future time; put off. See Synonyms at defer1. 2. To place after in importance; subordinate. the ban of MTBE. In the letter, ACWA also expressed concerns regarding the Board's approval of ethanol as a replacement for MTBE. ACWA's review of the Board's ethanol evaluation found major data gaps and uncertainties surrounding the environmental and public health impacts that ethanol may have. ACWA and its 440 public water agency members have been ardent (Ardent Software, Inc., Westboro, MA) A database vendor formed in 1998 as the merger of VMARK Software, Unidata and O2 Technology. Its products included the UniVerse and UniData databases and DataStage data warehouse utility. supporters of eliminating MTBE and all other oxygenates from California's gasoline based on the University of California The University of California has a combined student body of more than 191,000 students, over 1,340,000 living alumni, and a combined systemwide and campus endowment of just over $7.3 billion (8th largest in the United States). finding that none are needed to meet clean air requirements. ACWA is a statewide association whose 440 members are responsible for about 90% of the water delivered in California. For more information, visit www.acwanet.com. |
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