Congresswomen seek gas waiver
Davis to Kaine: Petition for a gas waiver
Date published: 4/29/2006
By PORTSIA SMITH
By PORTSIA SMITH
Two Virginia congresswomen want Gov. Tim Kaine to ask the Environmental Protection Agency to permit the temporary sale of gasoline without additives in three Virginia areas.
The waiver is being sought by Rep. Jo Ann Davis, who represents the Fredericksburg area, and Rep. Thelma Drake, who represents the Hampton Roads area. Both are Republicans.
The waiver would help drive down prices and ease gasoline shortages by allowing the sale of conventional gasoline at the pumps in Northern Virginia, Richmond and the Hampton Roads area.
Portions of those areas are required to use reformulated gasoline--fuel with additives--to reduce levels of harmful pollutants in the air in heavily populated and polluted areas.
"Consumers are facing gasoline prices at record highs, and these rapid price increases and even shortages in some areas have placed a significant strain on working Virginians," the lawmakers wrote Thursday in a letter to the governor.
Gas shortages at some Virginia gas stations are being blamed on disruptions in the supply chain because of a new additive, ethanol.
MTBE-blended fuel, which was being used, is not considered as environmentally friendly, and has contributed to the contamination of drinking water from leaking underground storage facilities.
MTBE has already been banned in many states because of such concerns.
Now, gas stations must drain and clean their tanks of all MTBE and any mineral deposits before they can receive the new ethanol-blended gasoline. That's what's causing the temporary shortages.
"If one gas station is out, the next one will have fuel," said Martha Rowe Mitchell, manager of public and government affairs for AAA Mid-Atlantic. "This is not a matter of inadequate supplies of gas; it is a matter of companies getting the ethanol, blending it with the gas and getting it to the gas stations. We caution drivers against hoarding or panic buying."
A temporary waiver allowing the use of conventional fuel in Virginia would help during this necessary transition to ethanol, Davis and Drake said.
Kevin Hall, a spokesman for Kaine, said an EPA waiver would not be a productive option.
"The EPA said we could file a waiver," but that it wouldn't be favorably received, he said. "In the meantime, we will continue to monitor the situation and will aggressively pursue any complaints about price gouging."
President Bush also has requested that the EPA waive the standards for individual states.
To reach PORTSIA SMITH: 540/374-5419
Email: psmith@freelancestar.com
Date published: 4/29/2006
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