SB 0372

AN ACT prohibiting the sale of reformulated gasoline in certain counties of the state.

SPONSORS: Sen. Wheeler, Dist 21; Sen. Cohen, Dist 24; Sen. Prescott, Dist 19; Rep. Martin, Hills 34

This bill restricts the sale of reformulated gasoline containing MTBE in those counties where it is not required.

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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

1 Authority to Ban MTBE in Gasoline; Penalties. RSA 485:16-b is repealed and reenacted to read as follows:

I. Except as provided for in RSA 485:16-d, the commissioner shall seek all necessary authorizations from the Environmental Protection Agency to opt out of the federal reformulated gasoline program as soon as possible, but in no case later than January 1, 2004. The department of environmental services shall prepare and submit to the Environmental Protection Agency as soon as possible, but in no case later than January 1, 2002, all documentation necessary to accomplish this task.

II. Reformulated gasoline shall not be sold in any county of the state in which reformulated gasoline is not required by the Environmental Protection Agency.

III. Retail sellers of gasoline and the suppliers to such retail sellers shall comply with the provisions of paragraph I or be subject to the enforcement provisions of RSA 485:58.

IV. The ban on MTBE established under the provisions of this section shall be exempt from the requirements of RSA 541-A, the administrative procedure act. The department shall file, however, in the office of legislative services a copy of all rules adopted, amended, or repealed under this section by the department.

The Department of Environmental Services states this bill will increase state restricted expenditures by $94,500 in FY 2003, and $15,500 in FY 2004 and each year thereafter. There will be no fiscal impact on state, county, and local revenue or county and local expenditures.

The Department states this bill calls for prohibiting the sale of reformulated gasoline (RFG) in the six ozone attainment counties of the state; Belknap, Carroll, Cheshire, Coos, Grafton, and Sullivan. The Department made the following assumptions in determining that this bill will have a net increase in state restricted expenditures:

· Additional spending will be required for testing equipment and inspection staff overtime;

· The Oil Remediation and Compliance Bureau of the Waste Management Division has three inspectors who are responsible for checking the compliance of all gasoline stations in the state once every two years;

· It is assumed that monitoring the type of gasoline sold in the six counties could be added to the responsibilities of the staff in the form of overtime;

· There are 437 gasoline facilities in the six counties that will be inspected every two years; 220 stations to be inspected annually, each requiring two samples of gasoline, one regular and one premium;

· Reduced spending is expected to occur in year two of the program;

· This bill would not eliminate MtBE content in gasoline, only reduce it from 11% or more, to less that 5% for regular gasoline and less than 8% for premium;

· There is a linear relationship between the concentration of MtBE in gasoline and the concentration in groundwater. As a result, it is expected that the lower MtBE content will result in smaller contamination plumes and lower costs for approximately 10 of the sites;

· Based on work performed in the past by the Department, it is expected that cleanup costs for petroleum remediation sites will be reduced by up to 15% by cutting the MtBE content of gasoline;

· Total remediation costs for the state through 2001 have been $59.8 million: $21.3 million (35%) expended in the six counties identified in this bill;

· The average annual expenditure from the Oil Discharge and Disposal Cleanup Fund is approximately $4.4 million; and

· This bill will reduce these cleanup costs by $23,000 per year.

The chart below summarizes the net fiscal impact of this bill:

FY 2003 FY 2004 FY 2005 FY 2006

Additional Costs:

Testing Equipment $56,000 $ 0 $ 0 $ 0

Staff Overtime 38,500 38,500 38,500 38,500

Subtotal $94,500 $38,500 $38,500 $38,500

Cost Savings:

Reduced Remediation (23,000) (23,000) (23,000)

Total Net Fiscal Impact $94,500 $15,500 $15,500 $15,500