1999 ANNUAL REPORT
FUELS

WSPA Advocates Maximum Flexibility for Phase 3 Gasoline

In the months leading up to the December 9 CARB Board hearing where the proposed Phase 3 gasoline regulation was up for adoption, WSPA dedicated significant technical and advocacy resources to ensure maximum flexibility for California refiners.

In March, Governor Davis ordered CARB to provide flexibility in its gasoline regulation to allow the removal of MTBE by December 2002. WSPA soon became concerned that CARB staff interpreted the Executive Order to make California's gasoline regulations -- already the strictest in the nation -- even more restrictive, which could unnecessarily put consumers and the economy at risk.

The WSPA RM&T Committee developed a California Gasoline Task Force to review the technical details of the proposal and work with CARB staff to ensure maximum flexibility. The RM&T also blessed an aggressive advocacy and coalition campaign to educate opinion leaders, the media and consumers on the potential negative impacts of the CARB proposal.

In statements to the media and public, WSPA Executive Director Doug Henderson warned, "the Air Board's own staff estimates its proposal will increase the cost of gasoline by up to 7 cents per gallon, decrease the state's refining capacity by ten to fifteen percent and require $1 billion in capital improvements at the state's refineries."

During the hearing, WSPA told the Board that they basically had two options; it could amend its existing tough cleaner-burning gasoline standards to require the removal of MTBE while maintaining the same level of emission reductions, which would carry the least amount of risk to consumers. The second option was to adopt the tighter standards proposed by staff, which would place consumers at far greater risk.

WSPA's strong technical work and dozens of meetings with CARB staff paid off as the staff made changes which incorporated several WSPA recommendations. The Board adopted the Phase 3 regulation at their December 9, 1999 meeting. A number of stakeholders including the California Chamber of Commerce, California Manufacturers Association, California Farm Bureau, the Automobile Club and WSPA Associates were active advocates during the debate writing letters to the Governor and CARB Board members while also providing testimony during the hearing.

|| Top of Page ||