Science and Environmental Regulatory Policy: State and Local Efforts to Ban Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether (MTBE) in Reformulated Gasoline (RFG)

Michigan State University, East Lansing MI

Investigators

Abstract

This project, funded by the Studies of Policy, Science, Engineering and Technology component of the Science and Society Program, examines the relationship between the use of science and technology in informing, revising and affecting environmental policy. The research explores the case of the use of methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) in reformulated gasoline (RFG) in the United States, a technological "solution" that was introduced by the Clean Air Act Amendments (CAAA) to reduce volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions. The research addresses the following questions: How has science been used to inform the use of new technologies to resolve environmental problems? What happens when these technological "solutions" create new environmental problems, sometimes with a more significant negative impact than the original problem they sought to remedy? What role do local communities have in choosing or excluding these new technologies that may directly affect their local environment and public health? Further, how much influence does industry have in making the same choices? The research also explores a parallel, but directly related issue in the area of environmental regulation involving the debate over what regulatory level of government should be responsible for identifying, establishing and enforcing environmental standards that affect local communities. While issues surrounding the relationship between federal regulatory powers and states' rights have existed since the establishment of the US, the past few decades have seen increasing tension between the rights of local communities vis-a-vis state and federal governments. More recently, supranational institutions have become significant regulatory players. As a consequence of the recent proliferation of very powerful and pervasive trade regimes, such as the EU, NAFTA and WTO, supranational institutions have become an integral part of the debate about the rights of local communities to establish their own environmental standards. Again the use of MTBE in RFG is an excellent vehicle for illustrating and analyzing the consequences of this new complex set of relationships concerning the regulatory decision making of the various levels of government. What level of government should hold primary responsibility for establishing environmental standards? What role should local communities have in determining local environmental standards? The primary goal of the work is to determine the influence of national and supranational organizations and institutions on the establishment and enforcement of state and local regulatory policies using MTBE as the defining issue and state and local governments as the unit of analysis. The research will identify the role and interplay of the various public agencies (international, federal, state and local levels) vested with establishing and enforcing environmental protection through regulatory policies and practices. The project will use a comparative case study approach, which involves the utilization of a variety of qualitative methods, including an historical and comparative analysis of archival documents, and qualitative semi-structured interviewing of key actors. By documenting the effects of federal policy and supranational trade regimes on local environmental policy, this research will help to inform state and local public agencies in planning more effective environmental regulatory policies in the face of controversial or uncertain scientific data as well as conflicting national and supranational regulations.