The Spokane County Air Pollution Control Authority (SCAPCA) plans to repeal controversial 14-year-old regulations requiring oxygenated motor fuel to be sold here during the winter. The action is expected after a public hearing scheduled Sept. 1.


We heard complaints from people who said they didnt want the government intruding in their lives, Ronald Edgar, SCAPCAs chief of technical services, says of public views on the rules. We decided a while ago that once we could repeal the requirements, we would.


Vendors here are required to sell motor fuel that contains 10 percent ethanol from October through February. Ethanol, which also is found in alcoholic beverages, is a form of alcohol that can be produced through the fermentation of agricultural crops. When mixed with gasoline, it produces a cleaner-burning fuel.


Although people complained that the oxygenated fuel requirements drove up the prices of gas, prices never rose during the winter as a result, Edgar says.


When the program started in 1991, Edgar says, dealers received state and federal tax breaks for mixing their gasoline with ethanol, which kept the price of oxygenated gasoline during the winter the same as the cost of straight gasoline during the summer.


SCAPCA adopted regulations to reduce carbon-monoxide levels in the early 1990s after Spokane County exceeded National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Edgar says. Although the county hasnt violated carbon-monoxide standards since 1996, it still is designated as a nonattainment area, which is the term used for areas the EPA finds in violation of those standards. Currently, steps are under way to have that designation changed here.


Edgar says oxygenated-fuel requirements are no longer absolutely necessary to continue meeting the carbon-monoxide criterion. He recently completed and submitted whats called a Carbon Monoxide Maintenance Plan to SCAPCA, which he says proves the county could continue to meet the EPAs standards for the next 10 years without oxygenated-fuel requirements.


The program has always had its detractors, he says. Weve been shooting for a repeal for the last two years, but first had to prove we could maintain our clean air standards without it.


Newer cars have lower carbon-monoxide emissions, partly because they use oxygen sensors to monitor how much fuel theyre burning. Edgar says some people who drive newer cars have complained that oxygenated fuel reduces their gas mileage. He says ethanol has a lower energy content than gasoline, and possibly could drop gas mileage by up to 5 percent in such models, but the drop would be offset by higher octane ratings in oxygenated fuel. Ethanol has an octane rating of 110, compared with 87 for the most popular unoxygenated fuel.


Edgar adds that the cold weather during the winter is as much to blame as ethanol for losses in engine efficiency, and claims that cars manufactured during or before the 1980s can perform better when burning oxygenated fuel.


Edgar says SCAPCAs repeal of the regulations hinges on gaining approval for its Carbon Monoxide Maintenance Plan from the EPA, which he expects will rule on that plan by the end of August.


He says he hasnt received many comments from the public regarding the repeal, but that changes seldom attract any attention at all until they are in place.


Once SCAPCA repeals the regulations, Edgar says the decision on whether to add ethanol to gasoline here will be made by market forces. He says hes heard from dealers and consumers in the area that while ethanol cost a dollar more per gallon than gasoline in 1991, it now costs about a dollar less.


He anticipates some dealers in the county probably will continue to offer oxygenated fuel, and says those that arent affiliated with major oil companies, such as Exxon Mobil Corp., may sell that fuel at cheaper prices than gasoline, as long as ethanol remains less expensive. He says consumers should check lower-priced gasoline, because it may contain ethanol. Distributors will be required to notify customers about ethanol additives by placing signs at the pumps.


Although ethanol may be cheaper than gasoline, he doesnt expect gas prices to rise in response to the repeal.


I expect that gas will always go up in price, but it wont have anything to do with the lack of ethanol, he says.


Edgar says some Washington state farmers would like to produce ethanol, and if demand for oxygenated gas declines after the repeal, they will have one less area in which to sell it. In some parts of the U.S., ethanol is derived from corn, but in this state ethanol can be made from surplus wheat, he says.


About 6 million gallons of ethanol mixed with 70 million gallons of gasoline are consumed in Spokane County during the winter, he says.


Ethanol appeals to some people because it improves air quality and is a homegrown renewable resource, Edgar says. In fact, some states, such as Minnesota, have year-round oxygenated fuel regulations in place. Seattle used to have a regulation similar to the one currently in effect here, but repealed it several years ago, he says.


Large amounts of ethanol can cause a significant falloff in gas mileage and can corrode a vehicles fuel system, Edgar says. Other oxygenates, such as methanol and methyl tertiary butyl ether, have been used in the past in other areas of the country, but Spokane County has only allowed ethanol.


Cars have improved so much that I dont expect well see problems ever again, he says.


If carbon-monoxide levels start to rise again, however, SCAPCA will have to reconsider oxygenated-fuel regulations or take other measures, he says.