Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether (MTBE)

For more information on MTBE Treatment, please contact:

Linda Fiedler
Technology Assessment Branch
(703) 603-7194
fiedler.linda@epa.gov

Overview Policy and Guidance Chemistry and Behavior Environmental Occurrence Toxicology Detection and Site Characterization Treatment Technologies Conferences and Seminars Additional Resources

Policy and Guidance

Air emissions from facilities that manufacture MTBE are governed by Clean Air Act regulations found at 40 CFR 60. Fuel additives must be registered with the federal government (40 CFR 80.45-46).

Furthermore, since January 1995, the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments also require nine metropolitan areas that have the most severe ozone pollution to use, year-round, reformulated gasoline that contains fuel oxygenates. Numerous additional metropolitan areas have chosen to participate in the oxygenated fuels and reformulated gasoline programs. Until recently, MTBE has been the oxygenate of choice.

In a survey published in 2000 by the New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission, 38 states said their state had either action levels, cleanup levels, or drinking water standards for MTBE. In December 1997, EPA's Office of Water released a non-regulatory advisory for MTBE in drinking water. The EPA advisory is not a mandatory standard for action and is not federally enforceable, but provides guidance for communities that may be exposed to drinking water contaminated with MTBE. According to the advisory, keeping MTBE concentrations in the range of 20 to 40 µg/L or below would likely avert unpleasant taste and odor effects, recognizing that some people can detect the chemical below this concentration range. No maximum contaminant level has been established. In March 2000, EPA provided an advance notice of its intent to initiate a rulemaking pursuant to section 6 of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) to eliminate or limit the use of MTBE as a fuel additive.

MTBE is governed by the reporting requirements of the Title III of the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986. The reports are compiled into a toxic release inventory. The occurrence section below has the latest results. MTBE is not regulated under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.

Visit EPA's MTBE Policy Documents page for additional information. Many states have a web page for MTBE; a sampling of them is provided below.

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Federal

98-290: MTBE in Gasoline: Clean Air and Drinking Water Issues
James E. McCarthy and Mary Tiemann.
Congressional Research Service, CRS Report for Congress, 24 pp, 2001.
Contact: National Council for Science & the Environment, info@NCSEonline.org

Achieving Clean Air and Clean Water: The Report of the Blue Ribbon Panel on Oxygenates in Gasoline
U.S. EPA, Office of Air and Radiation.
EPA 420-R-99-021, 119 pp, 1999.

Blue Ribbon Panel Findings on MTBE : Hearing before the Subcommittee on Clean Air, Wetlands, Private Property, and Nuclear Safety of the Committee on Environment and Public Works
United States Senate, One Hundred Sixth Congress, first session, October 5, 1999. 181 pp, 2000.

A Drinking Water Standard for MTBE? The Ifs and Whens of Establishing an MCL
Rachel Sakata, U.S. EPA Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water.
LUSTLine, Bulletin 33, p 6, 1999.

Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether (MTBE): Advance Notice of Intent to Initiate Rulemaking Under the Toxic Substances Control Act to Eliminate or Limit the Use of MTBE as a Fuel Additive in Gasoline; Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
U.S. EPA.
Federal Register, Vol 65 No 58, p 16093-16109, 20 Mar 2000.

Oxygenates in Water: Critical Information and Research Needs
U.S. EPA, Office of Research and Development.
EPA 600-R-98-048, 77 pp, 1998.

Use of Monitored Natural Attenuation at Superfund, RCRA Corrective Action, and Underground Storage Tank Sites
U.S. EPA, Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response.
OSWER Directive 9200.4-17P, 41 pp, 1999.
Contact: Hal White, white.hal@epa.gov

State

Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether (MTBE)
National Conference of State Legislatures web site.

Methyl-Tertiary Butyl Ether (MTBE) Remediation
Indiana Department of Environmental Management, 3pp, 2003.

Monitored Natural Attenuation of MTBE as a Risk Management Option at Leaking Underground Storage Tank Sites
J.T. Wilson, P.M. Kaiser, and C. Adair, U.S. EPA, National Risk Management Research Laboratory, Ada, OK. EPA 600-R-04-179, 89 pp, Jan 2005

This report reviews the current state of knowledge on the transport and fate of MTBE in ground water, with emphasis on the natural processes that can be used to manage the risk associated with MTBE in ground water or that contribute to natural attenuation of MTBE as a remedy. It provides recommendations on the site characterization data necessary to manage risk or to evaluate monitored natural attenuation (MNA) of MTBE, and it illustrates procedures that can be used to work up data to evaluate risk or assess MNA at a specific site. The information is intended to allow state regulators to determine whether they have adequate information to evaluate MNA of fuel oxygenates at a site and to allow the regulators to separate sites where MNA of fuel oxygenates may be an appropriate risk management alternative from sites where MNA is not appropriate.

NDEP Oxygenated Fuel Corrective Action Guidance
Nevada Division of Environmental Protection, 28 pp, 1998.

Procedural Guidelines for Establishing Action Levels and Remediation Goals for the Remediation of Oil Contaminated Soil and Ground Water in Maine
Maine Department of Environmental Protection, 2000.

State MTBE Webpages

Delaware
Florida
Indiana
Maryland
Maine
Missouri
Montana
New Jersey
Oregon

Supplemental Guidance for Prioritization of Investigation and Cleanup of Underground Storage Tank Releases Containing MtBE
California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Santa Ana Region, 9 pp, 2001.
Contact: Kenneth Williams, 909-782-4496

Disclaimer
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Last updated on Thursday, July 24, 2008