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91_HR0303
LRB9106841ACtmA
1 HOUSE RESOLUTION
2 WHEREAS, The federal Clean Air Act requires a new type of
3 motor fuel to be sold in the Nation's ozone non-attainment
4 areas beginning January 1, 2000; and
5 WHEREAS, This new fuel is known as Phase II Reformulated
6 Gasoline or RFG; and
7 WHEREAS, Illinois has 2 ozone non-attainment areas: the
8 8-county Chicago Metropolitan area which will have to sell
9 Phase II RFG exclusively and the 3-county Metro-east area;
10 and
11 WHEREAS, Most of the present Phase I RFG fuel sold in the
12 Chicago Metropolitan area, through a partnership between corn
13 growers, ethanol processors, and gasoline refiners and
14 marketers, contains 10% ethanol; and
15 WHEREAS, The Chicago RFG market accounts for 400 million
16 gallons of ethanol demand, making it the foundation of the
17 domestic ethanol industry today; and
18 WHEREAS, The General Assembly is greatly concerned that
19 present United States Environmental Protection Agency
20 regulations for Phase II RFG could severely limit or prohibit
21 the blending of ethanol in gasoline by refiners, especially
22 in the summer months, thereby endangering the Illinois
23 ethanol industry's core market; and
24 WHEREAS, To date, the Chicago Area and Illinois have made
25 extraordinary progress in meeting the demands of the Clean
26 Air Act, leading to greatly improved air quality, much of
27 which is attributed to the use of existing RFG fuels; and
28 WHEREAS, The USEPA's proposed Phase II RFG regulations
29 for January 1, 2000, constitute a real threat to the economic
30 viability of Illinois' ethanol industry and Illinois'
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1 gasoline refining industry; and
2 WHEREAS, Illinois' ethanol industry supports over 50,000
3 jobs in the corn farming and ethanol processing sector, with
4 major facilities in Peoria, Decatur, and elsewhere in the
5 State; and
6 WHEREAS, Illinois' gasoline refining and marketing
7 industry employs over 40,000 Illinois workers, including 6
8 major refineries producing over one million barrels a day of
9 gasoline and other products in the Chicago area, St. Louis
10 area, and Southeastern Illinois locations; therefore, be it
11 RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
12 NINETY-FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
13 we encourage and support Governor George Ryan's decision to
14 immediately engage the Administrator of the United States
15 Environmental Protection Agency in a dialogue towards meeting
16 and resolving the technical challenges of using ethanol in
17 Phase II RFG; that the dialogue shall include presentation of
18 recent research data suggesting ethanol benefits and the
19 request that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency permit
20 the continued use of ethanol under phase II of the RFG
21 Program in a way that will not economically disadvantage
22 Illinois' ethanol and gasoline refining industries; and be it
23 further
24 RESOLVED, That if urban airshed modeling is required as a
25 necessary component of the presentation to the U.S.
26 Environmental Protection Agency, the General Assembly will
27 support funding for the Illinois EPA to conduct the modeling;
28 and be it further
29 RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
30 delivered to the Governor, the Director of the Illinois
31 Environmental Protection Agency, the Administrator of the
32 United States Environmental Protection Agency, the President
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1 of the United States, and each member of the Illinois
2 congressional delegation.