PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Referred to the Subcommittee on Health and Environment.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in House · Mar 1, 2000
Amends the Clean Air Act to require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to amend certain regulations regarding motor vehicle fuels to prohibit the use of methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) as a fuel additive. Directs the Administrator to prohibit any additive in gasoline registered under fuel regulation provisions unless it has been determined, through scientific testing and peer review, not to have adverse effects on the public.Amends the Solid Waste Disposal Act to require underground storage tank (UST) owners or operators, whenever a release from a tank has been detected, to conduct monitoring for MTBE and report monitoring results annually to the Administrator for the longer of the period of ten years following the detection of the first release or three years after the date on which the last release was detected.Requires the Administrator, in enforcing requirements that USTs be upgraded, to focus enforcement on areas where MTBE is leaking into the groundwater or surface water.Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) Leaking Underground Storage Tanks program funds should be prioritized to provide oversight, enforcement, and grants to States in which MTBE has been used as a fuel additive; (2) the Administrator should accelerate the testing for and reporting of MTBE in public drinking water supplies; and (3) all funds available in the Leaking Underground Storage Tank Trust Fund should be appropriated annually.Amends the Safe Drinking Water Act to authorize the Administrator, on the request of a Governor or head of a local government, to declare that a drinking water emergency exists in a county or municipality if the drinking water supplies for the county or municipality have been contaminated by MTBE. Provides for grants to local government agencies in such emergencies to provide access to uncontaminated water and remediate the water supply.Requires the National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences to study the long-term health effects of MTBE contamination in drinking water. Authorizes appropriations. Reduces FY 2001 funds otherwise available for the Army School of the Americas.
People & committees
Rep. Forbes, Michael P. [D-NY-1] · D–NY
Legislative record
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Referred to the Subcommittee on Health and Environment.
Referred to the House Committee on Commerce.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
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Source last updated: Jun 3, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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Analyze H.R.3798 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
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