Ron & Friends,

I just received this press release today. It answers some of your questions
reguarding the use of ethanol. It looks like our friends on the west coast
won't have to worry about it anymore. California has repealed the ethanol
mandate and will be able to sell real gas once again very soon. Here is a
portion of the press release. Look at the statement made about "permeation"
and how it might effect our fuel lines and gas tanks.


* WASHINGTON
Requirement to add ethanol revoked
EPA frees state from mandate for fuel additive

Jane Kay, Chronicle Environment Writer <jkay@sfchronicle.com>

Thursday, February 16, 2006


After nearly a decade of complaints and lawsuits from California political
leaders and environmental groups, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
on Wednesday revoked a long-standing mandate that oil refiners put additives
like ethanol into their clean-burning gasoline.

"This is great news for California,'' said San Francisco Democrat Sen.
Dianne Feinstein, who has led the battle with the EPA in trying to get rid
of the requirement in California. "The announcement means that California
refiners will finally be allowed to make gasoline that is cleaner burning
than what they're making today."

The passage of the federal Energy Policy Act of 2005 removed the
requirement, and the new regulations released Wednesday by the EPA put in
place the program to remove the additive requirement. The decision will go
into effect in California 60 days after they are published in the Federal
Register this summer.

The state appealed to the EPA to issue a waiver to the requirement, arguing
in high-level letters from Feinstein, two governors and the state Air
Resources Board and, later, in lawsuits. The EPA was firm in its insistence
to keep the mandate.

Luke Tonachel, a fuels analyst with the Natural Resources Defense Council,
said his group has supported California's request for a waiver because of
the clean-air benefits.

"Ethanol, when used in small quantities as an additive in gasoline, can
cause air-quality problems especially in urban areas that already have
severe ozone problems," he said. "It's particularly problematic in areas
like the South Coast.''

In the summer, a phenomenon called "permeation'' occurs when hydrocarbons
from the ethanol-laced gasoline migrate through the flexible hoses and
connectors in a car's fuel system as well as from the gas tank, he said.
*