Kansas City still awaiting governor's waiver on ethanol

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Air quality officials in Kansas City say time is running out for Gov. Matt Blunt to give the city a waiver from a law requiring the use of an ethanol blend of gasoline at most pumps in the state.

The ozone season started Tuesday, and city officials say the waiver must be granted soon to prevent the new ethanol gasoline from worsening the city's air pollution.

"The governor has said he will work with us, but he is not," said James Joerke, Mid-America Regional Council's air quality program manager.

The issue centers on a new state law that requires the use of a 10 percent ethanol blend, called E10. While the gasoline is seen as a way to decrease the country's dependence on foreign oil, it also creates more smog than standard gasoline.

Kansas City officials want a waiver because the city violated the federal Clean Air Act three times last year. The number of violations is expected to increase this summer because the Environmental Protection Agency will implement stricter ozone rules.

"In a nutshell, E10 is helpful in reducing petroleum consumption, but it is not helpful in terms of ground-level ozone," said Ed Peterson, Johnson County commissioner and co-chairman of MARC's Air Quality Forum. "It is the health concerns of the community that we are working to solve here."

The law allows the governor to waive the requirement and he did so for St. Louis, which also has ozone pollution problems.

Blunt's spokeswoman, Nancy Gonder, told The Kansas City Star in an e-mail that the governor is considering the Kansas City's request.

"We have been working with appropriate agencies, including DNR (the Department of Natural Resources), to finalize a decision before the weather becomes a factor and a decision will be made in ample time to avoid any potential negative implications," Gonder said.

But the city needs to know soon if it will get a waiver, because it has to contract with oil companies and refineries for the low-volatility fuel blend Kansas City has used since the 1990s to reduce emissions, officials said. The worst of the ozone season starts around June 1.

"It's getting too late," said Susan Brown, a member of MARC's Air Quality Forum, which reviews regional air quality issues and makes policy recommendations to Missouri and Kansas.

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Information from: The Kansas City Star, http://www.kcstar.com