The chemical additive is widely used, particularly in the Northeast, to help gasoline burn more efficiently and meet standards set by the Clean Air Act. But when it gets into drinking water, MTBE is suspected of causing cancer, according to the Environmental Protection Agency....

DeLay is the chief proponent of a provision in the sweeping federal energy bill to relieve the MTBE industry of most liability for cleanup; the item led most New England lawmakers to vote against the measure last year, preventing Senate passage of the bill. DeLay won a fight to include the provision in the new energy bill that passed the House last month, but the Senate has yet to act on it....

Several US companies that make or use MTBE have been lobbying heavily for a limit on their liability to clean up contaminated water. Environmentalists say the cleanup cost could total $29 billion, but industry and other officials say the cost is closer to $8 billion.

Contentious issues during debate involved the gasoline additive, MTBE. The bill calls for shielding MTBE makers from product liability lawsuits stemming from contamination of drinking water supplies. Democrats warned the liability waiver would leave the public with billions of dollars in cleanup costs.

An attempt by Rep. Lois Capps, D-California, to strip the MTBE assistance from the energy bill was defeated, 219-213....

The bill also calls for phasing out MTBE use by the end of 2014 -- longer than MTBE critics say is necessary -- and would provide $2 billion over eight years to help the manufacturers shift away from making the additive.