Davis

MEMORANDUM OF OPINION AND ORDER

Plaintiff Oxygenated Fuels Association, Inc. (“OFA”) is a trade association whose members include the major producers of methyl tertiary-butyl ether (“MTBE”), an oxygenate used in gasoline. In this action, OFA challenges a California regulation that bans the use of MTBE in California gasoline starting December 31, 2002 (“the ■ California MTBE ban” or “the MTBE ban”). OFA claims that the California MTBE ban is preempted by the Clean Air Act (“the Act”), 42 U.S.C. § 7401 et seq., and also violates the Commerce Clause. OFA seeks declaratory and injunctive relief. Defendants Governor Gray Davis and Allan Lloyd, Chairman of the California Air Resources Board, (collectively “the State” or “California”) move to dismiss on the ground that Congress authorized California to set its own course in air quality regulation, and therefore that the MTBE ban is neither preempted by the Clean Air Act nor prohibited by the Commerce Clause.

I.

The goal of the Clean Air Act is to “protect and enhance the quality of the Nation’s air resources so as to promote the public health and welfare and the productive capacity of its population.” 42 U.S.C. § 7401 (b)(1). The Act…