A little counterintuitive prima facie, but removing regulation will help kill of MTBE more quickly and let makers be more flexible in shifting to the new fuel regs coming into effect.

This may benefit a few folks who may now start to get 100% gasoline without MTBE or ETOH sapping the energy content per gallon, at least for a little while until the new regs come into effect. Unlikely, but now possible.

http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/68b5f2d54f3eefd28525701500517fbf/810888050f1ab11085257116005ff0b6!OpenDocument
From GreenCarCongress:

"...The actual impact of the lifting of the regulations appears likely to be low. The Energy Policy Act also imposed a new Renewable Fuel Standard that will keep ratcheting up the amount of ethanol to be used in fuel blends, albeit with much more flexibility than the oxygenation rules allowed.

Furthermore, refiners seem unlikely to walk away from the infrastructure investments made to be able to handle the blends. Additionally, ethanol now serves as a supply extender—remove ethanol from the picture and refiners have to come up with that much more gasoline."