New Jersey banned self-service gasoline in 1949 after lobbying by service station owners.

A growing number of countries have drawn up plans to ban leaded gasoline in the near future.

Examples of this include corporate average fuel economy standards and laws that ban leaded gasoline in the United States.

The United States Auto Club bans gasoline and switches all cars to methyl alcohol (methanol), a rule which would stay for 41 years before ending after the 2005 race.

While New York and other states have banned gasoline with high levels of M.T.B.E., experts say that New York's troubles are a harbinger of a nationwide problem.

Mr. Salkeld said the government was determined to clear the air by banning leaded gasoline, converting taxis from diesel to liquefied petroleum gas, and expanding the rail system by 40 percent.

In all countries that have banned leaded gasoline, average blood lead levels have fallen sharply.

Like a restaurant that serves only organic food, New York and Connecticut, in banning M.T.B.E.-laced gasoline, have become the boutique fuel markets of the Northeast, said Nachamah Jacobovits, a spokeswoman for the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Oregon banned self-service gasoline in 1951.

New Jersey was not alone when it banned self-service gasoline in 1949.