Air

Tracking the latest agency and congressional debates over rules to cut emissions of traditional pollutants, and a broad range of novel EPA policies including the agency's shift to a "multipollutant" regulatory approach for individual sectors.

Topic Subtitle
Tracking the latest agency and congressional debates over rules to cut emissions of traditional pollutants, and a broad range of novel EPA policies including the agency's shift to a "multipollutant" regulatory approach for individual sectors.

Senate Environment Panel Closes Climate Hearing To Cool Partisan Rhetoric

Senate Environment & Public Works Committee (EPW) chair James Inhofe (R-OK) says he is holding this week's hearing on climate change issues behind closed doors to limit partisan rhetoric on the issue, at the same time that he is using the hearing to assert his committee's jurisdiction on greenhouse gas issues. Inhofe said in an interview May 23 that the environment committee roundtable discussion on greenhouse gas technologies slated for May 25 will be closed to the public in part...

New Industry Sectors Eyed By EPA For NSR Enforcement Efforts

EPA is targeting cement plants, glass manufacturers and acid producers for possible violations of new source review (NSR) requirements, along with a new focus on enforcing air toxics rules, as the agency continues to adjust its priorities away from NSR enforcement at electric utilities, a top EPA enforcement official told state officials this month. The shifting enforcement priorities come as EPA is reportedly scrutinizing industry compliance with air toxics rules under the maximum achievable control technology (MACT) program. But environmentalists...

California Bill On GHG Standard For Power Purchases Hits Snag

Lawmakers' efforts in California to enact a greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions performance standard for purchases of electricity are hitting snags because of recent analyses that say the standard may prohibit some conventional in-state energy sources and drive up electricity prices. The bill is being closely watched by a broad group of stakeholders, including out-of-state coal power companies that currently supply about 20 percent of California's energy. The measure, SB 1368, requires any power provider in California, when entering long-term, "baseload"...

OMB May Exclude EPA, Other Agency Comments On White House Risk Guide

The White House Office of Management & Budget (OMB) may not accept EPA and other federal agencies' comments on its controversial proposed risk assessment guidance, in a move agency staff fear will prevent any discussion of the guidance's impact on EPA statutory requirements, current risk approaches and resource constraints. OMB is collecting comments from the public on its draft guidance until June 15, but EPA and other federal sources working on the comments say OMB has set no firm deadline...

ACTIVISTS' FOCUS ON COSMETICS COULD BOOST BID FOR EPA NANOTECH RULES

Environmentalists and public health activists' growing focus on the risks posed by nanomaterials in cosmetics and other personal care products could bolster their bid for new EPA regulations governing the emerging technology, observers say. As a first step in the effort to force EPA and other federal agencies to develop new nanotechnology regulations, activists filed an administrative petition May 16 with the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) calling for amendments to its regulatory framework to address products that contain nanomaterials,...

KATRINA SUITS, SENATE QUERIES COULD FORCE EPA TO CLARIFY WASTE POLICIES

Possible lawsuits over the environmental impacts of debris and sediment left over from hurricane Katrina and recent queries from Senate lawmakers could force EPA and other state and federal agencies to clarify their policies for disposal of contaminated debris in the wake of the unprecedented disaster, including landfill disposal requirements, restrictions on open burning, and an air toxics rule for the disposal of asbestos. The Louisiana Environmental Action Network (LEAN) filed a notice of intent to sue last month charging...

EPA POLICY CHIEF EYES CONTENTIOUS METHOD TO ESTIMATE RULES' BENEFITS

EPA's policy office chief is urging staff economists to adopt a controversial method of assessing the financial benefits of preserving segments of people's lives rather than entire lives, which could dramatically reduce EPA's ability to justify regulations under cost-benefit tests, sources say. The directive is part of deliberations over an EPA-wide effort to revise the agency's internal guidelines for placing dollar values on prevented cases of illness and death resulting from EPA rules, analyses which accompany regulatory proposals and are...

States Eye Pollution Cuts To Offset Emissions Increases From Ethanol

As states begin crafting plans to meet EPA's strict new 8-hour ozone standard, air regulators in the Midwest and other parts of the country are considering new requirements on stationary and other pollution sources to address expected emissions increases from the energy law mandate to add more ethanol to gasoline. These sources say it is too soon to tell what additional cuts will be mandated on emissions sources and how great of a pollution impact expanded ethanol use will have...

Schwarzenegger Taps Democrat For California Environment Secretary

In a move seen as boosting his environmental credentials, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) May 19 appointed Democrat Linda Adams as secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency (Cal/EPA). The regional water board official and former staffer for top state Democrats is well-liked by environmentalists and industry alike, and sources say she is expected to focus on improvements to climate change and water quality matters. Adams, 57, was appointed by Schwarzenegger in 2005 to serve on the state's Central Valley...

White House Call To Review PM Rule Sparks Concerns Over Rollbacks

The White House Office of Management & Budget's (OMB) push for EPA to alter the regulatory analysis supporting its controversial rule to curb particulate matter (PM) emissions could lay the groundwork for industry pressure to relax the rule's requirements for individual sectors, some environmentalists say. OMB is telling EPA to reconsider its assumption that all types of particles are equally toxic when finalizing the rule's cost-benefit analysis. Some industry sources have argued the health impact of particles emitted from some...

EPA BID TO CONSIDER LIMITING BOUTIQUE FUELS FACES BROAD SKEPTICISM

EPA's effort to convene a task force addressing possible limitations on clean fuels as a way to lower gas prices faces significant skepticism from state, industry and environmental groups asked to offer testimony on the issue, after President Bush called on EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson to create the panel comprised of the nation's governors. Fuel industry sources and environmentalists are already taking issue with EPA's apparent decision to exclude from the discussion state ethanol mandates or other state fuel requirements...

STATES EYE POLLUTION CUTS TO OFFSET EMISSIONS INCREASES FROM ETHANOL

As states begin crafting plans to meet EPA's strict new 8-hour ozone standard, air regulators in the Midwest and other parts of the country are considering new requirements on stationary and other pollution sources to address expected emissions increases from the energy law mandate to add more ethanol to gasoline. These sources say it is too soon to tell what additional cuts will be mandated on emissions sources and how great of a pollution impact expanded ethanol use will have...

WHITE HOUSE SCRAMBLES TO RESTORE HOUSE CUTS TO CLIMATE PROGRAM

Bush administration officials are scrambling to convince Congress to restore funding for the president's Asia-Pacific Partnership -- a voluntary, technology-based climate change initiative -- after House appropriators zeroed out EPA's and the Energy Department's (DOE) funding for the program. President Bush announced the program last summer, and the administration is for the first time seeking an overall budget of $52 million, including $5 million for EPA, $15 million for DOE, $30 million for the State Department and $2 million for...

EPA DATA NOMINEE'S FATE MAY HINGE ON OUTCOME OF DEMOCRATS' TRI RIDERS

Senate confirmation for Molly O'Neill, EPA's nominee to head its information office, may hinge in part on the outcome of upcoming congressional votes on Democratic measures aimed at blocking the agency from implementing controversial changes to its Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) reporting program. For now, O'Neill appears to be escaping a "hold" on her nomination from Democrats, who are instead focusing on trying to pass an amendment in the House to EPA's fiscal year 2007 appropriations bill that would block...

CLIMATE CHANGE BUDGET REJECTION MAY SPUR MAJOR POLITICAL CLASH

A Senate budget subcommittee this week rejected most of the governor's proposed climate change funding for Fiscal Year 2006-07, with Democrats pursuing instead a budget trailer bill to increase spending and create programs to mandate greenhouse gas (GHG) emission caps and reductions. The action is seen by some observers as setting the stage for a major showdown between Democratic leaders and the governor over how far the state should go in mandating GHG reductions on various industries. It remains unclear...

SEMPRA, SOUTH COAST MAKE FINAL PLEAS IN BATTLE OVER LNG STANDARD

Sempra Energy representatives and South Coast air district officials are making final pleas to state energy regulators over future liquefied natural gas (LNG) specifications, with the utilities challenging the district's contention that a looser standard will significantly increase nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions in southern California. The regulators' decision is considered significant not only to state officials and industry representatives, but to federal stakeholders, who are also anticipating government action on LNG "interchangeability standards" regionally and nationally. The California Public Utilities...

DEBATE INTENSIFIES OVER LANDFILL GHG EMISSION REDUCTION PLANS

Environmentalists are urging the waste board to reject U.S. EPA landfill emissions data as it begins discussions on future landfill greenhouse gas (GHG) emission-reduction policies, contending the studies underestimate emission levels. But waste industry sources argue that the EPA data should be used because new studies to better assess the impact of dumps will not be available until after 2010, which falls beyond the first deadline for GHG emission-reduction targets established by the governor. The debate over landfill methane emissions...

UNCONVINCED LAWMAKERS REJECT GOVERNOR'S HYDROGEN HIGHWAY BUDGET

A Senate budget subcommittee this week rejected proposed air board funding to implement the second year of the governor's Hydrogen Highway project, arguing that the technology is too far away from mainstream use to justify investing millions more in Fiscal Year 2006-07. While the rejection is seen by some as a blow to the administration's highly publicized efforts to speed the advancement of hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles, similar action by lawmakers last year was tempered by the reinstatement of at least...

DEMOCRATS SEEN LEERY OF GHG EMISSIONS TRADING DUE TO EJ CONCERNS

A potential state carbon-credit trading program to control greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is facing growing skepticism within the Legislature due largely to growing opposition by environmental justice (EJ) groups, which fear negative, disproportionate impacts on at-risk communities, according to sources. While some officials see a GHG cap-and-trade plan as key to combating the state's contribution to global warming, the Legislature's growing uneasiness is likely to complicate ongoing negotiations to advance critical climate change legislation. While Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez (D-Los...

VALLEY AIR OFFICIALS SEE OBSTACLES IN NEW PM, OZONE GOALS

State and valley air officials expressed concern this week over meeting their own recently unveiled and ambitious particulate matter (PM) and ozone reduction goals. The regulators said reaching these goals is necessary for the valley to achieve federal attainment status in the coming years. Reductions in PM and ozone are key to cleaning up the air in the agriculturally dominated central valley, where these emissions are abundant. The Air Resources Board and the San Joaquin Valley air district May 17...

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