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.

STATES EYE PERMIT STREAMLINING TO COPE WITH EPA'S FY07 BUDGET CUTS

Facing shrinking budgets because of proposed EPA state and local grant funding cuts, state environmental officials are looking for innovative ways to streamline their air, water and waste permits to free up resources, several state officials say. An official from Iowa, one of the states pursuing these efforts, says permit streamlining is "going to become one of the major undertakings most states will have to address in the coming years as budgets shrink and the public demands more accountability." The...

OZONE STANDARD LIKELY TO SPARK BENEFITS BATTLE AS EPA BEGINS REVIEW

EPA's pending review of its ozone air pollution standard is likely to launch a battle over how to calculate the health benefits that could justify a stricter standard because recent studies are now linking short-term ozone exposure to premature death, according to scientists, industry officials and environmentalists. Health advocacy groups argue that the recent mortality research should drive more stringent regulatory limits. But industry argues that a larger body of toxicology research shows little or no evidence that long-term ozone...

Carper To Cut Mercury Trading From Upcoming Utility Emissions Bill

Sen. Thomas Carper (D-DE) will prohibit any emissions credit trading for utilities to meet strict mercury pollution limits in legislation he intends to reintroduce soon, which will also contain revised targets and timetables for mercury and other pollutants, according to a source in Carper's office. Carper, lead sponsor of a legislative alternative to the Bush administration's Clear Skies proposal, will propose to mandate 90 percent mercury reductions from power plants by 2015, and prohibit any cap-and-trade program that would allow...

CRITICS SAY NEW OHIO PLAN RELAXING NSR UNDERMINES KEY EPA CLAIMS

Recent changes the Ohio state legislature adopted easing the state's minor new source review (NSR) permitting program undermine Bush administration claims that relaxing the federal NSR program would not hurt the environment because state programs would serve as "backstops," critics say. State sources and environmentalists critical of the Bush NSR reforms fear the push in Ohio could be a model for industry efforts to relax another aspect of the controversial Clean Air Act program. One environmentalist describes the combined relaxing...

EPA ADVISERS FIGHT DIVERSION OF RESEARCH FUNDS TO SECURITY PROJECTS

EPA's science advisers are criticizing the agency's proposed fiscal year 2007 research budget, which cuts funding on air pollution and toxic chemicals and increases funds for homeland security research. In a March 30 letter to EPA, the Science Advisory Board (SAB) used unusually strong language to warn that EPA's research and development resources were "grossly inadequate" and called the budget cuts a "serious impediment" to EPA's mission. The SAB raised concerns that EPA's homeland security research initiatives appear to be...

PANEL FLOATS AIR ACT CHANGES SETTING NEW POLLUTION CONTROL LEVELS

An EPA advisory panel may recommend major changes to the Clean Air Act that would require minimum levels of pollution control at all emission sources nationwide, known as "reasonable performance levels," out of concern that existing controls vary depending on the location of industrial sources and how recently they were built. The new approach, which the panel is discussing in draft form, could enhance controls on a diverse array of sources, including industrial boilers, manufacturers of consumer products and trucks...

EPA PM PROPOSAL WOULD PREEMPT STATES ON FEDERAL FACILITY CONTROLS

EPA earlier this month quietly proposed a first-time particulate matter (PM) emissions level for federal facilities that sets a so-called de minimis level of emissions -- below which no regulations apply -- which has prompted harsh criticism from at least one environmentalist who says that if EPA finalizes the rule, it would preempt more stringent state standards. Under the proposal, EPA is setting a "general conformity" level for federal facilities' emissions of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) at 100 tons per...

AIRCRAFT PM TEST COULD HELP PUSH FOR NEW EPA EMISSIONS STANDARD

A landmark test for measuring particulate matter (PM) emissions from military and civilian aircraft could give environmentalists and state regulators a new tool to press EPA to set first-time PM emissions standards for aircraft engines, since the agency has argued in the past that any aircraft standard would be hard to develop because of the difficulty in measuring engine PM output. The test could also help the military site new aircraft squadrons -- such as those for the Joint Strike...

EPA DRAFT GUIDE ALLOWS CO2 CREDITS FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY PURCHASES

EPA has drafted guidelines for how corporations in its voluntary climate change program can claim some credit for reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions based on the purchase of renewable energy certificates (RECs), in the midst of a growing debate over whether the purchases actually displace greenhouse gas emissions, according to a copy of the draft guide obtained by Inside EPA. The guide is available on InsideEPA.com . RECs, also known as green tags, are commodities that represent the purchase of...

AUTOMOBILE GROUP TAKES LOW PROFILE IN CLIMATE CHANGE DISCUSSIONS

The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, a coalition of U.S. and foreign automobile manufacturers, is declining to participate in various public discussions aimed at addressing climate change, begging off the recent Senate energy committee conference on global warming and seeking to block discussion of the issue during an EPA advisory committee's deliberation on how to factor climate change into air quality planning. Auto industry and other sources tracking the issue offer a range of explanations for the group's stance, including ongoing...

CALIFORNIA OFFICIALS AT ODDS OVER TIMING OF CARBON EMISSIONS CAP

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) and state Democrats are at odds over when the state should implement a first-time cap on carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from various industry sectors, a dispute that could hamper legislation key state assembly Democrats recently introduced that would create a cap more quickly than what Schwarzenegger is proposing. Schwarzenegger earlier this month called on state officials to delay a decision on whether various industry sectors' CO2 and other greenhouse gas...

U.S. CALL FOR STRICTER INTERNATIONAL SHIP EMISSION RULES SPARKS DEBATE

Federal agencies are calling for more stringent diesel emissions cuts from ships than under an international treaty that is awaiting U.S. ratification, and they are also saying they can set more strict domestic standards if necessary. The push has ignited a debate among environmentalists and industry groups, who both support stricter emissions standards than under the current treaty but disagree on how restrictive future standards should be. The executive branch has drafted Senate legislation obtained by Inside EPA to implement...

NHTSA ANALYSIS SUGGESTS NEW CAFE FUEL REDUCTIONS MAY BE OVERSTATED

Analysis conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) for its recent fuel economy rule suggests the agency may be overestimating projected fuel consumption reductions that would result from the regulation. Public Citizen says it will soon send a letter to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), asking the agency to revise its estimate that the new corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) rule for light trucks will save 10.7 billion gallons of fuel. NHTSA's analysis, buried deep in...

EPA DEVELOPING VOLUNTARY FUELS PLAN TO PROMOTE BIODIESEL, E-85

EPA is developing a voluntary program to boost the use of biodiesel and ethanol-containing E-85 -- two fuels that help reduce air toxics emissions -- that the agency may have limited ability to promote in its upcoming regulation to implement the renewable fuels mandate in the 2005 energy law, according to agency officials, fuel industry sources and environmentalists. Industry sources and activists say the voluntary program for biodiesel, a fuel made from materials such as vegetable oil, comes as the...

EPA PLAN ON STATE IDLING LAWS BACKS KEY EXEMPTIONS SOUGHT BY INDUSTRY

Draft model legislation EPA helped develop so that states can promulgate standardized anti-idling laws to reduce vehicle emissions recommends general limits on idling, but contains industry-backed exemptions for rest stops and financial assurance requirements to which states may object, according to state and other sources. EPA began the effort of helping to craft model state legislation in response to longstanding trucking industry concerns that a patchwork of differing state regulations creates confusion. California is also currently poised to implement an...

KENTUCKY PERMIT RULING HANDS ACTIVISTS ANOTHER BLOW IN BID FOR IGCC

Kentucky's recent ruling rejecting calls by environmentalists to require owners of a planned coal-fired utility to consider clean-burning integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) technology is another blow to activists' efforts to require new plants to use IGCC, rather than traditional pulverized coal technology. The state's Environmental & Public Protection Cabinet Secretary LaJuana S. Wilcher April 12 rejected an August 2005 recommendation by a state hearing officer that Kentucky's Division of Air Quality (DAQ) should be required to consider IGCC in...

STATES EYE PERMIT STREAMLINING TO COPE WITH EPA'S FY07 BUDGET CUTS

Facing shrinking budgets because of proposed EPA state and local grant funding cuts, state environmental officials are looking for innovative ways to streamline their air, water and waste permits to free up resources, several state officials say. An official from Iowa, one of the states pursuing these efforts, says streamlining of permits is "going to become one of the major undertakings most states will have to address in the coming years as budgets shrink and the public demands more accountability."...

TASK FORCE REPORT ON TITLE V PERMITS MAY PROMPT NEW LITIGATION

A long-awaited report from an EPA advisory committee on the clean air permitting process could pave the way for new litigation over what these permits are required to contain, because the report leaves unresolved key issues that have sparked disagreement between industry, states and environmentalists, observers say. A task force of outside groups issued a report April 6 to the Clean Air Act Advisory Committee (CAAAC) that offers a comprehensive evaluation of the permitting program under Title V of the...

LAWSUIT MAY FORESTALL STATE RULES ON NONROAD PARTICULATE EMISSIONS

An industry group is attempting to head off potential state and local regulations to control particulate matter (PM) emissions from nonroad vehicles by filing a lawsuit claiming that states are preempted by the federal government from regulating farm and construction equipment. The lawsuit comes as states, industry and EPA are battling on a variety of fronts over states' ability to regulate vehicles including locomotives, boats and small engines absent a federal mandate. The new lawsuit hinges on an obscure provision...

EPA PLAN ON EMISSIONS TRADING CREDITS MAY HAMPER STATE ACTION ON CAIR

EPA's backstop measure to issue emissions trading credits directly to utilities late next year if states fail to implement the agency's clean air interstate rule (CAIR) could increase uncertainty for utilities preparing to comply with the regulation, industry sources say. Specifically, utilities are concerned that EPA's plan may complicate efforts in Northeast states to implement an emissions trading program more stringent than CAIR, making it more difficult for industry to plan for the financial impact of the federal and state...

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