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.

INDUSTRY PREVIEWS POSSIBLE LAWSUIT OVER FERC COGENERATION PROPOSAL

A coalition of manufacturers, chemical plants, refineries and energy efficiency advocates is laying the groundwork for a possible lawsuit over a proposal by federal energy regulators to remove market protections for purchasing electricity from energy-efficient combined heat and power (CHP) facilities. At the same time, recent statements from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) indicate the commissioners may revise the proposal, which electric utilities support but has sparked widespread concern in other industries. FERC issued a proposal earlier this year...

OIL PRICE ADJUSTMENT FAILS TO FORCE INCREASE IN NEW FUEL ECONOMY RULE

The Bush administration's March 29 rule setting new corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards for light trucks and sport-utility vehicles (SUVs) maintains standards close to what was outlined in a proposal last year even though the rule takes into account higher oil prices that environmentalists and other observers have cited to argue for stricter standards. Instead, the rule justifies maintaining the proposed standards by assuming that higher gas prices will cause people to drive fewer miles. Language in the rule...

EPA STAY OF PM STANDARD IN CEMENT KILN MACT FACES ACTIVIST CHALLENGE

Activists plan to sue EPA over a rare decision to invalidate a final air toxics standard for particulate matter (PM) emissions from cement kilns in favor of a less stringent rule. EPA on March 23 issued an administrative stay of its maximum achievable control technology (MACT) standard for new cement kilns that burn hazardous waste, after receiving an industry petition that argued the standard was overly stringent. EPA on the same day issued a proposal for a standard that included...

WEHRUM TO FACE CONTROVERSY OVER DRAFT TOXICS RULE AT SENATE HEARING

Acting EPA air chief William Wehrum is likely to face tough questioning from senators at his upcoming confirmation hearing over a host of controversial EPA air rules, including a newly unveiled draft agency rule that would lower the threshold for facilities to win exemptions from strict air toxics requirements, several sources say. At press time, sources also expected Wehrum's April 5 hearing for his nomination as EPA's assistant administrator for air and radiation to prompt questions about the agency's mercury...

ACTIVISTS BLAST DOE REPORT SEEKING AIR ACT WAIVERS FOR CLEAN COAL

The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is strongly criticizing a recent report from Energy Department advisers which calls for Clean Air Act exemptions to encourage use of new clean coal technologies, such as plants that gasify coal to produce electricity or liquify it to produce vehicle fuels. NRDC says in a March 28 paper that the National Coal Council's March 22 report, Coal: America's Future, is a "fantasy" of Peabody Energy, the nation's largest coal producer, whose president Gregory Boyce...

OMB CHANGES TO EPA 'UPSET' EMISSIONS RULE MAY LIMIT CITIZEN SUITS

EPA's final rule requiring facilities to develop plans for minimizing unexpected industrial emissions does not include language in the proposal that environmentalists say was crucial for outside groups to sue facilities for violations, after the Office of Management & Budget (OMB) urged EPA to drop the language. Environmentalists say they will almost certainly sue over the March 31 rule because EPA omitted language stating that failure to follow a startup, shutdown and malfunction (SSM) plan could be considered evidence that...

INDUSTRY, ACTIVISTS QUESTION EPA RULE ON ENERGY LAW FUEL CHANGES

Environmentalists and a manufacturer of the fuel oxygenate methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) are raising separate concerns that EPA's implementation of revised fuel content requirements mandated in the Energy Policy Act could increase emissions of harmful pollutants. MTBE maker Lyondell Chemical Corp. is also calling for EPA to preempt pending state law claims related to MTBE contamination after Congress failed to provide the manufacturers with a liability safe harbor in the energy law. At issue are a series of fuels-related...

NAAQS Reform Plan Raises Questions Over Future EPA Staff Role

EPA staff and environmentalists are questioning recommendations from an internal EPA workgroup on reforming the process for setting national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS), saying a proposal to replace the staff recommendations for EPA managers with a new "policy assessment document" could lead to political interference with an established scientific review process. Under the Clean Air Act, NAAQS standards must be set every five years for six major air pollutants: particulate matter (PM), ozone, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, lead and...

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 a series of public discussions aimed at addressing climate change, begging off the recent Senate energy committee conference on the issue and seeking to block discussion of the issue in 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,...

Democrats' Opposition Likely To Force Recess Appointment For EPA Air Chief

President Bush will likely have to install William Wehrum, his nominee to head EPA's air office, as a recess appointment because of an expected hold from Democrats critical of the administration's air policies, according to Sen. George Voinovich (R-OH). Voinvoich told Wehrum at an April 5 Senate Environment & Public Works Committee confirmation hearing that Democrats are "probably going to stop you" from being approved by the Senate to take on the role of EPA's assistant administrator for air and...

CAFE Rule Suggests EPA Likely To Deny California Greenhouse Gas Waiver

EPA is expected to deny a pending request by California for a Clean Air Act waiver to set vehicle emissions standards to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) finalized a fuel economy rule last week that included language concluding that states are preempted from setting greenhouse gas standards for automobiles. EPA's likely denial is significant because as many as 10 other states are seeking to adopt California's requirement. A bipartisan group of 21 senators...

EPA May Forgo Comparable Fuels Rule After Toxic Emissions Review

EPA may decide against proposing a controversial rule expanding the types of hazardous waste that can be burned as fuel pending a requested review of data on possible toxic emissions from waste-as-fuel use, according to an agency spokeswoman. The decision comes after EPA said last month it was preparing to decide whether to respond to a request from the waste treatment industry group the Environmental Technology Council (ETC) to re-evaluate data on emissions from industrial boilers and hazardous waste incinerators...

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...

DOE ADVISERS SEEK CLEAN AIR ACT RELIEF FOR CUTTING-EDGE COAL PLANTS

A sweeping report by the National Coal Council (NCC), an advisory group to the Energy Department (DOE), is recommending Clean Air Act exemptions to encourage development of cutting-edge plants that gasify coal or turn it into liquid fuel, a key energy focus of DOD. The report says exempting coal-to-liquid and coal-to-gas facilities from emissions offset requirements in two key air act programs -- new source review (NSR), which requires facilities to install modern pollution controls, and national ambient air quality...

EPA FAILURE TO FOLLOW PM ADVICE COULD PROVIDE BASIS FOR FUTURE SUITS

EPA's failure to follow recommendations from its outside science advisers on proposed particulate matter (PM) standards could be a basis for litigation should the agency finalize a standard similar to the proposal, according to recent comments from the advisers on a broader EPA review of how the agency sets national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS). Two members of the agency's clean air scientific advisory committee (CASAC) are warning in comments made public earlier last month that EPA may have opened...

NEW YORK VAPOR INTRUSION REVIEW SPARKS FEAR OF ADDITIONAL CLEANUPS

Plans by the state of New York to check for contamination from vapor intrusion at dozens of contaminated sites where cleanup was already considered complete could spark similar efforts by other states and EPA at thousands of similar sites, observers following the issue say. Sources say that New York regulators have recently sent out dozens of notices to property owners who in the past received "no further action" (NFA) letters, saying that polluted properties would have to be revisited to...

VAPOR INTRUSION PANEL DEFINITION COULD SLOW PROPERTY TRANSACTIONS

An international standards organization panel developing screening procedures for detecting vapor intrusion is also considering whether the chemical vapors should be defined as a hazardous substance release during initial environmental assessments of properties, which could slow real estate transactions and result in more extensive and costly cleanups, sources say. ASTM International panelists are currently drafting language and expect to meet later this summer to consider whether vapor intrusion is a recognized environmental condition (REC), which means site assessors would have...

NEW RESEARCH QUESTIONS UPDATED MODEL USED IN EPA VAPOR GUIDE

An update to the model that forms the basis of EPA's controversial vapor intrusion guide is facing new criticism from state and EPA scientists, who say the revisions underestimate the amount of chemical vapors in indoor air in existing structures, necessitating indoor air sampling. While sources say the updates to the model still have value for determining the likelihood of vapor intrusion at sites where new structures have not been built, the most accurate way to measure vapor intrusion at...

New York Vapor Intrusion Review Sparks Fears Of Additional Cleanups

Plans by the state of New York to check for contamination from vapor intrusion at dozens of contaminated sites where cleanup was already considered complete could spark similar efforts by other states and EPA at thousands of similar sites, observers following the issue say. Sources say that New York regulators have recently sent out dozens of notices to property owners who in the past received "no further action" (NFA) letters, saying that polluted properties would have to be revisited to...

EPA 'Upset' Emissions Rule Includes OMB Changes That May Limit Citizen Suits

EPA's rule requiring facilities to develop plans for minimizing "upset emissions" --- such as those during startups, shutdowns and malfunctions (SSM) --- drops language at the suggestion of the White House Office of Management & Budget (OMB) that environmentalists say is crucial to their ability to sue facilities for failing to limit such emissions. Environmentalists say they will almost certainly sue over the March 31 final rule after EPA dropped language stating that failure to follow an SSM plan could...

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