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.

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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.

ARB PLANS EXPANDED CRACKDOWN ON NEW VEHICLE DIAGNOSTIC SYSTEMS

Based on investigations that have found some newer vehicles have failing on-board diagnostic (OBD) systems, air board officials are slated to expand such enforcement this year, according to the governor's proposed Fiscal Year 2006-07 budget released this week. Other air board enforcement priorities include heavy-duty diesel regulations and the replacement of older testing and diagnostic equipment. The proposed enforcement expansion amounts to $4 million and 19 additional staff positions at the Air Resources Board, according to the proposal and a...

STATES RAISE CONCERN OVER POSSIBLE ELIMINATION OF SOME AIR TOXICS RULES

State officials and activists are alarmed by EPA suggestions that it may eliminate emissions controls on air toxics from some industrial sources, based on scientific reviews that conclude these source categories no longer pose any remaining health risks. These sources are worried that residual risk proposals EPA issued late last year for two relatively obscure source categories could set a troubling precedent for dozens of other "residual risk" rules the agency is preparing to propose. These rules are intended to...

SHIPPERS WARY OF ADMINISTRATION'S INFRASTRUCTURE FEE IDEAS

Shipping industry representatives say they are wary of Schwarzenegger Administration ideas to establish new fees on their businesses to help pay for infrastructure expansion and air quality improvement at California's ports. The fees are being discussed by top-level officials from state agencies, including Cal/EPA, and may be detailed in later legislative proposals to implement the governor's massive infrastructure expansion plan unveiled last week, according to sources. Environmentalists and some state officials believe the potential container fees and road or bridge...

VALLEY AIR DISTRICT EYES DAIRY EMISSION REDUCTION CREDIT TRADING

The San Joaquin Valley air district plans soon to propose inclusion of dairies in its emission reduction credit (ERC) trading program to help enable new and expanding farms to meet pollution limits. District officials and the dairy industry see the inclusion as vital to ensure the region's rapidly growing dairy industry complies with strict air quality rules. But environmentalists are carefully watching the developments and may raise concerns that the plan will negatively impact communities already subject to high levels...

TALKS RESTART ON DISPUTED BILL CRACKING DOWN ON AIR RULE VARIANCES

Environmentalists and air pollution officials are beginning new discussions on disputed legislation that aims to crack down on the number and type of air district permit variances granted, particularly in the South Coast and Bay Area. While a scaled-back version of the bill advanced this week, substantial amendments to block variances and increase public participation in the process will be sought in the coming weeks, according to sources. State air officials and industrial organizations remain wary of the bill, AB...

INDUSTRY CONFOUNDED BY CAL/EPA CLIMATE CHANGE COST ANALYSIS

Several major industry organizations tracking Cal/EPA's climate change initiative are struggling to decipher a draft economic analysis of recommendations to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, primarily because the document lacks specific data and appears to contradict itself, sources said. The cost analysis is considered critical not only to industry but to other stakeholders and lawmakers, who will consider potentially implementing some of the measures in legislation this year. A Jan. 5 draft "macroeconomic analysis" of GHG-reduction recommendations proposed recently by...

ARB EXAMINES ETHANOL-85 VAPOR CONTROLS IN PROJECT WITH INDUSTRY

Air board officials are exploring whether new requirements to control vapor emissions associated with a special project to test 85% ethanol fuel (E-85) in flexible-fuel vehicles (FFVs) will be necessary. Both vapor emissions from planned facilities to dispense E-85, as well as emissions from the FFVs themselves while they are fueled, may be scrutinized. The review may prove significant to stakeholders -- including fuel providers, automakers and air districts -- if new or modified controls are deemed necessary. Air Resources...

EPA MERCURY FISH TISSUE GUIDE TO GIVE STATES LEEWAY IN WATER PERMITS

A nearly completed EPA guidance instructing states how to set Clean Water Act permit limits based on the agency's fish-based mercury water standard will give states significant flexibility in developing permit requirements, but the document is not likely to be finalized until after EPA completes reconsideration of its mercury air rule, agency and industry sources say. The guidance, which represents EPA's implementation strategy for its 2001 fish tissue criterion for mercury of 0.3 milligrams of methylmercury per kilogram (mg/kg) of...

STUDY ON FORESTS' RISKS MAY HOBBLE POLICIES ON CO2 EMISSIONS 'SINKS'

A recently published study detailing potential water and soil damage caused by planting trees to capture and store carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions -- which are known as carbon "sinks" -- could complicate EPA and other groups' policies to encourage the practice as a way to slow global warming, according to one of the study's authors. Tree planting to create carbon "sinks" is considered a viable way to reduce the effects of global warming, since trees naturally absorb CO2. For example,...

LANDMARK OKLAHOMA CAFO LITIGATION FACES SUPREME COURT HURDLE

The state of Oklahoma's efforts to hold concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) liable under federal Superfund law for animal wastes is facing a challenge from its neighboring state of Arkansas, which is asking the Supreme Court to intervene on constitutional grounds. The recent high court filings by the states mark the latest action in a long-running dispute between the two states over water quality in the region, where numerous CAFOs and other agricultural facilities are located. It also follows a...

NEW NANOTECH LAW SHOULD FOCUS ON LIMITING RISKS, KEY REPORT URGES

A just-released report on addressing risks posed by nanomaterials is recommending that any new law regulating the technology focus on preventing risks posed by the emerging products, as opposed to the remediation of pollution and exposure, which most current environmental laws target. The law would focus on the products, not the environment, because once the "materials gets into the environment, it is probably too late to take remedial measures," the report says. The suggestions come as observers expect Congress will...

States Raise Concern Over Possible Elimination Of Some Air Toxics Rules

State officials and activists are alarmed by EPA suggestions that it may eliminate emissions controls on air toxics from some industrial sources, based on scientific reviews that conclude these source categories no longer pose any remaining health risks. These sources are worried that residual risk proposals EPA issued late last year for two relatively obscure source categories could set a troubling precedent for dozens of other "residual risk" rules the agency is preparing to propose. These rules are intended to...

Illinois' Stringent Mercury Proposal May Serve As Model For States

Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's (D) recent proposal to mandate stringent mercury emission cuts from power plants at levels far beyond those required in an EPA rule could become a model for other states, since Illinois is the first major coal-producing state to propose such a strict regulation, state officials and activists say. These sources believe the proposal could give lawmakers in other states with a strong coal industry presence, such as Pennsylvania, the confidence necessary to propose their own mercury...

STATES RAISE CONCERN OVER POSSIBLE ELIMINATION OF SOME AIR TOXICS RULES

State officials and activists are alarmed by EPA suggestions that it may eliminate emissions controls on air toxics from some industrial sources, based on scientific reviews that conclude these source categories no longer pose any remaining health risks. These sources are worried that residual risk proposals EPA issued late last year for two relatively obscure source categories could set a troubling precedent for dozens of other "residual risk" rules the agency is preparing to propose. These rules are intended to...

ACTIVISTS WEIGH LITIGATION OVER AIR TOXICS RULE FOR INCINERATORS

Environmentalists are weighing litigation over EPA's recent rule to reduce air toxic emissions from a category of waste incinerators because they say the emission controls mandated by the rule are not stringent enough. The activists also believe EPA is providing too many exemptions to the rule for a host of industry sectors. Activists argue the agency's Dec. 16 rule establishing maximum achievable control technology (MACT) standards for other solid waste incinerators (OSWI) sets weak controls that do not reflect the...

SWEEPING EPA NAAQS REVIEW MAY ERODE STAFF ROLE IN SETTING STANDARDS

EPA staff and outside observers are concerned that a new Bush administration plan to comprehensively evaluate the process for setting air standards for particulate matter (PM) and other criteria pollutants may undermine the key role that agency staff play in developing the scientific basis for updating standards. The critics say the evaluation may have been prompted by Bush environment officials' perception last fall that their options for setting new PM standards were limited by the advice they received from career...

BUDGET FIGHTS EXPECTED OVER RESEARCH FOR RENEWABLES, HYDROGEN

Industry sources expect the Bush administration to spark major fights over renewable energy funding when it releases the fiscal year 2007 budget in the next few weeks, with the administration likely to propose sharp cuts to funds for research on some renewable energy sources. At the same time, other industry groups and members of Congress are pressing the administration to increase funding for hydrogen and fuel cell initiatives that President Bush has touted in the past -- possibly setting up...

EPA RENEWABLES RULE FAILS TO RESOLVE KEY QUESTIONS ON FUEL MANDATE

EPA has set the stage for future battles over implementing a renewable fuels standard from the 2005 energy law, by issuing an interim regulation that does not require individual refiners to use a minimum amount of ethanol in 2006, and omitting from the rule key details affecting the program's future implementation through 2012. The direct final regulation, which EPA released Dec. 28, codifies a requirement in the energy law for the oil industry to ensure that at least 2.78 percent...

ILLINOIS' STRINGENT MERCURY PROPOSAL MAY SERVE AS MODEL FOR STATES

Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's (D) recent proposal to mandate stringent mercury emission cuts from power plants at levels far beyond those required in an EPA rule could become a model for other states, since Illinois is the first major coal-producing state to propose such a strict regulation, state officials and activists say. These sources believe the proposal could give lawmakers in other states with a strong coal industry presence, such as Pennsylvania, the confidence necessary to propose their own mercury...

STUDY ON FORESTS' RISKS MAY HOBBLE POLICIES ON 'SINKS' FOR CO2 EMISSIONS

A recently published study detailing potential water and soil damage caused by planting trees to capture and store carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions -- which are known as carbon "sinks" -- could complicate EPA and other groups' policies to encourage the practice as a way to slow global warming, according to one of the study's authors. Tree planting to create carbon "sinks" is considered a viable way to reduce the effects of global warming, since trees naturally absorb CO2. For example,...

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