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.

PESTICIDE RULING MAY PROMPT HIGH COURT REVIEW OF LIMITS ON 'STANDING'

A new ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit -- which has jurisdiction over federal regulations -- could establish what legal experts say are unprecedented limits on environmentalists' standing to sue over federal rules, possibly pointing the way to a Supreme Court challenge . The decision upholding an EPA regulation of an ozone-depleting pesticide is the latest in a series of recent rulings and administrative actions in the D.C. Circuit that have blocked activists...

EPA Air Chief's Nomination May Prompt Senate Debate On IGCC, Air Toxics

The nomination of William Wehrum to head EPA's air office may prompt Senate scrutiny into issues such as technological requirements for power plants to cut emissions, Clean Air Act enforcement and EPA's air toxics agenda, observers say. President Bush announced Feb. 27 that Wehrum would be nominated to be EPA's assistant administrator for air and radiation, after serving in an acting position since July 2005. Wehrum originally came to EPA's air office as a close associate of former Assistant Administrator...

EPA Air Standards Office Eyes New Focus As Part Of Major Overhaul

EPA's air standards office will soon complete a major reorganization that will include a new focus on reducing emissions of both air toxics and criteria pollutants, an expansion into voluntary, sector-based programs and renewed attention on controlling climate change, according to agency officials and sources briefed on the effort. In addition, EPA sources say a separate effort is underway within the agency's climate change division in EPA's Office of Atmospheric Programs to consolidate a number of existing functions related to...

Pesticide Ruling May Prompt High Court Review Of Limits On 'Standing'

A new ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit -- which has jurisdiction over federal regulations -- could establish what legal experts say are unprecedented limits on environmentalists' standing to sue over federal rules, possibly pointing the way to a Supreme Court challenge. The decision upholding an EPA regulation of an ozone-depleting pesticide is the latest in a series of recent rulings and administrative actions in the D.C. Circuit that have blocked activists from...

EPA AIR STANDARDS OFFICE EYES NEW FOCUS AS PART OF MAJOR OVERHAUL

EPA's air standards office will soon complete a major reorganization that will include a new focus on reducing emissions of both air toxics and criteria pollutants, an expansion into voluntary, sector-based programs and renewed attention on controlling climate change, according to agency officials and sources briefed on the effort. In addition, EPA sources say a separate effort is underway within the agency's climate change division in EPA's Office of Atmospheric Programs to consolidate a number of existing functions related to...

HIGH COURT PETITION IN CO2 SUIT DOWNPLAYS ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES

State and environmentalist sources say their strategy in trying to get the Supreme Court to hear their appeal of a high-profile greenhouse gas emission lawsuit rests on attracting conservative justices to the case by downplaying the environmental aspects of their argument in favor of broader concerns. The groups are focusing on their assertion that a lower court decision, if allowed to stand, would allow all federal agencies to ignore statutory requirements at will. A host of attorneys general (AGs) and...

EPA TRADING PROPOSAL FOR REFINERY FUEL AIR TOXIC LIMIT DRAWS CRITICISM

EPA's new mobile source air toxics (MSAT) proposal is drawing criticism from states and activists because it would set up an emissions trading scheme for refineries to meet new limits on fuel content. But industry officials say the trading scheme is vital to help relieve the cost impacts of the rule, which they argue EPA has underestimated. The MSAT proposal, which EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson signed Feb. 28, would require refiners to reduce the content of the air toxic benzene...

NORTHEAST STATES FACE CONTROVERSIES OVER BILLS TO IMPLEMENT RGGI

Northeast state legislators are taking up legislation to implement a historic greenhouse gas cap-and-trade program called the regional greenhouse gas initiative (RGGI), including an upcoming Massachusetts bill that would force the state to join the program over the objections of Gov. Mitt Romney (R). But the pending Massachusetts bill faces uncertain prospects this year since the state legislature has only a few months to secure passage. Massachusetts is considered a key state for the climate program because it is responsible...

AIR RULE COULD BE NEW FOCUS OF SUIT ON EPA POWER TO REGULATE CO2

EPA's just-released rule setting new source performance standards (NSPS) for electric utilities could become a new focus of litigation from states and environmentalists over whether the agency has authority to regulate carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions after a federal appellate court last year issued a largely inconclusive ruling on the issue. State attorneys general (AGs) and environmental groups are weighing whether to file a second legal challenge over the issue because EPA concludes in the NSPS rule that it lacks authority...

NORTHEAST STATES EYE RULE ON ENGINE FIXES DESPITE INDUSTRY CHALLENGES

Northeast state officials are pressing ahead with plans to develop a model rule to mandate emission controls on certain engines in order to reduce levels of nitrogen oxide (NOx) in the region, despite ongoing industry lawsuits over a similar rule in California. The states are eyeing the model rule to require engine makers and truckers to install retrofits known as "low-NOx chip reflash" kits. A court settlement several years ago put a schedule in place for manufacturers to install these...

TRUCKERS SAY CALIFORNIA DIESEL STANDARD WOULD SET HARMFUL PRECEDENT

A California request for a waiver from federal preemption over a state engine emissions standard is raising alarms among industry groups, who say the request is an unprecedented move that could force large numbers of trucks to comply nationwide. The controversy comes as the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is preparing to issue a long-awaited report that will evaluate California's authority to set transportation emissions standards that are stricter than the rest of the country. The report will examine the...

STATE AIR OFFICIALS SUE EPA OVER AIRCRAFT ENGINE EMISSIONS RULE

A group representing state and local air regulators has filed what may be its first direct legal challenge to an EPA rule, petitioning a federal appellate court for review of the agency's new regulations of aircraft emissions. The State and Territorial Air Pollution Program Administrators/Association of Local Air Pollution Control Officials (STAPPA/ALAPCO) filed a petition for review Feb. 21 in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on EPA's final rule requiring nitrogen oxide (NOx) emission...

EPA'S ETHANOL PLANT EMISSIONS PLAN MAY BOLSTER AIR PERMIT FLEXIBILITY

EPA's just-issued proposal allowing new ethanol production facilities to emit more pollutants and still be classified as "minor sources" not subject to federal rules may pave the way for construction of more high-polluting, coal-fired ethanol plants and bolster permit applicants already facing suits from environmentalists, sources say. However, some EPA sources say flexible minor source permits could also help agency efforts to encourage the facilities to voluntarily install more efficient combined heat and power (CHP) systems in the plants. EPA...

CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR'S HYDROGEN INITIATIVE FACES ROADBLOCKS

California's nonpartisan legislative analyst and a key state senator are trying to rein in Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's (R) spending on the California Hydrogen Highway Network initiative, charging that requests for more money are premature and that administration officials have not provided relevant progress reports. Hydrogen vehicle proponents nationwide are closely watching the development of Schwarzenegger's initiative as California is further along than other states in attempting to commercialize the technology, which reduces air pollution from vehicles. Environmentalists and some state...

FERC PLAN MAY THREATEN PACT ON PURCHASE MANDATES FOR COGENERATORS

An industry dispute over a proposed rule at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is threatening to unravel a compromise between power companies and manufacturers on language in the energy law that adjusts requirements for purchasing power from energy-efficient cogeneration facilities. The proposal would implement statutory language to relax a previous mandate for utilities to buy electricity from cogenerators set up at manufacturing plants, sometimes known as combined heat and power (CHP). The law removes this mandate if a facility...

PENNSYLVANIA MERCURY PLAN COULD LIMIT CREDITS FOR EPA TRADING SCHEME

Pennsylvania's new proposal to control mercury emissions could significantly limit the number of emissions credits available to trade under EPA's national, controversial cap-and-trade regulation to reduce utility emissions of the toxin, according to environmentalists and industry sources. The Pennsylvania plan, the first issued by a major coal-producing state, would require all utilities to achieve an 80 percent reduction in mercury emissions by 2010 and a 90 percent reduction by 2015. This is a significant reduction given that the state is...

LAWSUIT OVER PAINT COATINGS DATA MAY IMPACT STATE REGULATORY EFFORTS

The state of New York is suing EPA to obtain undisclosed data on how extensively paint manufacturers exceed permitted federal levels of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in paint and coatings, and the data could have significant impacts on efforts in Northeast states to control these compounds, state officials and activists say. EPA's rule for regulating VOC content in architectural, industrial and maintenance (AIM) coatings allows companies to exceed the limits for a fee, though industry officials and EPA say the...

INHOFE REFINERY PERMIT STREAMLINING PLAN FACES SLIM PROSPECTS

Senate environment committee chairman James Inhofe's (R-OK) scaled-back proposal to streamline the permitting process for new and expanding refineries faces stiff opposition from Democrats, making it unlikely to gather enough support to pass in an election year, industry and other sources say. Inhofe's March 7 proposal would allow governors to opt in to a program in which EPA, state and local regulators consolidate refinery permitting and approve or deny permits within 360 days for new refineries or 120 days for...

INDUSTRY CALLS FOR RELAXED HAZE RULE FOLLOWING NEW EMISSIONS STUDY

Industry officials argue EPA should consider relaxing controls on regional haze, in the wake of a study that finds significant contributions from wildfires and from pollution that crosses international borders. The report by the industry-funded Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and three Harvard University scientists finds that factoring in the influence of uncontrollable transboundary pollution and wildfire frequency in EPA's 1999 regional haze rule could decrease the emissions reductions required from domestic sources. But an agency source says the rule...

EPA TO STREAMLINE AIR CONFORMITY RULES FOLLOWING AGENCIES' CONCERNS

Responding to concerns raised by the Defense, Energy and other departments, EPA this spring will propose new reforms to streamline a 13-year-old Clean Air Act rule ensuring that federal actions do not further erode air quality in areas that are not meeting the agency's health-based pollution standards, according to EPA documents and government sources. The proposal is still undergoing internal agency review, but EPA documents say the agency is considering a number of reforms to its 1993 "general conformity" rule...

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