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.

CARPER EYES CHANGES TO MERCURY RULES IN REVISED POWER PLANT BILL

Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE) -- lead sponsor of an alternative to the administration's controversial Clear Skies multipollutant utility emissions legislation -- may relax near-term timetables for reducing mercury from individual power plants, while also considering new provisions strengthening mercury control levels the facilities must meet in later years, according to sources close to the issue. The possible changes follow utility industry objections to earlier versions of the legislation that limit mercury emissions trading as a way to comply with the...

SENATORS MAY FORM CROSS-COMMITTEE GROUP ON NATURAL GAS PRICES

Members of the Senate's environment and energy committees may establish a bipartisan group to develop recommendations for bringing down natural gas prices. The move comes as some senators are renewing claims that air pollution requirements are increasing demand for the resource. Sen. George Voinovich (R-OH) is calling on Republican and Democratic senators from both the Environment & Public Works (EPW) Committee and the Energy & Natural Resources Committee to form a group that would prepare "comprehensive recommendations on how we...

NORTH CAROLINA CASE COULD TEST AIR ACT PREEMPTION OF NUISANCE SUITS

North Carolina's recently filed nuisance suit seeking to force the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) to reduce utility emissions could result in a precedent-setting federal court ruling over whether the Clean Air Act preempts public nuisance suits regarding emissions, legal scholars say. The eventual ruling could have widespread implications, the sources say, because states and environmental groups have turned to nuisance suits in a bid to force utilities and other facilities to reduce carbon dioxide and other emissions absent federal regulation...

COURT BATTLE COULD FORCE AIR ACT CONTROLS ON MEXICAN POWER PLANTS

A federal district court ruling allowing to proceed an environmentalists' lawsuit over two Mexican utilities that provide power to California could undermine the companies' bid to sidestep key Clean Air Act requirements by building the plants across the border. The case could also result in a first-time ruling that the plants -- in operation now for two and a half years -- would have to install after-the-fact emissions controls or offset their emissions through other projects, environmentalists involved in the...

SO2 DEADLINE SUIT MAY ADDRESS ALLEGED GAPS IN ACID RAIN PROGRAM

Environmentalists are touting a pending lawsuit that would force EPA to update its sulfur dioxide (SO2) ambient air quality standards as a way to force reductions from power plants beyond what is required in the agency's acid rain trading program. Citing recent EPA reports, the environmentalists argue the acid rain program, while successful, has not gone far enough to reduce acid deposition in soil. The Center for Biological Diversity filed a Feb. 8 suit with other advocates in the U.S...

EPA CLAIMS LIMITED AUTHORITY TO RESPOND TO GULF COAST DISASTERS

EPA has told a federal advisory committee that it lacks authority to address many environmental health threats that stemmed from the Gulf Coast hurricanes, despite environmentalists' arguments that the agency did not respond to the disasters using the full scope of its powers under the law. Activists have said they may consider a lawsuit over the agency's hurricane response, though no litigation is pending so far. An EPA subcommittee on the Gulf Coast recovery under the National Environmental Justice Advisory...

WTC SUIT MAY BOOST PUSH FOR GREATER EPA DISASTER RESPONSE ROLE

A federal court ruling this month may bolster arguments that EPA is required to reduce environmental risks following disasters even when those threats fall outside its traditional authorities, such as widespread indoor health risks from Hurricane Katrina. The ruling allowed a class action suit to proceed over the agency's actions immediately after the 2001 terrorist attacks. Environmentalists have long criticized EPA's assertion that it lacks statutory authority to regulate indoor air, claiming the agency has broad authority under a host...

KEY LAWMAKER MAY OPEN INVESTIGATION INTO METHYL BROMIDE STOCKPILES

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), who chairs the House Government Reform subcommittee on energy and resources, may launch an investigation into the extent of existing stockpiles of the ozone-depleting pesticide methyl bromide, pending a court decision in the coming weeks over whether EPA must disclose that data. Issa's possible inquiry could be a blow for industry groups that are seeking additional exemptions from an international treaty that requires a phase-out of the pesticide. The lawmaker is citing the need for more...

DOJ REFOCUSES AIR ENFORCEMENT ON MACT, NON-UTILITY NSR VIOLATIONS

EPA and the Department of Justice (DOJ) are focusing on new priority areas for their clean air enforcement efforts, including air toxics and new source review (NSR) violations in sectors other than utilities, as the two agencies back away from their NSR utility initiative, a top DOJ environment attorney says. Bruce Gelber, a top attorney with DOJ's environment and natural resources division, told attendees at a recent American Bar Association conference in Bethesda, MD that EPA and DOJ intend to...

BUDGET PLANS LEAVE GAPS IN FEDERAL IMPLEMENTATION OF ENERGY LAW

The Bush administration's proposed fiscal year 2007 budget for EPA and other federal agencies funds Energy Policy Act (EPACT) mandates at levels often well below those Congress sought, leaving key decisions on implementing many of the provisions dependent on Capitol Hill or subsequent federal action, according to congressional and industry sources. The discrepancies mean a likely reprise of funding debates over programs ranging from efficiency-related initiatives to clean-coal technology spending in a tight budget climate that is already hampering agencies'...

STUDIES ON ETHANOL ENERGY SAVINGS MAY AID PUSH FOR STATE LEGISLATION

Environmentalists and the renewable energy industry are likely to cite two key new studies in the push for state legislation this year aiming to increase the use of ethanol, with the studies concluding that ethanol and other renewable fuels save more energy than is required to produce them. The research also comes as EPA has revoked the federal mandate for gasoline to contain an oxygenate such as ethanol, prompting many states to consider new alternative fuel requirements. Advocates say they...

EPA URGES STATES TO ADOPT NOVEL EFFICIENCY PORTFOLIO STANDARDS

EPA is calling on states to require utilities to meet a portion of future electricity demand through efficiency projects, as part of an emerging strategy known as an energy efficiency portfolio standard. Only a few states to date have adopted this strategy, which is considered a parallel to renewable portfolio standards that require a percentage of electricity needs to be met through alternative energy sources. EPA cited the strategy as part of an extensive new report, the Clean Energy-Environment Guide...

OIL-FIRED CLEAN POWER PLANT MAY UNDERMINE DOE'S 'FUTUREGEN' PLANS

A just-announced industry plan to construct a power plant in California capable of capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions may bolster arguments that the Bush administration's highly touted FutureGen zero-emissions power plant project is unnecessary and diverts resources from other efforts, industry sources and environmentalists say. The new announcement by BP and Edison Mission Group -- which calls for the construction of a plant fired by petcoke, a waste material from the oil refining process -- could influence debates over the...

EPA, CENTRAL STATES LOOK TO CLEAN ENERGY FOR VOLUNTARY EMISSIONS CUTS

EPA and a group of nine states in the central part of the country have launched a broad initiative to voluntarily reduce harmful emissions by implementing diesel retrofit, renewable energy and energy efficiency projects throughout the region. Although other regions have launched voluntary efforts to cut emissions, the new initiative in EPA regions VI and VII is unique in adding a focus on renewable and energy efficiency measures, according to EPA Region VI sources. The unique focus reflects the fact...

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, 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 currently the second highest emitter of mercury,...

Legal Group To Brief EPA On Application Of Laws To Nanotech

The American Bar Association's (ABA) environment committee will brief EPA attorneys and other officials later this spring on the application of existing environmental statutes to nanotechnology, an emerging field that many believe could provide great benefits but also may pose significant threats to human health and the environment. Plans for the briefing come as congressional lawmakers will also consider the same issues later this spring, and as proposals for new legislation are being drafted by environmental experts off Capitol Hill...

EPA, Central States Look To Clean Energy For Voluntary Emissions Cuts

EPA and a group of nine states in the central part of the country have launched a broad initiative to voluntarily reduce harmful emissions by implementing diesel retrofit, renewable energy and energy efficiency projects throughout the region. Although other regions have launched voluntary efforts to cut emissions, the new initiative in EPA regions VI and VII is unique in adding a focus on renewable and energy efficiency measures, according to EPA Region VI sources. The unique focus reflects the fact...

Carper Eyes Changes To Mercury Rules In Revised Power Plant Bill

Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE) -- lead sponsor of an alternative to the administration's controversial Clear Skies multipollutant utility emissions legislation -- may relax near-term timetables for reducing mercury from individual power plants, while also considering new provisions strengthening mercury control levels the facilities must meet in later years, according to sources close to the issue. The possible changes follow utility industry objections to earlier versions of the legislation that limit mercury emissions trading as a way to comply with the...

Activists Challenge EPA Decision Not To Mandate Coal Gasification

Several environmental groups have challenged in federal court a controversial EPA decision to not require evaluation of integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) technology as the "best available" emissions control technology for new power coal-fired power plants. The environmentalists' lawsuit comes in the wake of a Dec. 13 letter from EPA to the firm E3 consulting in which the agency said requiring such an evaluation under Clean Air Act emissions control technology standards would improperly "redefine the basic nature of a...

EPA MAY SEEK OUTSIDE INPUT ON NAAQS REVIEW IN WAKE OF CRITICISM

EPA's top air official says the agency could seek input from outside groups on its controversial evaluation of the standard-setting process for air pollutants, following criticism that the agency's effort could lack transparency. Congressional Democrats and environmentalists have criticized EPA's plans for a "top-to-bottom" review of the process for setting national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS), which EPA announced shortly after issuing a controversial particulate matter (PM) rule that did not reflect advice from the agency's science advisers to significantly...

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