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.

BINGAMAN SEEKS TO MOVE CLIMATE CHANGE BILL PRIOR TO 2006 ELECTIONS

NEW YORK -- Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), who won Senate endorsement earlier this year of a resolution calling for mandatory climate change controls, is suggesting he will try to move a new version of his climate change legislation early next year to force attention to the issue during the 2006 election season. However, Bingaman is also cautioning that state-level efforts to regulate greenhouse gases may complicate efforts to reach a national agreement. At a Nov. 30 climate change conference hosted...

OMB DEFENDS 'GOOD GUIDANCE' BULLETIN FROM EPA CLAIMS OF DIRE RESULTS

The White House Office of Management & Budget (OMB) is defending its recently released draft bulletin requiring public notice and comment and expanded OMB review to improve guidance documents, saying EPA fears that it will cripple scientific assessments and day-to-day agency functions are unfounded. An OMB official says the bulletin will not significantly influence how EPA issues its guidances because the agency in many cases already goes beyond OMB's requirements. "The best guidance practices at EPA would not be affected...

EPA May Allow More Enforcement Flexibility In Upcoming Diesel Rule

EPA may allow more flexibility for the petroleum industry in tests for compliance with an upcoming low-sulfur diesel rule, addressing what industry officials say is one of their last remaining obstacles to meeting this landmark environmental mandate. Agency sources say they are uncertain whether top EPA leadership will agree to amend the rule to allow more flexibility, and say they want to make sure it does not result in effectively lowering the standard. Environmentalists say they are likely to support...

STATES TARGET LACK OF CLIMATE CHANGE STUDY IN LIGHT TRUCK CAFE RULE

Several state and local officials, who are involved in litigation to force the government to limit emissions blamed for climate change, are alleging that federal regulators failed to conduct an analysis of the climate change implications of the Bush administration's pending rule setting fuel efficiency standards for light trucks. The arguments, detailed in Nov. 22 comments on the proposed National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration (NHTSA) regulation, may be a prelude to additional legal action related to climate change. It...

STATE PROJECTS AID DOD PUSH TO DEVELOP TRANSPORT FUEL FROM COAL

State efforts to develop facilities that convert coal to liquid fuel could bolster a Defense Department initiative to commercialize processes that turn domestic resources into less expensive, clean liquid fuels that can be used in military vehicles and aircraft. DOD touted states' roles in its year-old initiative, which seeks to address energy security and the environment, at a recent energy summit in Montana, where Gov. Brian Schweitzer (D) is courting industry to build the nation's first large-scale, coal-to-liquid-fuel plant that...

STATES OBJECT TO USING CAIR AS CONTROL SUBSTITUTE IN OZONE RULE

States officials and environmentalists are objecting to EPA's declaration that its clean air interstate rule (CAIR) removes the need for additional controls on power plants in some state plans for meeting the agency's ozone standard. This criticism is one of many state concerns over EPA's new ozone implementation rule, which appears likely to face litigation from states, environmentalists and industry groups. EPA issued a final rule on implementing the second phase of its plan for the agency's strict 8-hour ozone...

EPA OFFICIALS CALL PUBLICLY FOR ANALYSIS ON TIGHTER OZONE STANDARDS

EPA staff are suggesting that the agency analyze the health effects of ozone standards more stringent than the agency's existing requirements, which may signal that agency staff plan to propose going beyond the current 8-hour ozone rule, according to state offcials and environmentalists. The agency staff are citing "strong evidence" linking short-term ozone exposure and mortality, which is now the subject of intense discussion among EPA scientists and in the White House. Particulate matter emissions have long been associated with...

EPA LIKELY TO FACE DIFFICULTY MATCHING 2005 ENFORCEMENT RESULTS

EPA's recently released enforcement results for fiscal year 2005 highlight the challenges EPA's new enforcement chief -- and the next administration -- will face in winning large penalties and pollution reductions, according to former EPA officials, environmentalists and congressional sources. The FY05 results show a sizable amount of the agency's enforcement successes resulted from clean air settlements that would not likely longer be filed under new Bush administration rules. The agency's current penalty and pollution reduction totals rely heavily on...

EPA MAY ALLOW MORE ENFORCEMENT FLEXIBILITY IN UPCOMING DIESEL RULE

EPA may allow more flexibility for the petroleum industry in tests for compliance with an upcoming low-sulfur diesel rule, addressing what industry officials say is one of their last remaining obstacles to meeting this landmark environmental mandate. Agency sources say they are uncertain whether top EPA leadership will agree to amend the rule to allow more flexibility, and say they want to make sure it does not result in effectively lowering the standard. Environmentalists say they are likely to support...

STATES CONSIDER EMISSIONS "BUBBLES" OVER AIRPORTS TO REACH AIR GOALS

States may pursue a novel strategy to regulate ground equipment at airports in plans to meet EPA's ozone and particulate matter (PM) standards, in order to lower pollution from sources that states have not generally regulated in the past, state officials say. States are exploring the concept of airport "bubbles" that would require a certain percentage reduction in pollutants that contribute to ozone and PM, but leave specific decisions in the hands of airport officials on how to control ground...

CALIFORNIA OFFICIALS REJECT SPECIFIC CAP-AND-TRADE PROGRAM IN GHG PLAN

California environmental officials leading Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's (R) greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction advisory panel are not expected to include recommendations for a specific carbon cap-and-trade program in a forthcoming draft report, which is seen as a minor victory for industry organizations opposed to a regulated emissions cap. While officials do plan to recommend immediate pursuit of rules to reduce GHG emissions, several Democratic lawmakers early next year may propose their own carbon emission caps and mandatory GHG reporting for certain...

SENIOR DOE OFFICIAL SAYS CARBON SEQUESTRATION GAINS GLOBAL SUPPORT

A senior Department of Energy (DOE) official involved in an international climate change initiative says there has been a "sea change" in the global view of a technology that captures and stores carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, and as a result nations that two years ago did not endorse the technology are now aggressively pursuing projects to demonstrate and advance its use. DOE will make a presentation on carbon sequestration (CS) technology at an ongoing Kyoto Protocol meeting in Montreal, Canada,...

EPA TO ADDRESS NSR QUESTION ON RURAL "FUGITIVE EMISSIONS" NEXT YEAR

EPA is poised to respond next year to a long-standing industry petition asking the agency to exclude fugitive dust emissions from its new source review (NSR) rules, in a move that could benefit mining companies, agriculture and other rural industries. The issue is one of the few that remains unresolved after EPA issued a rule in 2002 that made a series of controversial changes to NSR rules, prompting a number of legal challenges. A ruling earlier this year upheld some...

INDUSTRIAL BURNING OF KATRINA WASTE FACES AIR PERMIT, COST HURDLES

EPA and other federal agencies are working with industry and Gulf Coast states to identify administrative ways to overcome permitting barriers so that the large volume of wood and other debris from Hurricane Katrina and other storms can be burned as fuel in industrial facilities. EPA and industry sources are arguing that burning the enormous amount of debris in boilers and other industrial facilities is more environmentally sound and useful than open burns or landfills. But federal, state and industry...

STATES EYE CONTROLS ON BRICK, CLAY INDUSTRIES BEYOND EPA AIR RULE

Northeast and Midwest states may require brick and structural clay manufacturers to control air pollution beyond EPA requirements, after the agency recently decided not to strengthen an existing air toxics standard, state officials say. At the same time, environmentalists are preparing to resume a lawsuit over EPA's maximum achievable control technology (MACT) standards for brick and structural clay manufacturers. Earthjustice, on behalf of Sierra Club, is seeking judicial review of the MACT standard, arguing EPA chose an option that does...

OIL BILLS PROMPT FEARS OF NEW REVIEW REQUIREMENTS FOR EPA RULES

A bipartisan push to lessen the U.S. transportation sector's oil dependence is prompting fears that EPA might be required to analyze the oil supply implications of future agency actions, including air and other environmental rules, to help reach a proposed national goal for reducing oil consumption. Sources familiar with the development of two new oil savings bill on Capitol Hill say they could have the greatest impact on other federal agencies, though they require EPA to implement measures aimed at...

SIERRA CLUB PLANS BROADER GRASSROOTS PUSH ON CLEAN ENERGY, CLIMATE

The Sierra Club -- one of the nation's leading environmental groups -- is poised to make global warming and energy issues its main priorities, which the group has traditionally ranked at a lower level of importance than issues such as protecting public lands and fighting urban sprawl, sources with the group say. The new priorities could lead to more intense citizen activism outside the Beltway directed at boosting energy efficiency and environmentally friendly renewable energy development. Some sources say the...

FORMER EPA CHIEF REILLY URGES INVESTMENTS IN RENEWABLE ENERGY

Former EPA Administrator William Reilly in a major speech to international investors asserted that the market for renewable energy -- such as wind and solar power -- is strong and will continue to grow, rejecting claims by some that interest in renewables will be short-lived and that such energy sources will remain insignificant for the foreseeable future. The former administrator's remarks strike at the heart of an emerging debate about national and world energy policy -- the extent to which...

WISCONSIN SEEKS TO LOOSEN MERCURY PLAN TO COMPORT WITH EPA RULE

Despite suing EPA over the legality of its controversial rule to control mercury emissions from power plants, Wisconsin is taking the unusual move of loosening a stricter state-level rule to match EPA's more relaxed emission reduction requirements. The state's current mercury plan is considered one of the most stringent in the country. Wisconsin is employing the unconventional move because it made a commitment to revise its plan to mirror the emission reduction targets in the EPA mercury rule when the...

NEW EVIDENCE SHOWS CHEAPER MERCURY CONTROLS FOR WESTERN COAL

SAN FRANCISCO -- New evidence that capturing mercury emissions from Western coal may be half as expensive as previously thought could lend weight to state efforts to issue mercury standards that are stricter than the controversial federal rule, EPA sources and technical experts say. EPA's clean air mercury rule, issued this spring and now subject to court challenges, allows significant leeway for power plants that use what is known as sub-bituminous coal, which is mined chiefly in the West. The...

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