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.

INDUSTRIES EYE SENATE AIR ACT HEARING TO PUSH NATURAL GAS PRICE RELIEF

An upcoming Senate environment committee hearing on the impact of Clean Air Act regulations on natural gas prices could give manufacturing industries an opportunity to make their case for legislative or administrative relief from environmental requirements, and renew their push to expand drilling for natural gas, industry sources say. These sources say the hearing may also act as a preview to legislation to swiftly open up coastal areas for natural gas exploration, with Senate energy committee chair Pete Domenici (R-NM)...

STATE OF UNION BLUNTS ENERGY ATTACKS BUT LEAVES OIL USE UNRESOLVED

President Bush's State of the Union call for a new emphasis on renewable fuels and advanced vehicles reflects an effort to blunt ongoing Democratic criticism of the administration's oil-industry ties but fails to resolve significant technical and political questions obstructing efforts to reduce oil use, according to auto industry, environmentalist, and other sources. Industry and other sources say Bush's remarks show Republicans regard both the 2005 energy law and the White House's existing hydrogen initiative as an insufficient political response...

DOE OFFICIAL LAUDS FLEXIBLE-FUEL CARS BUT SAYS CONGRESS MUST LEAD

A senior Bush administration energy official said mandatory availability of flexible-fueled vehicles (FFVs) nationwide would be good public policy but called on Congress to take the lead. The official's comment reflects a growing consensus on U.S. energy independence and the role of cleaner-burning alternative fuels, as well as political finger pointing over who bears responsibility for leadership in addressing the nation's energy problems. The Department of Energy (DOE) official made his remarks during a panel discussion on energy sustainability and...

SOME EVANGELICALS PLOW AHEAD ON CLIMATE AMID CONSERVATIVE OPPOSITION

A group of evangelical Christians is planning to issue a statement calling for federal action to address global warming after strong opposition by prominent religious conservatives effectively derailed efforts to have the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE), a major Christian organization that says it represents over 30 million people, endorse the statement, according to documents and sources involved with the talks. A recent memo from the office of Richard Cizik, the NAE vice president for governmental affairs, said that "a...

MCCAIN EYES CHANGES TO CLIMATE BILL TO BOLSTER SENATE SUPPORT

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) may change three key areas of his legislation to impose first-time economy-wide mandates to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, in an attempt to win new support for the bill and reclaim votes he lost after adding incentives for boosting nuclear power, a Republican source says. McCain and co-sponsor Joseph Lieberman (D-CT) are considering changes that may be necessary to gather sufficient bipartisan support to pass the bill including: altering its deadlines and emission caps, offering more...

PANEL'S APPROVAL OF FARM EMISSIONS PLAN SETS STAGE FOR COURT REVIEW

An EPA review board's approval of a controversial plan to shield animal feeding operations (AFOs) from Clean Air Act and Superfund enforcement has paved the way for a legal battle in federal court over whether the agency has the discretion to provide this exemption, sources say. Environmentalists argue EPA is taking the unprecedented step of crafting an enforcement plan that has the effect of a rulemaking. The agreement also requires a scientific study of emissions from AFOs, which may prove...

EPA FINDS NEW UTILITY EQUIPMENT LEAKING POTENT GREENHOUSE GAS

A recent EPA study shows new high-voltage electrical equipment installed to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is leaking an extremely powerful GHG at higher-than-anticipated rates, suggesting the agency will have to take new action under a voluntary partnership with utilities and equipment makers to curb the unexpected emissions. The findings present a new challenge for an EPA partnership with the utility industry geared toward reducing emissions of the gas, sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), through strategies that include upgrading older leaking equipment...

SENATE ENERGY PANEL'S CLIMATE PLAN REKINDLES JURISDICTIONAL BATTLE

A Senate energy committee effort to push forward with discussions on a possible mandatory climate change program is renewing a jurisdictional face-off with the environment committee over the proper venue for developing the initiative, in a dispute that underscores continuing resistance to climate legislation. Energy committee aides, however, are indicating their intention to press on with the debate on the issue prior to resolving the procedural concerns. At a Feb. 2 briefing for reporters, staff for energy committee chairman Pete...

SEC BACKS SHAREHOLDER CHALLENGE TO GE GREENHOUSE GAS CONTROLS

The Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) has agreed with a free-market advocacy group that General Electric (GE) must allow shareholders to vote on whether the company must defend the commercial benefit of its climate change policies, which are part of its highly publicized "Ecomagination" campaign. The SEC decision is a victory for the Free Enterprise Action Fund (FEAF), which has questioned the business sense of GE's policies to reduce climate change emissions, but it could have a chilling effect on...

DOE ARGUES APPLIANCE STANDARDS SCHEDULE SATISFIES CLAIMS IN LAWSUIT

The Department of Energy (DOE) told a federal district judge Feb. 6 that the schedule it released last last month laying out deadlines for setting long-delayed appliance efficiency standards -- as mandated by the Energy Policy Act of 2005 -- satisfies claims in a lawsuit brought by state attorneys general (AGs) and environmentalists. DOE will ask the court to dismiss the challenge, according to sources who attended the hearing in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New...

ENVIRONMENTALISTS SEEK TO BROADEN SWEEPING CLEAN AIR PERMIT RULING

Environmentalists are seeking to extend a potentially sweeping precedent set by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit that could require industry to resolve alleged Clean Air Act deficiencies as part of their federal air permits. Environmentalists on Jan. 25 filed a lawsuit in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit objecting to EPA's approval of a Title V operating permit -- an umbrella permit that contains all federal clean air requirements -- for a Georgia...

EPA EYES EUROPEAN APPROACH TO BOLSTER MULTIMEDIA PERMITS

EPA is assessing a European approach to air, water and land permits that may bolster the agency's efforts to increase the use of multimedia permits, and also require new controls on raw materials conservation and energy efficiency, agency sources say. As a first step, EPA is considering pilot projects with several industry sectors, including the pharmaceutical and pulp and paper industries, to test the European approach known as "integrated permitting," which would require new legislative authority if adopted here. Integrated...

Warner Could Replace Inhofe As Environment Panel Chair In 2007

Senate Republican rules setting six-year terms for GOP committee chairmen could allow Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John Warner (R-VA) to replace Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) as head of the environment committee in 2007, even though Inhofe will not have served all six years of his term, sources say. Environmentalists are pushing this idea and say Warner would be a more moderate environment committee chairman than Inhofe. Warner, who has been on the Environment & Public Works Committee (EPW) since...

Carper Offers CO2 Deadline Extension, Clean Coal Plan To Bolster Clean Air Bill

Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE), the lead sponsor of a moderate bipartisan alternative to the Bush administration's Clear Skies bill, is planning to introduce a new version of his clean air legislation for utilities that would give emitters an additional two years to comply with the bill's current carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions targets. Carper told reporters at a Feb. 8 meeting on national carbon policies that the new legislation, to be introduced within the next month, will call for reducing emissions...

Evangelicals Lobby GOP Senators To Support Mandatory Climate Caps

Evangelical leaders who Feb. 8 unveiled a statement calling for mandatory carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions controls are lobbying Republican senators who have so far opposed the controls, in a push to win their support for legislation that would impose economy-wide emissions limits in a cap-and-trade program. At a press conference in Washington DC, more than 85 religious leaders who have formed the Evangelical Climate Initiative (ECI) unveiled a document called Climate Change: An Evangelical Call to Action , which they...

EPA Science Chief Pushes Plan For Risk Ranges Amid Mixed Responses

EPA science chief George Gray is vowing to quickly implement his plan to overhaul agency chemical toxicity estimates by creating ranges of acceptable values to reflect what is not known about regulated compounds, even as some members of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) and EPA sources are suggesting a phased approach. At issue is Gray's plan to implement a major shift in the agency's regulatory decision-making framework by presenting ranges of values on how toxic a chemical is rather...

INDUSTRY PROPOSAL MAY BLOCK STATE AIR RULES ON PAINT VOC EMISSIONS

Paint and coatings industry representatives are pushing EPA to establish a nationwide method that states would use to calculate volatile organic compounds (VOC) emissions from paints and coatings, prompting criticism that the proposal could block individual states from setting strict regulations on these sources to control ozone. The proposal is the latest move in a controversy over how EPA should guide states in measuring paint and coating emissions -- a decision that directly affects how stringent state and federal controls...

INDUSTRY QUESTIONS EPA FOCUS ON PREVENTING NANOTECH POLLUTION

The chemical industry is urging EPA to downgrade the priority its recent draft white paper placed on preventing pollution from nanotechnology, saying the agency should first try to determine what -- if any -- risks nanomaterials pose to human health and place the highest priority on collaborative approaches. At the same time, environmentalists and a think tank are renewing calls for new regulatory authority to limit risks posed by nanotechnology. The differences between the two camps comes as the Senate...

FACA REFORM NEEDED TO ACHIEVE EPA COLLABORATIVE GOALS, EXPERT SAYS

A leading expert on federal advisory committees has floated a new proposal that calls on Congress to eliminate a section of the federal law on advisory panels that has prompted EPA and other agencies to seek White House approval for the formation of such panels. The expert's comments could be significant as the Bush administration expands initiatives that rely on negotiated rulemakings and other collaborative efforts involving experts outside the government. Speaking at a plenary panel of the National Council...

Environmentalists Seek To Broaden Sweeping Clean Air Permit Ruling

Environmentalists are seeking to extend a potentially sweeping precedent set by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit that could require industry to resolve alleged Clean Air Act deficiencies as part of their federal air permits, even if the allegations have not been substantiated in court. Environmentalists last month filed a lawsuit in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit objecting to EPA's approval of a Title V operating permit -- an umbrella permit that contains...

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