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.

ADVISERS OPPOSE EPA PLAN TO LIMIT PANEL'S ROLE IN NAAQS PROCESS

EPA science advisers are opposing an agency plan to have political appointees provide more input into national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS), and instead are urging the agency to expand their role to ensure they consider "critical" policy issues, rather than redundant scientific information. EPA Acting Assistant Administrator for Air & Radition William Wehrum and science chief George Gray have developed a proposal for revising the agency's process for setting NAAQS. The plan seeks to ensure that EPA meets Clean...

WISCONSIN EYES MAKING IGCC 'BEST TECHNOLOGY' IN AIR PERMIT REVIEWS

Wisconsin officials may require integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) in clean air permits at a time when EPA and other states are generally rejecting such a requirement for the clean coal technology that can reduce air pollution and ease capture of carbon dioxide (CO2). But Wisconsin's suggestion, contained in a draft report scheduled to be finalized later this month, is drawing opposition from utilities who say requiring the costly technology would unlawfully exceed EPA standards and put facilities in the...

EPA REPORT TOUTS IGCC BENEFITS DESPITE DENYING BACT DETERMINATION

EPA's new report on integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC), the clean coal emissions technology that proponents say is critical to capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) and limiting other emissions, is strongly touting the technology's benefits even though the agency in 2005 stopped short of recommending IGCC for clean air permits. The agency released the report in the midst of settlement talks with environmentalists over its recommendation. An environmentalist say activists are pressing the agency to issue guidance that would limit the...

DECISION LEAVES HIGH COURT AS EPA'S LAST OPTION TO REVERSE NSR RULING

A federal appellate court has rejected EPA's petition to reconsider the court's ruling overturning a key Bush administration new source review (NSR) regulation, leaving the Supreme Court as the agency's last remaining option to reverse the ruling. The U. S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit June 30 denied EPA's petition to rehear the court's March 17 decision vacating EPA's regulation seeking to reduce NSR applicability when industrial facilities replace equipment, saying the rule violated congressional intent...

DEVELOPERS FILE SUIT OVER LOCAL AIR RULE ON REAL ESTATE IMPACTS

Builders have filed suit against California's San Joaquin Valley air district over innovative rules that impose fees on real estate projects to offset the impact of traffic pollution, with the lawsuit an apparent effort to discourage other regions from copying the rules. Air district officials say they are surprised by the lawsuit, given that the rule has already taken effect and that regional developers are cooperatively complying. The San Joaquin Valley air district's "indirect source rule" and accompanying fee rule...

INDUSTRY BACKS CALIFORNIA ENGINE RULE BUT SEEKS FLEXIBILITY IN EPA PLAN

A key industry group expects to press EPA to offer maximum flexibility in an upcoming nationwide rule on small engines, at the same time it has tentatively decided to back an equivalent California regulation after years of fierce opposition. The shift in the industry's position appears to open the door for EPA to approve a Clean Air Act waiver allowing the California rule to go forward. Sen. Christopher Bond (R-MO), who has blocked the rule for several years by adding...

FUEL ADDITIVE COULD OFFER FIRST-TIME AIR ACT TEST FOR NANOTECHNOLOGY

An effort by a nanotechnology company to seek EPA approval to market an engineered nanomaterial that is believed to improve diesel fuel economy and reduce emissions may be a first test of how the Clean Air Act (CAA) applies to engineered nanomaterials, observers say. Because the materials are eventually dispersed in engine exhaust, the effort could also serve as an early test of EPA's response to "dispersive" uses of engineered nanomaterials, rather than as part of "captive" structures which currently...

STATES RAISE CONCERN OVER DELAY IN CONTROVERSIAL HAZE TRADING RULE

Western states are pressing the Bush administration to issue a long-delayed rule on how to implement a cap-and-trade program to lower regional haze, arguing that states cannot meet pending deadlines for the program without a regulation from EPA. But once the rule is finalized, it could prompt a lawsuit from industry, which has argued a proposed version does not meet the requirements of an earlier court decision. The Office of Management & Budget has been reviewing since May 18 EPA's...

DRAFT EPA LIBRARY PLAN PROMPTS CONCERN OVER ENFORCEMENT IMPACTS

EPA has prepared a draft plan for responding to pending budget cuts to the agency's libraries amid criticism from employee unions that the cuts may lead to restricted access to documents that are critical for enforcement or research purposes . The draft plan, obtained by Inside EPA, elaborates on long-standing agency plans to close some of the libraries in its regional offices, while transferring massive amounts of EPA documents to electronic format. But some EPA staff members say they are...

EPA ATTAINMENT PROPOSAL MAY PROMPT SUIT OVER MONITORING PROTOCOLS

An EPA finding that California's San Joaquin Valley has achieved federal standards for particulate matter (PM) is prompting a dispute with environmentalists over EPA the role of air monitoring data, which could trigger a future lawsuit with possible implications for other regions. EPA announced July 6 a proposal to find the San Joaquin Valley air basin in attainment with federal standards for PM that is between 10 microns and 2.5 microns in size (PM10). The PM10 standard is not as...

States, Activists Seek Industry Allies In High Court Climate Case

States and environmental groups that successfully convinced the Supreme Court to hear a high-stakes case over whether EPA is required to regulate carbon dioxide (CO2) are now trying to convince industry groups that have supported CO2 regulation to weigh in on their behalf, after an electric utility company filed a brief in a separate CO2 case being heard in a lower court. State and environmentalist sources familiar with both cases say it is highly significant that New Orleans-based Entergy Corp...

Court Backs EPA Discretion To Make Major Changes To Proposed Rules

A federal appeals court has backed EPA arguments that the agency has discretion to finalize rules that are dramatically different from what was proposed without first re-proposing the measure for public comment. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on July 11 ruled in American Coke & Coal Chemicals Institute v. United States Environmental Protection Agency that the agency acted within its authority when it finalized a 2002 effluent limitation guideline for iron and steel facilities...

Draft EPA Library Plan Prompts Concern Over Enforcement Impacts

EPA has prepared a draft plan for responding to pending budget cuts to the agency's libraries amid criticism from employee unions that the cuts may lead to restricted access to documents that are critical for enforcement or research purposes. The draft plan , obtained by Inside EPA, elaborates on long-standing agency plans to close some of the libraries in its regional offices, while transferring massive amounts of EPA documents to electronic format. But some EPA staff members say they are...

EPA Report Touts IGCC Benefits Despite Rejecting 'Best' Control Determination

EPA's new report on integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC), the clean coal emissions technology that proponents say is critical to capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) and limiting other emissions, is strongly touting the technology's benefits even though the agency in 2005 stopped short of recommending IGCC for clean air permits. The agency released the report in the midst of settlement talks with environmentalists over its recommendation. An environmentalist say activists are pressing the agency to issue guidance that would limit the...

Fuel Additive Could Offer First-Time Air Act Test For Nanotechnology

An effort by a nanotechnology company to seek EPA approval to market an engineered nanomaterial that is believed to improve diesel fuel economy and reduce emissions is being followed by a number of observers who say this application may be a first test of how the Clean Air Act (CAA) applies to engineered nanomaterials. Because the materials are eventually dispersed in engine exhaust, the effort could also serve as an early test of EPA's response to "dispersive" uses of engineered...

STATES FAULT EPA PUSH TO REDESIGNATE OZONE NONATTAINMENT AREAS

EPA is increasingly urging states to petition the agency to redesignate areas that previously failed to attain new ozone standards, in an effort that is designed to show air quality improvements but that state sources say further complicates their efforts to comply with major new clean air rules. State officials are complaining that they are facing looming deadlines for completing complicated state implementation plans (SIPs) for the new rules -- including the clean air visibility rule, the clean air interstate...

SENATE GOP MOVES CLOSER TO TOUGH CHOICE ON ENVIRONMENT PANEL CHAIR

The Senate Republican caucus appears to be moving closer toward a tough decision over who will chair the environment committee should the GOP retain control after the midterm elections, with Sen. John Warner (R-VA), whose seniority allows him to bump Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) from the slot, suggesting he is available to serve. At the same time, Warner plans to relinquish his leadership of the Armed Services Committee. Any change in committee leadership would spell a significantly different posture on...

INDUSTRIES PRESS CALIFORNIA TO CLARIFY CONTROVERSIAL BIODIESEL POLICY

Biodiesel stakeholders are urging California air board officials to clarify key provisions of a draft policy guiding how the board may regulate the fuel, noting that the document currently contains a number of vague and ambiguous statements. The policy is considered critical to future use and investment in biodiesel blends in California, especially in light of growing efforts to reduce petroleum use and engine emissions, including greenhouse gases, sources said. Expanding the use of biodiesel is considered by state and...

EPA REVIEWS SNAP RULES TO ENSURE CONSISTENCY WITH POSITION IN CO2 SUIT

EPA is scrutinizing its long-established practice of considering the global warming potential (GWP) of proposed substitutes for ozone-depleting substances to ensure it is consistent with the agency's arguments in the pending Supreme Court case over EPA authority to regulate carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from mobile sources. An agency source says officials are reviewing two draft regulations for the agency's Significant New Alternatives Policy (SNAP) program -- which prescribes alternatives to ozone-depleting chemicals -- over concerns that criteria the agency uses...

Activists Lobby Congress, EPA To Limit Industry Role In Selecting SEPs

Environmentalists are lobbying EPA and lawmakers to bar companies from deciding which environmental projects are mandated to supplement fines and penalties levied under environmental settlements, while boosting community involvement in developing the projects, known as supplemental environmental projects (SEPs). Public Citizen and the Refinery Reform Campaign are weighing options, including trying to secure lawmakers' support for an amendment to pending refinery permit legislation that would limit industry input into the SEPs, activist sources say. At issue is EPA's policy on...

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