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.

COUNTIES FACE LOSS OF FEDERAL AIR/TRANSPORTATION PROGRAM FUNDING

Several counties are expected to lose millions of federal dollars over the next three years for transportation projects that reduce air pollution as a result of state guidelines and changes to federal law, sources said. The funding issue is also significant to other counties because funds may be shifted to them out of California's allotment to reduce transportation pollution. How the state handles the allotment of funds will set a precedent for future regions that attain federal air standards, according...

BILLIONAIRE DEMOCRATIC DONOR BEHIND ALTERNATIVE-FUEL BALLOT INITIATIVE

Billionaire Hollywood producer and major Democratic Party contributor Steve Bing is spearheading a drive to put on the November ballot a charge on oil to raise $4 billion for numerous alternative-energy projects. Environmental groups and academicians are also backing the measure, which is awaiting approval in the attorney general's office. Meanwhile, the oil industry and other organizations are beginning a major public relations campaign to defeat the measure, calling it a hidden tax that will hurt consumers and businesses, sources...

EPA PUSH TO BOOST CRIMINAL ENFORCEMENT MAY FACE LEGAL LIMITATIONS

EPA's heightened focus on criminal enforcement could increase the activities of a division that some say has been underused in forcing industry to comply with federal environmental laws, but also could face legal hurdles depending on the extent of any new collaboration between agency criminal investigators and civil inspectors, EPA sources and defense attorneys say. Granta Nakayama, assistant administrator of EPA's Office of Enforcement & Compliance Assurance (OECA), said last week the agency will increase efforts to crack down on...

WHITE HOUSE OFFICIAL URGES NEW INDUSTRY FOCUS ON CLEAR SKIES BILL

TUCSON, AZ -- White House Council on Environmental Quality Chairman James Connaughton urged utility officials gathered here Jan. 23 to redouble their push in Congress for the Bush administration's Clear Skies legislation, suggesting the bill, which allows increased coal use, can help solve air quality problems and high natural gas prices. Connaughton made his remarks to the 9th annual Electric Utilities Environmental Conference during an opening session in which an energy company official also suggested that the industry consider striking...

EPA FACES DILEMMA WEIGHING IN ON PETITION TO HIGH COURT OVER NSR

EPA may face a dilemma in weighing in on whether the Supreme Court should review a decision in a key clean air permit dispute because the agency must either reverse its long-standing argument in the case or back away from plans to relax new source review (NSR) provisions, which reflect the lower court's finding. Environmentalists, who appealed the case to the Supreme Court, expect EPA and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to file a brief articulating the government's position on...

ACCORD SIGNALS INCREMENTAL STEP IN SECURING STRICTER CAFO MANDATES

A recent settlement between environmentalists and a large pork producer that requires hundreds of concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) to minimize polluted runoff signals modest progress in activists' protracted battle to secure stricter pollution controls for CAFOs, according to sources familiar with the pact. The pact is among the first in the nation to require CAFOs to implement additional environmental protection requirements, and activists may seek similar agreements in other areas such as the Chesapeake Bay, several environmentalists say. But...

McCain Eyes Changes To Climate Bill To Bolster Senate Support

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) is considering changes to three key areas of his legislation that would impose first-time economy-wide mandates to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, in an attempt to garner new support for the bill and reclaim votes he lost after adding a provision to offer incentives for 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 the...

Former Clinton CEQ Chief Says High Fuel Prices May Help Alternative Fuels

Katie McGinty, the former Clinton White House environment chief, is urging federal government officials to resist tampering with rising gasoline and energy prices, arguing that high fuel prices will encourage investments in alternative energy supplies which is good for the environment. McGinty's sentiment was echoed by an oil industry official who said increased profits will ensure investments in the nation's long-term energy needs. McGinty, who advised energy companies after leaving the White House, said that unless "gasoline is more expensive...

FORMER EPA CHIEF REILLY URGES PREPARATION OF GLOBAL WARMING POLICIES

Former EPA Administrator William Reilly is urging agency staff to lay the analytical groundwork for policies to curb global warming, saying such action could help the agency be "constructive" at a time when political will on the issue is lacking. Reilly's comments came at a Jan. 18 EPA-sponsored event to mark the 35th anniversary of the agency's creation, where former agency administrators generally criticized policymakers, including the Bush administration, for not doing enough on global warming and other emerging environmental...

POLLUTION REPORTING FACES TEST IN SARBANES-OXLEY WHISTLEBLOWER SUITS

Federal courts and administrative review bodies are beginning to consider the scope of protections afforded environmental and other whistleblowers under landmark provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley law, which tightened corporate disclosure requirements after the Enron and WorldCom accounting scandals. Attorneys following the issue say that while the law's protections against retaliation -- which are stronger than those contained in environmental laws -- could pressure companies to be more forthcoming with shareholders about environmental risks and liabilities that affect their bottom line,...

INDUSTRY FLOATS CONTROVERSIAL PROPOSAL THAT MAY IMPACT COATING RULES

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 effectively block individual states from setting strict regulations for 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...

EPA ANALYSIS OF PM PROPOSAL FACES CRITICISM FOR INFLATING COSTS

EPA's new cost-benefit analysis of its proposed fine particulate matter (PM2.5) regulation is prompting criticism from Democrats and environmentalists, who say it may inflate the cost of implementing the proposal by emphasizing local controls over less-costly regional strategies. The critics are concerned that the allegedly flawed analysis could undermine federal efforts to impose region-wide emissions controls on problematic sources of pollution that contribute to PM2.5 pollution, such as electric utilities or motor vehicles. "It seems like what's going on, instead,...

ACTIVISTS CONSIDER LAWSUIT OVER STATE SHUTDOWN OF I/M PROGRAM

Environmentalists are considering legal action to force EPA to prevent a state from shutting down its vehicle inspection program, in a move that could have nationwide influence over how the agency implements its strict new ozone standard. Activists also recently sued the agency to block a similar action in another state, and that case will be briefed in the next few months. Groups are evaluating their options for challenging a decision in the state of Ohio to end its inspection/maintenance...

MAJOR CLEAN AIR PERMIT RULING FACES INDUSTRY, GOVERNMENT CHALLENGE

The Bush administration, industry and a key state are raising concerns about the potentially sweeping impact of an appellate court decision late last year that could require industry to resolve alleged Clean Air Act violations as part of their air permits, even if the allegations have not been substantiated in court. Environmentalists support the decision because it could require air permits to mandate compliance with key air quality requirements that are the subject of pending enforcement actions against a facility,...

LAWSUIT MAY TEST USE OF VOLUNTARY CONTROLS AS AIR PLAN 'BACKSTOPS'

A lawsuit over a California air district's plans for meeting EPA's particulate matter (PM) standards may prompt a separate, first-time lawsuit over whether and how air districts can include voluntary diesel retrofit programs as emergency "backstops" in their plans for meeting the agency's air quality standards, activists say. Earthjustice filed suit Jan. 6 in an attempt to force EPA to take action on California's San Joaquin Air Valley state implementation plan (SIP), which details how the state intends to meet...

RULING COULD BACK WHISTLEBLOWERS' BID TO FIGHT ADMINISTRATION LIMITS

A federal appellate ruling upholding a federal employee's claim that he was unlawfully retaliated against under the Clean Air Act could back whistleblowers' efforts to fight what they say are broad Bush administration attempts to limit protections afforded to whistleblowers under environmental and other laws. The Jan. 17 ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit in Knox v. U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) finds that the DOL's Administrative Review Board (ARB) -- the executive branch body...

LANDMARK OKLAHOMA CAFO LITIGATION FACES SUPREME COURT HURDLE

The state of Oklahoma's efforts to hold concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) liable under federal Superfund law for animal wastes is facing a challenge from its neighboring state of Arkansas, which is asking the Supreme Court to intervene on constitutional grounds. The dispute between the states comes as increased attention is being focused on the applicability of Superfund to CAFO wastes. Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID) in recent years has repeatedly tried to amend Superfund to exclude such wastes from the...

CARPER CONSIDERS CHANGES TO CLEAN AIR BILL, PROMPTING ACTIVIST FEARS

Sen. Thomas Carper (D-DE) is considering whether to alter his long-stalled clean air legislation that would reduce emissions of four key air pollutants, changes environmentalists fear could be concessions to the utility industry in an effort to win Republican support and the bill's passage. Carper told Inside EPA in a Jan. 18 interview that his staff is meeting with the utility industry, environmental groups and other senators' offices "to see what changes if any we should make" to a 2003...

WHITE HOUSE OFFICIAL URGES NEW INDUSTRY FOCUS ON CLEAR SKIES

TUCSON -- White House Council on Environmental Quality Chairman James Connaughton urged utility officials gathered here Jan. 23 to redouble their push for Clear Skies legislation in Congress, suggesting the legislation that allows for increased coal use is part of the solution to both air quality problems and high natural gas prices. Connaughton made his remarks to the 9th annual Electric Utilities Environmental Conference during an opening session. An energy company official also suggested that the industry should consider striking...

AIRLINE TERMINATION OF STATE EMISSIONS PACT MAY FORESHADOW LEGAL FIGHT

The airline industry may sue California over upcoming rules to mandate reduced emissions from airport ground service equipment, after the industry terminated a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the state to voluntarily reduce emissions, according to industry sources. The California Air Resources Board's (CARB) actions could clear the way for other states to develop similar rules. While other states are preempted by EPA from setting emissions standards for offroad mobile sources, CARB can apply for a waiver of preemption from...

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