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.

EPA MAY FACE NEW LAWSUITS OVER CONTENTIOUS HAZARDOUS WASTE MACT

EPA is facing possible new litigation from both industry and environmentalists over its revised air toxics rule for facilities burning hazardous waste, fours years after a federal court backed environmentalists' previous objections to the rule and ordered the agency to rewrite its original proposal. The Cement Kiln Recycling Coalition (CKRC), which was the lead industry plaintiff in the original suit against the agency, is concerned about the regulation's risk assessment requirements. One industry source says the group is considering litigation...

OHIO INDUSTRIES RENEW PUSH TO STRIP STATE EPA OF AIR TOXICS AUTHORITY

Industry groups in Ohio claim they have secured support in the state legislature for a bill to strip the state of its ability to control air toxics that EPA does not already regulate, possibly setting a precedent for other states. Sen. Tom Niehaus (R), chair of the state Senate Environment & Natural Resources Committee, will hold hearings this month on a bill that would limit the state environment agency to only regulating the 188 hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) recognized by...

STATES STRUGGLING TO WIN AIR PLAN CREDITS FOR CLEAN ENERGY PROJECTS

State officials are finding it difficult to obtain credit in their air quality plans for energy efficiency and renewable energy (EERE) projects, charging that EPA has imposed too many obstacles to using these and other innovative strategies for meeting strict new ozone and particulate matter standards. Very few states to date have sought to use clean energy projects in their state implementation plans (SIPs), and critics say EPA has imposed time-consuming requirements for states to demonstrate the precise impacts of...

OBSERVERS EXPECT PIECEMEAL BILLS ON ENERGY IMPACTS OF HURRICANE

Industry officials and environmentalists are downplaying the prospects for broad energy legislation to address fuel vulnerabilities highlighted by the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, an assessment that comes in response to recent statements by congressional leaders on the need to reexamine these issues just weeks after Congress passed a massive new energy law. But environmentalists are bracing for the possibility of piecemeal legislation that may revive failed provisions from the past energy debate, such as easing permitting requirements for refiners, as...

ENVIRONMENTALISTS FEAR IMPACT OF REFINERIES' STARTUP AFTER HURRICANE

Environmentalists are raising concerns that EPA may invoke a long-standing policy to waive penalties on Gulf Coast refineries shut down by Hurricane Katrina for exceeding permitted emissions limits if they all come back online at similar times and emit more pollutants than expected. At least nine Gulf Coast refineries were shut down because of the hurricane, according to an Aug. 31 Department of Energy (DOE) report. Environmentalists think there may have been an increase in emissions during the emergency shutdown...

EPA WEIGHING QUESTIONS OVER SCOPE OF CONTROVERSIAL NSR REGULATION

EPA officials appear to be debating the scope of a controversial new rule adopting an interpretation of new source review (NSR) requirements that would further open the door to extensive modifications to existing power plants without case-by-case environmental reviews, according to knowledgeable sources and draft rule language. The options include an approach that would adopt the more lenient interpretation nationwide and an option that would restrict the flexibility to the 28 states subject to EPA's clean air interstate rule (CAIR)...

AUTOMAKERS CITE NHTSA PROPOSAL IN CHALLENGING STATE CLIMATE RULE

Lawyers for the automobile industry are citing language in the Bush administration's just-proposed fuel economy rule, which warns that state regulation of carbon dioxide (CO2) from vehicles is "expressly and impliedly preempted" by federal law, in an effort to back their long-standing challenge to California's vehicle greenhouse gas rule. One day after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) unveiled the proposed rule amending Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards, plaintiffs in the case, Central Valley Chrysler-Jeep, Inc., et al.,...

GLOBAL WARMING SUIT HIGHLIGHTS APPEALS COURTS' SPLIT ON STANDING

A federal judge's recent decision allowing environmentalists and cities to sue U.S. export agencies over their failure to consider the global warming impacts of their decisions is highlighting a split in the appellate circuits over when plaintiffs have standing to sue in cases where defendants failed to follow procedural rules, according to legal experts. The experts say this split could be the basis for parties to seek Supreme Court review on the issue. The Aug. 23 decision by the U.S...

BIPARTISAN PANEL LAUNCHES NEW TALKS ON GREENHOUSE GAS PROGRAM

A bipartisan commission is convening a new round of discussions about designing a possible greenhouse gas reduction program, after Senate lawmakers cited uncertainties in how to craft such a plan as one reason for excluding greenhouse gas controls from the recently enacted comprehensive energy law. An agenda sent to participants by the group, known as the National Commission on Energy Policy (NCEP), says the talks are not intended to forge a consensus, but to encourage "substantive discussion" between a wide...

ARMY EYES GASIFIED COAL TECHNOLOGY TO LOWER POWER PLANT EMISSIONS

Army installations officials are considering retrofitting seven aging coal-fired power plants with a new technology that produces power from cleaner-burning gasified coal -- a move that could provide a major boost to the nascent gasification industry and keep the Army in line with EPA emissions rules, Army officials and activists say. The gasification technology, known as integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC), allows facilities to gasify coal to use as a clean-burning fuel source, while easing the ability to capture harmful...

STUDIES BACK CALLS FOR MORE REGULATION OF POLLUTION NEAR HIGHWAYS

New scientific evidence linking traffic pollutants to human health risks may lend weight to activists' claims that EPA should more strictly regulate highway emissions, air pollution scientists say. Recent studies, including some funded by EPA, suggest mobile source air toxics (MSATs) in heavy traffic areas may pose a significant threat to human health. EPA is currently performing studies to determine what regulations may be necessary for areas of heavy traffic, known as "hot spots," agency sources say. The studies are...

AUTOMATED TESTS COULD EASE STATE IMPLEMENTATION OF I/M PROGRAMS

CHICAGO -- Oregon air officials are pursuing ways to conduct automated vehicle inspection/maintenance (I/M) programs that do not require inspectors, in a move that other states could use as a way to make these tests more politically viable and less expensive. Many states acknowledge that I/M programs are among the most effective ways to reduce air pollution to meet EPA's strict new 8-hour ozone standard. Yet the mandate is hugely unpopular with the public, and imposes resource burdens on states...

EPA QUIETLY ISSUES STATE GUIDANCE FOR MAJOR OVERHAUL OF VOC POLICY

EPA has quietly unveiled a long-planned change to its policy for regulating volatile organic compounds (VOCs), issuing an interim guidance that allows states to set the stringency of new rules on a sliding scale based on the compound's reactivity. The document, posted on EPA's Web site Aug. 26, ahead of planned publication in the Federal Register , encourages states to adopt the new approach where feasible. If states adopt a reactivity approach, those VOCs would be given ratings on a...

AIR DISTRICT AGREES TO RECONSIDER EXPENSIVE CONTROLS AT WINERIES

The San Joaquin Valley air district, home to some of California's largest wineries, has agreed to consider less expensive ways to reduce ozone-forming emissions at the vineyards than those outlined in a draft rule, which could have set a national precedent requiring each fermenter to be retrofitted with expensive control devices. Instead, the district has put together a draft alternative compliance plan that allows vintners to pay into a mitigation fund or make pollution reductions elsewhere, such as through cleaner...

INDUSTRY GROUPS PREPARE TO SUE EPA OVER REGIONAL HAZE RULE

Industry groups that represent coal producers and utilities are preparing to sue EPA over its recently finalized rule that seeks to limit regional haze, arguing it is too stringent and allows states to regulate facilities that are not proven contributors to haze. The groups were expected at press time to challenge the rule this week, according to an industry source who declined to specify the names of the groups. A group representing producers and suppliers, Center for Energy and Economic...

EPA PROPOSES AMENDMENTS TO TOXICS RULE FOR IRON, STEEL PLANTS

EPA has proposed amending the maximum achievable control technology rule for iron and steel manufacturing to address concerns the industry has raised over the final rule. An agency source says the revisions would actually subject more facilities to the rule, but without requiring them to undertake new emissions controls. EPA and an industry source say that the amendments, proposed in the Aug. 30 Federal Register , address relatively minor interpretations of the rule, which is still being challenged by environmentalists...

ENVIRONMENTALISTS CITE GREENHOUSE GASES IN OPPOSING LNG IMPORTS

A California coalition of environmentalists opposed to liquefied natural gas (LNG) is citing greenhouse gas concerns in a lawsuit challenging the state utility commission's long-term plan to boost natural gas supplies through increased imports of LNG. The argument raises an unusual claim in a case that has attracted national attention as the Bush administration, as well as California, promotes an expansion of LNG processing capabilities as a way to address rising demand for natural gas. Ratepayers for Affordable Clean Energy...

CALIFORNIA SENATE REJECTION OF AIR BOARD CHIEF POSES CHALLENGES

The California Senate's rejection of Cindy Tuck to continue as head of the state's air board has environmental and industry sources agreeing that the vacancy may create a leadership vacuum at a time when the board will be considering important standards that may be models for other states, including greenhouse gas controls and diesel engine requirements. The Senate move also presents the governor with a major challenge to quickly find a replacement, these sources say. By a 24-14 vote, the...

ACTIVISTS CRITICIZE LAX MONITORING RULES FOR STATIONARY GAS TURBINES

EPA has proposed a legal settlement with the natural gas industry to drop a requirement that some types of stationary gas turbines be subject to stringent monitoring requirements, drawing criticism from environmentalists who say the revision would lead to unchecked emissions increases and more lax monitoring of the turbine emissions. EPA is taking comment on a July 29 proposed settlement with the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA) that would alter an existing agency rule in order to eliminate...

ENGINE MAKERS POISED TO RE-CHALLENGE CALIFORNIA FLEET FUEL RULES

Engine makers and the petroleum industry are poised to re-challenge a California air district's alternative-fuel vehicle fleet rules in federal appellate court, sources say. The appeal will likely seek to overturn or clarify a controversial district court ruling earlier this year that air officials interpreted as supporting their rules for both public and private fleets. The case is significant because it tests whether regulators can prohibit public agencies -- and private entities that contract with public agencies -- from buying...

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