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.

STATES SEEK STRONGER PVC TOXICS STANDARDS TO COMPLY WITH 'HAMMER'

States are asking to work with EPA on a new air toxics standard for polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plants and may institute stronger standards at the state level, noting that a regulatory gap exists after a federal court struck down an earlier EPA rule this spring. State officials fear that in the absence of a rule, they may be subject to an unusual Clean Air Act requirement known as a "hammer" forcing them to make case-by-case determinations on individual facility permits...

Holmstead Vows To Resolve VOC Rule Dispute Before Departing EPA

EPA air chief Jeffrey Holmstead says resolving the debate over the best method for regulating ozone-forming volatile organic compounds (VOCs) is one of his top priorities during his last month at the agency. Holmstead says EPA faces a choice between starting informal discussions about how the agency should regulate VOCs or issuing an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM), which could lead to the agency offering various ratings for the compounds based on their potential to enhance ozone formation. EPA's...

Final Highway Bill Expected To Include Sweeping Environmental Changes

A House-Senate conference report on a long-awaited transportation bill is expected to include sweeping changes to environmental review and clean air laws, as well as language that would limit EPA's influence over construction projects, among a number of environment provisions. Sources also expect the bill to expand clean air funding programs to reduce pollution from off-road diesel engines and strip funding for stormwater mitigation projects. The conference committee reached an agreement July 27 on a $286.5 billion transportation funding bill,...

Barton May Renew Push To Delay EPA Ozone Rule Deadlines

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Joe Barton (R-TX) is suggesting he may soon renew his plan to grant local authorities affected by air pollution that drifts from other areas more time to attain EPA ozone standards, after House and Senate negotiators this week rejected including the proposal in energy legislation that is poised for final congressional approval. "The administration is very disappointed that is not in the bill," Barton told reporters following a July 28 media breakfast in Washington,...

Senate Environment Chairman Renews Assault On Climate Change Science

Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman James Inhofe (R-OK) -- a leading opponent of greenhouse gas controls -- is planning to hold a hearing that will question climate change science after two other Senate committees held recent hearings where scientists backed mandatory emission limits. Congressional sources view the move by Inhofe as an attempt to assert his committee's jurisdiction over the issue and build a public record opposing climate controls. But at the same time environment committee Democrats are...

STATES EYE MODEL RULE GIVEN SCANT PARTICIPATION IN DIESEL ENGINE PLAN

State and local air regulators may develop a model rule requiring trucks to reprogram engines to reduce nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions, after EPA and Department of Justice (DOJ) enforcement officials announced they had no plan to address the scant number of truckers undergoing the reprogramming under a widely touted federal consent decree. Khesha Jennings of EPA's Office of Transportation & Air Quality told participants in a July 20 status meeting on the 1999 consent decree that only 7.2 percent of...

AIR DISTRICTS CONSIDER FLARE RULES AS ACTIVISTS PUSH NATIONAL STRATEGY

Environmentalists are working on a nationwide strategy to push local air officials to develop rules to control air toxics emissions from refinery flaring in the absence of a federal mandate. Activists also argue that a new flaring rule in a California air district is not stringent enough even though it is the first such mandate in the country. The Bay Area Air Quality Management District on July 20 adopted a rule to reduce the burning of excess gases at the...

NEW JERSEY REGULATORS MAY PROPOSE SECOND MANDATORY RETROFIT LAW

New Jersey environmental officials may draft a proposal for a second state bill on mandatory retrofits for diesel engines, despite industry opposition to an initial bill that is awaiting the governor's signature and is the first of its kind in the country. State officials are concerned the legislation now pending covers public vehicles and private buses, but excludes private trucks from the mandate. The state's Department of Environmental Protection is considering a followup law that would mandate retrofits of "18-wheelers,...

BOND, FEINSTEIN REACH DEAL ON EPA STUDY OF SMALL ENGINE SAFETY

TY Sens. Christopher Bond (R-MO) and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) have agreed that EPA will remain the lead agency in a safety study of small engines, which is required before the agency proposes a rule to reduce emissions from lawnmowers, chainsaws and other outdoor power tools. Bond last week sought to include language in the transportation spending bill that would have removed EPA from the study process and made the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) the lead agency. But Feinstein protested...

STATES SEEK STRONGER PVC TOXICS STANDARDS TO COMPLY WITH 'HAMMER'

States are asking to work with EPA on a new air toxics standard for polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plants and may institute stronger standards at the state level, noting that a regulatory gap exists after a federal court struck down an earlier EPA rule this spring. State officials fear that in the absence of a rule, they may be subject to an unusual Clean Air Act requirement known as a "hammer" forcing them to make case-by-case determinations on individual facility permits...

INHOFE EYES COMMITTEE HEARINGS TO CHALLENGE CLIMATE CHANGE SCIENCE

Senate Environment & Public Works (EPW) Committee Chairman James Inhofe (R-OK) -- the leading Senate opponent of climate controls -- is planning to hold a committee hearing questioning climate change science after two other Senate committees held recent hearings where scientists backed mandatory greenhouse gas (GHG) limits. Congressional sources view the move as an attempt by Inhofe to aggressively assert his committee's jurisdiction over the issue and build a public record opposing climate controls. At the same time, committee Democrats...

ADVISORY PANEL URGES EPA TO CUT GREENHOUSE GASES TO PROTECT CHILDREN

An influential EPA advisory committee is planning to urge EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson to regulate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to reduce potential risks to children. The recommendation may present a political dilemma for Johnson because the White House remains opposed to mandatory controls on greenhouse pollutants, while the advisory panel is expecting a response from the administrator to its detailed argument on how a lack of regulation harms children's health. The Children's Health Protection Advisory Committee (CHPAC) is drafting a...

STATES, LAWMAKERS PRESS EPA TO RELEASE DELAYED PM, OZONE RULES

EPA is facing pressure from state officials and members of Congress to release its implementation rules for ozone and fine particulate matter (PM2.5), which have been delayed for months as they await approval by the White House Office of Management & Budget (OMB). These major new standards went into effect last year, but states are still uncertain about specific requirements for how to comply with them. State agencies need the rules in order to develop comprehensive air quality strategies known...

Senate Environment Chairman Renews Assault On Climate Change Science

Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman James Inhofe (R-OK) -- a leading opponent of greenhouse gas controls -- is planning to hold a hearing that will question climate change science after two other Senate committees held recent hearings where scientists backed mandatory emission limits. Congressional sources view the move by Inhofe as an attempt to assert his committee's jurisdiction over the issue and build a public record opposing climate controls. But at the same time environment committee Democrats are...

EPA Releases Chemical Risk Data Following FOIA Lawsuit

EPA has released long-sought risk management plans developed by the chemical industry under the Clean Air Act after the government watchdog group OMB Watch filed a lawsuit under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The plans, which outline the public health risks of an unintentional chemical release, could affect a congressional debate over chemical security legislation that would establish first-time security requirements on industrial facilities that handle dangerous materials. A source with OMB Watch says the agency released the data...

Governors Urge Congressional Action To Ease EPA Ozone Standards

The nation's governors are urging Congress to revise the Clean Air Act, or EPA to take regulatory steps, to allow local governments more flexibility in complying with the agency's new eight-hour ozone standards. The governors are responding to concerns by local authorities who face the loss of federal highway funds after being recently designated as out-of-compliance with the tougher ozone standards. The National Governors' Association (NGA) adopted the ozone resolution as one of several environmental policy resolutions approved by the...

California's Top Air Official Looks To Quell Flap Over Rail Industry Deal

The new head of the California Air Resources Board, Cindy Tuck, has called for several special meetings to review an agreement to reduce emissions by the railroad industry after environmentalists and state lawmakers criticized the arrangement as a concession to industry. Chairwoman Tuck's announcement, which came at her first air board meeting July 21, aims to quell the outcry over a memorandum of understanding (MOU) and could establish a process for establishing other similar agreements with industry. The agreement could...

States Eye Model Diesel NOx Rule To Fill Shortcomings In Federal Agreement

State and local air regulators may develop a model rule requiring trucks to reprogram engines to reduce nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions after enforcement officials at EPA and the Department of Justice (DOJ) said they have no plans to increase the number of trucks that would be retrofitted under an industry-wide legal settlement with the federal government. Khesha Jennings of EPA's Office of Transportation and Air Quality told participants in a July 20 status meeting on the 1999 consent decree that...

Senators Seek Details Of EPA Draft MTBE Risk Review Prior To Energy Vote

At least a dozen senators are planning to urge EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson to disclose the details of a draft risk agency assessment identifying the gasoline additive methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) as a "likely" carcinogen, in an apparent attempt to sink congressional approval of a provision in comprehensive energy legislation that would grant the oil industry liability protection from defective product lawsuits. The push comes as at least one senator, Charles Schumer (D-NY), is pledging to filibuster any energy...

BATTLE INTENSIFIES OVER GOVERNOR'S PICK TO CHAIR AIR BOARD

Environmentalists are stepping up efforts to block the appointment of an industry lobbyist to chair the air board, with one group this week organizing a wide effort to lobby the governor to withdraw the appointment. Meanwhile, industry representatives say they will mobilize to support Cindy Tuck through what is shaping up to be a highly divisive confirmation process. A spokesman for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said this week that the governor stands by his decision to name Tuck to chair the...

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