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.

Courts Move Closer To Ruling On Key Climate Change Lawsuits

Federal courts will hear oral arguments this month in two key lawsuits on regulating greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which could have major implications for the federal government's responsibility to oversee global climate change in the absence of a statutory mandate. Parties will outline their arguments April 8 to a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in Commonwealth of Massachusetts et al v...

Environmentalists View Voluntary Climate Change Vote As Moral Victory

Despite an aggressive campaign for mandatory greenhouse gas controls, environmentalists say a congressional vote on voluntary measures to address climate change would still be a victory. Environmentalists are targeting a list of more than 10 senators as potential swing votes on climate legislation, with proposals by Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE) being considered as leading contenders. Among the Republican senators some activists are targeting are: Lindsey Graham (SC), Sam Brownback (KS) and freshman senators David Vitter (LA) and Mel Martinez (FL)...

EASTERN MINES MAY SUE EPA OVER REGIONAL IMPACTS OF MERCURY RULE

The Bush administration's final mercury rule is sparking a dispute within the coal industry, as Eastern coal companies consider litigation claiming the rule disproportionately benefits varieties of coal found in the West, sources say. The dispute could also foreshadow fights over the Bush administration's Clear Skies legislation, which has fueled a similar debate among coal companies despite their overall support for the bill. Several sources note that Eastern mining companies, unions and state governments are considering lawsuits based on a...

NORTHEAST STATES PUSH LAWMAKERS FOR NEW MERCURY CONTROLS

State air, water and waste officials from the Northeast are calling on their congressional delegations to force the creation of tighter air pollution standards, and an additional federal program limiting mercury pollution from consumer products and waste. The officials argue that problems related to mercury pollution will not improve in their region unless EPA and Congress take steps to issue new air standards and address mercury in consumer products. They say that state and local initiatives have achieved over 90...

EPA STUDY BACKS REJECTED HARVARD EFFORT ON MERCURY CONTROL BENEFITS

A study of the cardiovascular benefits of utility mercury controls conducted for EPA's water office backs similar findings in a Harvard study that the agency rejected when it developed its controversial rule regulating power plant emissions, according to a copy of the study obtained by Inside Washington Publishers. The EPA study has emerged at a time when agency officials are under fire from Democratic lawmakers for rejecting the Harvard study, with the critics saying the agency's failure to consider cardiovascular...

STUDY ON BENEFITS TO INDUSTRY SPARKS DEBATE ON NORTHEAST CLIMATE PLAN

Northeast states are debating how to design an upcoming cap-and-trade program for greenhouse gases, in light of a new analysis cautioning that electric utilities in the region could profit under the initiative by passing compliance costs on to consumers. The study by the think tank Resources for the Future (RFF) shows that if Northeast states base their upcoming carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions trading scheme on EPA's acid rain program, electric generators in the region could benefit from higher electricity prices...

ACTIVISTS SAY STATE CLIMATE BILL COULD CURB ANIMAL FEEDLOT POLLUTION

Environmentalists say a new voluntary climate change bill in North Carolina could allow the state's massive pork production industry to sell emissions credits under any future national cap-and-trade program. The activists are touting the bill as a way to encourage hog feedlots to develop innovative technologies that reduce emissions of the greenhouse gas methane. State Sen. Charles W. Albertson (D) introduced a bill March 23 to set up a "legislative commission on global climate change" that includes industry officials and...

CALIFORNIA MAY SUE OVER CLEANING PRODUCT'S INDOOR AIR IMPACTS

California air officials are requesting the state attorney general's (AG) office to take legal action against manufacturers of indoor air cleaning devices that emit allegedly unhealthy amounts of ozone. If pursued, the move could lead to future actions in the state against other indoor air products. EPA generally lacks authority to regulate indoor air pollution. California Air Resources Board (CARB) legal officials recently sent a letter to the AG asking for "action to address ozone generators," said Dorothy Shimer, a...

SENATORS MAY SEEK RATIFICATION OF OCEAN EMISSIONS TREATY THIS SPRING

The Senate may take up a treaty this spring ratifying an international shipping agreement to limit sulfur emissions in maritime diesel fuel, following a long delay in addressing the issue, sources say. Supporters of the agreement, including shipping industry officials and activists, are stepping up their lobbying efforts after receiving word that the Senate may consider the bill before the international agreement takes effect next month. The treaty has stalled until now in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Proponents have...

INDUSTRY SEEKS INJUNCTION ON CALIFORNIA TRUCK ENGINE-FIX REGULATION

National truck engine manufacturers are suing California's air board over its landmark regulation for companies to fix thousands of engine computers to reduce nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions by the end of 2005. The lawsuit, which claims the state rule violates both state and federal legal settlements for the engine fixes, seeks an injunction repealing the regulation and aims to prevent other states from adopting the rule. Lawyers for the Engine Manufacturers Association (EMA) told the California Air Resources Board (CARB)...

STATES EYE LITIGATION OVER EMISSIONS CREDIT PLAN IN INTERSTATE RULE

Despite general support for the regulation, states are debating whether to sue EPA over its clean air interstate rule (CAIR) that regulates power plant emissions because it allocates fewer emissions credits to states that rely on natural gas generation instead of coal. This concern comes in addition to a long-standing worry that the rule is not stringent enough to help some regions of the country meet EPA air quality standards. One state official says litigation over the rule is an...

EPA OFFICIAL SAYS CAIR PARTLY RESPONSIBLE FOR RISE IN SO2 CREDIT VALUE

The value of sulfur dioxide (SO2) allowances issued under EPA's acid rain program has almost tripled compared to last year's figure. An agency official says a key factor is the tighter SO2 caps under the agency's clean air interstate rule (CAIR). At EPA's March 28 auction of SO2 allowances, the average bid price for an allowance that can be used this year was $702, almost three times the average 2004 bid price of $272. The average price at the agency's...

ENVIRONMENTALISTS EYE SIP LAWSUIT TO REDUCE POLLUTION FASTER THAN CAIR

Environmentalists are threatening litigation they claim could force some large pollution sources to make greater and faster reductions of a key ozone-forming pollutant compared to EPA's clean air interstate rule (CAIR) -- even though the litigation is not directly challenging that regulation. In a March 23 letter to EPA Acting Administrator Steve Johnson, the Center for Biological Diversity and Valley Watch allege that EPA has improperly failed to require 22 states and the District of Columbia to revise state pollution...

EPA REJECTS GRANTING SO2 ALLOWANCES FOR WASTE COAL PLANTS IN CAIR

EPA's new clean air interstate rule (CAIR) rejects a request by Pennsylvania and industry for eased sulfur dioxide (SO2) requirements on facilities that burn coal mining wastes to produce electricity, a rejection that could prompt a lawsuit by critics of the rule. Coal mining waste is plentiful in Pennsylvania, and the state has encouraged burning it to produce electricity as a useful way to reduce piles of the potential groundwater and soil pollutant. But proponents of burning coal mining waste...

ENVIRONMENTALISTS TARGET AUTO DEALERS TO PUSH FORD ON HYBRIDS

Environmentalists are launching a new campaign aimed at pressing Ford Motor Co. to speed development of hybrid vehicles to cut greenhouse gas emissions by targeting Ford dealers. Many activists say these dealers are losing sales to foreign hybrid manufacturers. The Sierra Club, Bluewater Network, Global Exchange and several other environmental groups began their Adopt-A-Dealer campaign on April 1, with the goal of attracting a large number of dealers to back their efforts to pressure Ford to speed production of its...

CANADA'S VOLUNTARY GHG DEAL COULD BE FACTOR IN CALIFORNIA AUTO SUIT

A voluntary agreement reached late last month between three leading U.S. automakers and the Canadian government to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions could become a factor in the industry's pending litigation over a California climate change law, according to activist groups, who say the Canadian deal is proof that auto companies can achieve the fuel economy levels required by California law. Industry officials counter that the Canadian deal is irrelevant to the lawsuit because the agreement sets fuel economy targets...

INDUSTRY MAKES PUSH ON CAPITOL HILL FOR MORE FLEXIBLE HAZE MODELING

Industry groups have begun a congressional lobbying effort to win additional flexibility -- perhaps in the form of an appropriations rider -- under EPA and Department of Interior (DOI) rules for calculating whether emissions from proposed new power plants or other industrial sources will reduce visibility. The effort includes discussions with Capitol Hill offices on whether to require a new EPA rulemaking on the issue and recent testimony in the Senate energy committee claiming that a newly issued EPA regional...

FAA PROPOSALS MAY SPUR UNCHECKED EMISSIONS INCREASE, ACTIVISTS SAY

Activists are threatening litigation because of their concerns about a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) proposal to change the way it implements the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which would excuse airports from environmental reviews of some increases in plane traffic. The proposal is "extremely concerning" to activists, who are vowing to use an extended comment period to register more objections. Under the proposal, FAA would allow an increase in takeoffs and landings at airports to qualify as categorical exclusions from...

EPA OFFICIAL EXPECTS SUIT LIKELY TO FORCE 'SOME CHANGES' TO NSR REFORMS

An EPA official is suggesting that litigation over the Bush administration's controversial 2002 new source review (NSR) reforms will probably lead a federal appeals court hearing the suit to overturn at least some parts of the regulations and force EPA to amend the rules. Citing detailed questioning by the court on EPA's justification for the reforms, Janet McDonald of EPA's Office of Air Quality Planning & Standards told attendees at an environment and energy conference co-sponsored by the Air and...

ACTIVISTS HOPE EPA ORDER TO ILLINOIS ON NSR WILL LIMIT TITLE V PERMITS

EPA is directing Illinois to respond to objections environmentalists have raised to air permits proposed for Chicago-area power plants, including allegations that the plants are violating new source review (NSR) rules by failing to install pollution-control devices after updating their equipment. Environmentalists say the new dictate -- sparked by a consent decree resolving an environmentalists' lawsuit against the agency -- could set a precedent by making it more difficult for states to issue Title V operating permits, which combine Clean...

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