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.

CITIES SAID TO EYE HIGH COURT TO SETTLE CIRCUIT SPLITS OVER DOD AIR SUITS

TAMPA -- Municipalities and local governments are exploring litigation that could be a vehicle for the Supreme Court to resolve splits among several federal appellate circuits over whether the Clean Air Act (CAA) waives sovereign immunity for punitive damages, which would allow them to sue federal agencies for air violations, according to a defense department lawyer. Cities also want to resolve the separate question of whether federal courts have jurisdiction over state and local claims under the air law, the...

SUIT CHALLENGES EPA'S FACTORS TO DESIGNATE PM2.5 NONATTAINMENT AREAS

States and power companies are raising concerns over the factors EPA used to designate a slew of counties as out of attainment with the agency's standards for fine particles (PM2.5) by claiming in recently filed briefs the factors cannot be used because they never faced public comment. If the legal challenge succeeds, it would be significant because it would undermine EPA's basis for designating areas in nonattainment. However, one environmentalist involved in the suit says the argument may not succeed...

INDUSTRY SUIT TARGETS EPA GUIDANCE ON EMISSIONS STACK TESTING

Industry groups have filed a federal appellate challenge to an EPA guidance outlining procedures for Clean Air Act pollution stack testing programs, which industry says will bolster its leverage in ongoing discussions with the agency on changing the guidance while permitting full-scale litigation against it in the future. The filing is the latest complication in EPA's effort to respond to an inspector general (IG) report in 2000 faulting the agency's oversight of state and local stack testing programs and urging...

TRIBE WINS FIRST-TIME POWER TO REGULATE UTILITIES AFTER DEAL ON EPA RULES

The Navajo Nation has cut a first-time deal with two power plants located on tribal lands after they agreed to set permit levels no stricter than EPA levels, including for future mercury rules. Tribal sources say the deal -- which also allows the tribe to collect permit fees for use to develop additional clean air programs -- may be a model for other tribes seeking to win similar agreements with utilities located on their lands. The deal, which at press...

FASTER FISH TESTING MAY IMPROVE ACCURACY IN ASSESSING MERCURY LEVELS

Technology that can measure mercury in fish tissue within minutes may allow federal and state agencies to obtain more reliable readings of mercury levels in fish, possibly heightening pressure from environmentalists for tighter standards on power plant emissions, sources say. At the same time, wastewater industry sources, who argue their facilities are insignificant sources of mercury, say the technology may help EPA set more "reasonable" levels of mercury they are permitted to discharge. The wastewater industry argues that the major...

EPA CITES STATE LAWS TO PUSH 'BIG THREE' ON VOLUNTARY MERCURY PLAN

EPA is citing growing state efforts to require auto companies to pay for removing mercury switches from millions of vehicles that will soon be scrapped, in an effort to restart stalled talks on establishing a voluntary national program for preventing mercury emissions when smelting the vehicles, EPA and other sources say. The talks -- which include the Big Three automakers, the American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI), the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries and environmental groups, including Environmental Defense and...

EPA TO DELAY HAZE RULE BASED ON AGREEMENT WITH ENVIRONMENTALISTS

EPA has made an abrupt decision to delay issuing a landmark regional haze rule the agency was required by court order to issue April 15. The agency will delay the rule until June 15 based on an agreement with Environmental Defense, the group that brought the lawsuit setting the original deadline, agency officials say. Agency officials had indicated earlier this week that EPA was on track to complete the rulemaking. The initiative would require power plants and other industrial sources...

TESTING PROGRAM COULD RESULT IN RELAXED DIESEL RULE ENFORCEMENT

EPA is launching a testing program to assess the accuracy of procedures for measuring the sulfur content of diesel fuel, which could spur additional enforcement flexibility that the oil industry is seeking under a major rule which aims to reduce auto emissions by requiring cleaner fuel in highway vehicles beginning in 2006. EPA has also asked the industry to suggest options for addressing concerns that contamination of the low-sulfur fuel could prevent compliance with the rule's requirements, according to industry...

BOXER SEEKS TRANSPORTATION BILL AS VEHICLE FOR MEXICAN TRUCK RULES

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) is expecting to attach legislation to the comprehensive highway bill moving through Congress that would limit emissions from Mexican trucks expected to enter the United States in large numbers due to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). While the level of congressional support for the bill is uncertain, it comes as California state officials are raising concerns that a state law establishing similar requirements could be prone to a legal challenge. The senator attempted to...

NORTH AMERICAN AIR OFFICIALS EYE POLLUTION DATABASE REFORMS FOR EPA

Officials at EPA and the environment agencies of Canada and Mexico are recommending that North America develop an annual air emissions inventory, arguing the current system provides outdated information that makes it difficult for local authorities to develop effective pollution-reduction strategies. The recommendation was part of a briefing given by the officials at an April 11 meeting in Las Vegas of the North American Research Strategy for Tropospheric Ozone (NARSTO). Emission inventories are the basis of cap-and-trade programs for reducing...

NOVEL AIR-WATER POLLUTANT TRADING PROGRAM COULD SERVE AS MODEL

California and Nevada environmental agencies are jointly developing the first-ever pollution trading program that involves cross-media trading between air and water sources, which observers say could serve as a model for developing similar trading programs in other states. The trading plan is part of a larger effort to develop a water pollution cap known as a total maximum daily load (TMDL) for nitrogen in Lake Tahoe. It could set the stage for air-to-water trading in other areas of the country...

EPA Identifies New Health Risks From Air Toxin Released During Forest Fires

New EPA data to be included in the agency's upcoming air toxics assessment will show a sharp increase in non-cancer health risks compared to data the agency released three years ago, with most of the risk coming from a pollutant released mostly by forest fires, as well as vehicle exhaust, agency sources say. While EPA currently classifies the pollutant -- known as acrolein -- as a hazardous air pollutant (HAP) subject to regulation under its air toxics program, observers say...

Industry Seeks Data On Costs Of Upcoming Regional Greenhouse Caps

Industry officials are asking Northeast states to release detailed modeling results on the impact of a pending regional cap-and-trade program for greenhouse gases in response to concerns about the costs of the program and how it will impact industrial electricity consumers, industry officials and other observers say. These concerns come as states have unveiled the broad outlines of new modeling results that show the economic impacts of the regional program could be much higher than in earlier predictions. Some industry...

Cities Eye Supreme Court Resolution Of Clean Air Disputes With Pentagon

Municipalities and local governments are exploring litigation that could be a vehicle for the Supreme Court to resolve splits among several federal appellate circuits over whether the Clean Air Act (CAA) waives sovereign immunity for punitive damages and whether federal courts have jurisdiction over state and local claims under the air law, according to a Defense Department lawyer. DOD air attorney Lt. Col. Steve Willis told attendees of the National Defense Industrial Association's Joint Services Environmental Management Conference & Exposition...

CITIES SAID TO EYE HIGH COURT TO SETTLE CIRCUIT SPLITS OVER DOD AIR SUITS

TAMPA -- Municipalities and local governments are exploring litigation that could be a vehicle for the Supreme Court to resolve splits among several federal appellate circuits over whether the Clean Air Act (CAA) waives sovereign immunity for punitive damages and whether federal courts have jurisdiction over state and local claims under the air law, according to a Defense Department lawyer. DOD air attorney Lt. Col. Steve Willis told attendees of the National Defense Industrial Association's Joint Services Environmental Management Conference...

ACTIVISTS TARGETS BUSH ENERGY POLICIES IN SUIT OVER DOD FUEL USE

A new lawsuit by environmentalists charges that the Bush administration has failed to ensure that DOD and other federal agencies are purchasing required numbers of alternative fuel vehicles, which they say will undercut domestic efforts to reduce soaring gasoline prices. The lawsuit marks a new line of attack by environmentalists looking to undercut the Bush administration's energy policies, as the House plans to vote this week on comprehensive energy legislation that includes controversial provisions allowing oil drilling in the Arctic...

Lawsuit Targets Bush Energy Policies As House Vote Nears

Environmentalists have filed a lawsuit alleging that the Bush administration has failed to ensure that federal agencies are purchasing required numbers of alternative fuel vehicles, which the plaintiffs say will undercut domestic efforts to reduce soaring gasoline prices. The lawsuit marks a new line of attack by environmentalists looking to discredit the Bush administration's energy policies, as the House plans to vote this week on comprehensive energy legislation that includes controversial provisions allowing oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife...

EPA Eyes Delaware Chlorine Plant As Model For Mercury Monitoring

EPA officials say a voluntary plan for monitoring mercury emissions at a Delaware chlorine manufacturing plant may be a model for a study on emissions of the neurotoxin, in response to litigation by environmentalists. EPA sources say they are looking to do similar monitoring at other facilities by the end of the year as part of a national study. Under the agreement completed earlier this month, Occidental Chemical Corporation will conduct real-time monitoring of "fugitive" mercury emissions, which are released...

NOVEL AIR-WATER POLLUTANT TRADING PROGRAM COULD SERVE AS MODEL

California and Nevada environmental agencies are jointly developing the first-ever pollution trading program that involves cross-media trading between air and water sources, which observers say could serve as a model for developing similar trading programs in other states. The trading plan is part of a larger effort to develop a pollution reduction plan known as a total maximum daily load (TMDL) for nitrogen in Lake Tahoe. It could set the stage for air-to-water trading in other areas of the country...

NORTHEAST STATES PUSH LAWMAKERS FOR NEW MERCURY AIR, WASTE CONTROLS

State water, air 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 state and local initiatives have achieved over 90 percent...

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