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.

LAWMAKERS PUSH CLEAR SKIES ALTERNATIVES DESPITE DOUBTFUL SUPPORT

Bipartisan opponents of the Bush administration's Clear Skies legislation are pushing alternatives to the bill in the House and Senate in an effort to continue a debate on multi-pollutant legislation, despite a widespread belief among congressional sources, activists and the utility industry that neither of the alternative bills on the table will get a hearing. The Clean Smokestacks Act of 2005, introduced in the House last week by Reps. Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY), would create cap-and-trade systems...

CLEAR SKIES BACKERS EYE HOUSE STRATEGY TO PUSH FOR NEW SENATE VOTE

Following the tied vote in the Senate environment committee, Republican supporters of Clear Skies legislation now hope to pass the bill in the House to pressure the Senate to act, but opponents -- including a key Senate Republican -- say the strategy is unlikely to work. A House Energy & Commerce subcommittee hearing on the bill, originally scheduled for March 17 but delayed until April 21, should be seen as a "broad signal" that Clear Skies supporters will push forward...

SENATE BUDGET VOTE UNLIKELY TO END HILL FIGHT OVER ANWR DRILLING

Supporters and detractors of drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) say the Senate's vote to retain language in the budget blueprint that assumes revenue from the project is unlikely to end legislative debate on the issue. Nevertheless, the vote removes a major hurdle for advocates to make drilling in ANWR become a reality and is a major blow to environmentalist opponents of the effort. "It is one step at a time. This is not the final vote," said...

BOXER EYES HOLD ON JOHNSON CONFIRMATION TO PROTEST MERCURY RULE

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) may place a hold on EPA Administrator-nominee Stephen Johnson's nomination to protest the agency's recently released mercury emissions rule, as one of several options to oppose the controversial regulation. But Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) is suggesting that Johnson's involvement with one rule may not be enough for him to oppose the nomination. Sen. James Jeffords (I-VT), the ranking senator on the Environment & Public Works Committee, has strongly endorsed Johnson's nomination. Boxer told Inside Washington Publishers...

PROPOSED WESTERN STATE PSD REFORMS COULD PROVIDE NATIONAL MODEL

Officials in several Western states say changes they have proposed to simplify the agency's prevention of significant deterioration (PSD) program could provide a nationwide model for reforming the complicated requirements, which set out an air quality permitting regime that determines whether pollution can be increased near national parks and other pristine areas. Air quality officials in the West have been urging EPA to make changes to the way the agency implements the program, saying it puts a huge burden on...

WESTERN STATES URGE DIALOGUE WITH EPA TO BLUNT HAZE RULING

State and local government officials in the West are pledging to cooperate with EPA in the development of analyses bolstering the legal rationale for a regional emissions trading program for sulfur dioxide (SO2), responding to a ruling questioning the basis for the program for addressing haze problems at national parks and monuments. Five Western states and the city of Albuquerque, NM, wrote a letter March 4 to EPA air chief Jeffrey Holmstead urging that EPA immediately engage with the states...

EPA DELAYS CAIR DECISION ON EXCLUDING EAST FROM REGIONAL HAZE RULE

EPA has postponed a decision on whether its newly issued interstate air rule effectively exempts the Eastern half of the United States from an upcoming standard to reduce regional haze. EPA earlier indicated the interstate rule might be sufficient to address regional problems in the East, but the agency now says it will wait until next month, when it issues its haze rule, to determine whether the Eastern region will be subject to additional requirements. The controversy stems from EPA's...

OMB TARGETS EPA RULES FOR REVISION TO HELP MANUFACTURING SECTOR

The White House Office of Management & Budget (OMB) has released a report that lists 38 rules and guidances that it wants revised to reduce the burden on the manufacturing sector, among them methods of monitoring leaks of volatile air pollutants at industrial plants. The report is part of a broader administration effort to promote the manufacturing industry, and the report includes a total of 76 federal regulations for reform. The report is available on InsideEPA.com. The EPA rules tagged...

INDUSTRY APPLAUDS SEN. VITTER AS CLIMATE CHANGE SUBCOMMITTEE CHAIR

Industry officials who oppose government controls on carbon dioxide emissions are welcoming Sen. David Vitter's (R-LA) March 8 appointment to head a new subcommittee on global climate change. The conservative senator's record may indicate he could use the role to "give a microphone" to scientists who are skeptical that global warming exists, these sources say. The new subcommittee is being formed as part of a restructuring of the Senate Commerce, Science & Transportation Committee, which had been chaired by Sen...

OIL, NATURAL GAS PRODUCING STATES OFFER STRATEGY FOR CARBON CAPTURE

In an effort to promote the capture and storage of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, governors from oil and gas producing states are urging regulators to avoid classifying the emissions as a waste or applying drinking water rules to underground storage of CO2. The recommendations come as Congress and the administration struggle to establish a national policy on CO2 emissions, and the governors argue that regulation of CO2 storage should largely remain the domain of state regulators. The governors caution against...

DOE RELEASES NEW DRAFT GREENHOUSE GAS REPORTING GUIDELINES

The Department of Energy (DOE) has released for public comment revised interim guidelines for companies seeking to register voluntary efforts to curb greenhouse gases under what is known as the 1605 (b) program. A source familiar with the guidelines says they retain language calling on large emitters participating in the program to report on their total emission of greenhouse gases, instead of reporting only on emissions from specific projects. The guidelines also include guidance for companies seeking to report reductions...

PANEL URGES CALIFORNIA AIR BOARD TO ACT ON MAJOR INDOOR AIR THREATS

Four scientists who peer reviewed a controversial California draft air board indoor air pollution report are recommending that the board divide the report to more quickly advance recommendations to reduce high-hazard pollutant sources. If the board separates its report based on high-priority sources, lawmakers would be urged this year to propose mitigation measures for building materials and furnishings, air cleaners, appliances, biological contaminants and tobacco smoke. Indoor Air Pollution In California , the California Air Resources Board (CARB) draft staff...

FY06 FUNDING CUTS COULD THREATEN EPA OZONE PROTECTION PLANS

The Bush administration's fiscal year 2006 budget proposal to slash funding by over 30 percent for EPA's program protecting the stratospheric ozone layer could force the agency to terminate key initiatives and damage U.S. credibility regarding the Montreal Protocol, a former top EPA official and other sources warn. The threatened efforts, these sources say, include a skin cancer prevention program at schools and a phase-out of an ozone-depleting chemical, HCFC-22, which is widely used as a refrigerant in window air-conditioning...

States Eye Stricter Mercury Policies In Wake Of Much-Criticized EPA Rule

Officials in numerous states are considering tough new legislative or regulatory proposals to control mercury emissions from power plants, after EPA issued a controversial rulemaking that many state officials criticized as insufficiently stringent. Starting this year, proposals for strict mercury requirements are expected to come up in states with a major coal industry presence, such as Pennsylvania and Indiana. And other states may seek to get around existing policies that prevent them from issuing any environmental requirements stronger than those...

Industry Concerns May Limit Scope Of EPA Air Pact For CAFOs

EPA is meeting resistance from many sectors of the agriculture industry over its clean air enforcement agreement for concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), raising the prospect that the agreement could be less effective if these businesses decline to participate. The mounting concern comes as the agency has extended the deadline for signing on to the agreement, in response to pleas that many businesses could not participate without more time to review possible concerns. Companies will now have until July 1,...

Accounting Board To Finalize Major Environmental Reporting Rules

A board that establishes financial standards will soon finalize a controversial new environmental reporting requirement mandating disclosure of future liabilities for the first time, following months of delay and a chorus of opposition from companies that include electric utilities. The new requirements are coming into play as shareholder advocacy groups are putting increased pressure on companies to enhance environmental reporting in their reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Companies also face new requirements under the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley Act...

EPA Limits Regional Measures In Report On Environmental Trends

EPA's top officials have decided to scale back a staff proposal to include data on a host of regional environmental trends in its upcoming report on the state of the environment, sources say. However, the officials, including EPA Administrator-nominee Steve Johnson, recently decided to include a host of new indicators on national environmental trends in the upcoming report. The sources say Johnson and many of the agency's top political appointees agreed with arguments from EPA General Counsel Ann Klee at...

FY06 Budget Cuts Could Threaten EPA Ozone Protection Plans

The Bush administration's fiscal year 2006 budget proposal to slash funding by over 30 percent for EPA's program protecting the stratospheric ozone layer could force the agency to terminate key initiatives and damage U.S. credibility regarding the Montreal Protocol, a former top EPA official and other sources warn. The threatened efforts, these sources say, include a skin cancer prevention program at schools and a phase-out of an ozone-depleting chemical, HCFC-22, which is widely used as a refrigerant in window air-conditioning...

EPA Limits Regional Measures In Report On Environmental Trends

EPA's top officials have decided to scale back a staff proposal to include data on a host of regional environmental trends in its upcoming report on the state of the environment, sources say. However, the officials, including EPA Administrator-nominee Steve Johnson, recently decided to include a host of new indicators on national environmental trends in the upcoming report. The sources say Johnson and many of the agency's top political appointees agreed with arguments from EPA General Counsel Ann Klee at...

New EPA FY06 Research Program To Develop Terror Detection Methods

EPA's fiscal year 2006 budget includes funds for establishing a new emergency response research program to develop new detection methods for a host of contaminants that could be used in terrorist attacks. A former agency official says the need for new detection methods became apparent after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and the anthrax attacks on postal and Senate office buildings. Although there were proven detection methods for anthrax, the incidents drew attention to the lack of technologies for...

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