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.

NAFTA PANEL MOVES CLOSER TO INQUIRY INTO EPA MERCURY CONTROL RULES

A North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) panel is moving one step closer to launching an in-depth investigation into whether EPA is taking sufficient steps to cut mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants, a move that could help environmentalists argue that upcoming EPA clean air rules violate the Clean Water Act (CWA). The North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC), an investigative body created in a side-accord to NAFTA, issued a determination Feb. 24 calling on the Bush administration to...

EPA Air Chief Withdraws Claims About State Support For Clear Skies

EPA air chief Jefferey Holmstead has retracted recent statements that several local and state organizations support the administration's Clear Skies bill, after these groups countered that they generally support legislation to control multiple power plant pollutants, but not specifically Clear Skies. State support for Clear Skies is widely viewed as key to final congressional passage, with both industry and Bush administration officials touting the benefits of the bill for state and local air quality efforts. But at the same time,...

House Bill Would Force EPA To Update Fuel Economy Rating System

Two House members have introduced bipartisan legislation with the likely support of 36 other lawmakers that would force EPA to update its methods for estimating the fuel efficiency of new model-year vehicles. The legislation was drafted in response to congressional frustration with the pace of an ongoing EPA effort to revise its vehicle testing procedures. Reps. Rush Holt (D-NJ) and Nancy Johnson (R-CT) introduced a bill March 3 that would update the test procedures used to determine consumer information on...

ARB ETHANOL REPORT BOLSTERS CASE FOR NON-OXYGENATED FUEL

A new draft air board report that details further negative pollution impacts of ethanol in gasoline is seen as bolstering the state's argument to the federal government that non-oxygenated gasoline would help improve air quality more than ethanol, and that oxygenates should not be required in reformulated gasoline. But ethanol industry representatives are attacking the draft report as biased, and based on incomplete studies and selective data. The Air Resources Board's draft report, "A Summary Of the Staff's Assessment Regarding...

STAKEHOLDERS PRESS WRCB, ARB TO BETTER COORDINATE UST RULES

Industry and local government representatives are calling on the air and water boards to expedite legislatively required collaboration when developing new and amended regulations for underground storage tanks (USTs), citing current conflicting and confusing rules that are frustrating manufacturers and buyers of UST technology. The Air Resources Board and Water Resources Control Board began a formal collaboration in response to a new law signed last year. The law requires both boards to certify that equipment meeting ARB's Enhanced Vapor Recovery...

ASSEMBLYMAN, CONTROLLER PUSH BILL SETTING KYOTO GHG REDUCTION GOALS

The state controller and a freshman assemblyman are pushing a bill to establish greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction targets for the state, modeled on those established by countries following the Kyoto Protocol. In announcing the bill, which does not specify or mandate any Cal/EPA or state action to reduce GHG emissions, the politicians are blasting the Bush Administration for rejecting the Kyoto Protocol. The bill, AB 1365 (Assemblyman Ira Ruskin, D-Redwood City), would include as a state planning priority the...

REVIEWERS URGE ARB TO DIVIDE INDOOR AIR REPORT, ACT ON MAJOR THREATS

Four scientists who peer reviewed a controversial 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 Air Resources Board draft staff report, was required by...

CHILD HEALTH ADVISERS UNMOVED BY EPA AIR CHIEF'S MERCURY RULE PUSH

EPA air chief Jeff Holmstead has failed to persuade some agency advisory panel members that an upcoming rule on mercury emissions from power plants would protect children's health, according to some panelists, who say they remain unconvinced of the upcoming rule's adequacy. Holmstead spoke before an advisory committee on children's health after more than a year of requests by the group to meet with top agency officials about the rule, which is slated to be released within weeks. Holmstead spoke...

SLEW OF PROBLEMS COMPLICATE REPUBLICAN EFFORTS TO PASS CLEAR SKIES

On the eve of a rescheduled markup, Senate Republican backers of the Bush administration's Clear Skies bill are facing several new hurdles that are likely to complicate their efforts to break an impasse in the environment committee and pass the bill. Chief among them is likely EPA issuance of its clean air interstate rule (CAIR) and mercury rule for power plants, scheduled for March 15, which Democrats and environmentalists say could set a "baseline" for future regulatory requirements stricter than...

California Report May Aid Request For Waiver From U.S. Clean-Fuel Rules

A draft report by California air regulators that details the adverse environmental impacts of blending ethanol in gasoline could bolster the state's argument for a waiver from EPA requirements that cleaner-burning reformulated gasoline include oxygenates, such as ethanol. But ethanol industry officials are attacking the draft report as biased, and based on incomplete studies and selective data. The California Air Resources Board's draft report , A Summary of the Staff's Assessment Regarding the Effect of Ethanol In California Gasoline on...

Senate Committee Delays Clear Skies Markup Amid Calls For New EPA Analysis

The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee has postponed until March 9 a markup on the administration's Clear Skies legislation, following a recent request by committee Democrats and a potential swing-vote Republican for an EPA analysis on several alternative proposals. Congressional sources say consideration of this new data may take weeks. The committee's decision to delay markup was announced just hours before the panel was scheduled on March 3 to take up the bill. Opponents of the administration's plan say...

New Problems Complicate Senate GOP Push To Pass Clear Skies

On the eve of a rescheduled markup, Senate Republican backers of the Bush administration's Clear Skies bill are facing several new hurdles that are likely to complicate their efforts to break an impasse in the environment committee and pass the bill. Chief among them is likely EPA issuance of its clean air interstate rule (CAIR) and mercury rule for power plants, scheduled for March 15, which Democrats and environmentalists say could set a "baseline" for future regulatory requirements stricter than...

EPA Sparks Controversy With Proposal To Rewrite Air Rules For National Parks

EPA has proposed eliminating local emission limits known as "increments" as one option in a sweeping new proposal to overhaul the way it sets pollution limits in prevention of significant deterioration (PSD) permits for national parks and other areas under the Clean Air Act. The proposal includes an option that would set up nationwide or regional cap-and-trade programs in lieu of the so-called increments. But environmentalists and some National Park Service (NPS) sources are criticizing EPA's proposed options, saying the...

Analyst Says CO2 Trading Falls Short Of Driving Technology Solutions

Standard carbon dioxide (CO2) cap-and-trade programs will not offer the incentives to drive the necessary technological innovations to solve climate change problems and instead a new set of tools is needed to encourage "breakthrough" technologies, according to David Montgomery, a prominent energy policy analyst who presented his proposals at a well-attended luncheon on Capitol Hill. In introducing Montgomery, Climate Policy Center (CPC) Executive Director Lee Lane said he offers "a set of ideas so striking and new that it is...

Republicans May Drop Clear Skies After Fixes Fail To Break Impasse

Key Senate Republicans are suggesting they will likely drop their bid to pass the Clear Skies bill in favor of EPA's clean air interstate rule (CAIR) and mercury rule for power plants after minor GOP amendments to the bill failed to sway key opponents and break the Senate environment committee's deadlock. The committee on the eve of a scheduled March 2 markup postponed committee action on the bill for at least a day. Republican sources say they may drop their...

White House Rejects 'Output-Based' Emission Credits In Clear Skies

The White House environment chief says the Bush administration is opposing calls to change the formula for allocating emission credits under the president's Clear Skies bill, even as a controversy over the allocation system is creating a split within the electric power industry and threatening to slow legislative momentum. In a Feb. 28 interview with Inside EPA, White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair James Connaughton said the currently proposed allocation method, known as an "input-based" approach, makes the most...

California Guidance Sparks Controversy Over Risks From Pollution Vapors

California guidelines on calculating the risks of indoor vapors from contaminated groundwater and soil is being questioned by both industry and environmentalists, who doubt the effectiveness of the document to direct cleanups. These sources say the department should give more importance to indoor testing of harmful vapors in existing structures, while one industry official says the protocols specified in the interim document are not an improvement to current industry practices. In a detailed step-by-step guidance, the California Department of Toxic...

Utility Talks On Emission Credits May Spell Fate Of Clear Skies Bill

Utility industry discussions on how to allocate emission credits under the Bush administration's Clear Skies proposal may ultimately prove crucial to the fate of the bill, and any resulting legislation could provide a framework for future efforts to control carbon dioxide emissions, according to industry sources. The discussions -- including a Feb. 25 conference call organized by the Edison Electric Institute -- are occurring in advance of a scheduled March 2 markup on Clear Skies legislation after the Senate environment...

California Officials Accuse Utilities Of Downplaying Air Quality Impacts Of LNG

California air regulators are accusing natural gas suppliers and electric utilities of "trivializing" the potential pollution caused by using imported liquefied natural gas (LNG). The emission effects of using natural gas derived from imported LNG is a crucial question for national plans, as well as proposed projects in California, to expand the U.S. capacity to process the fuel as a way to address rising demand for natural gas and ease energy prices. A national coalition of natural gas suppliers, utilities,...

AIR DISTRICTS CONTEND GAS INDUSTRY DOWNPLAYING POSSIBLE LNG IMPACTS

South Coast and Santa Barbara air district officials are charging that natural gas suppliers and utilities are "trivializing" the potential pollution impact that the integration of richer burning liquefied natural gas (LNG) may have on appliances and industrial equipment. Emission impacts is a critical issue being researched and discussed among a variety of stakeholders with regard to whether California, or the nation, should pursue changes to natural gas component specifications to more smoothly accommodate LNG in the coming years. A...

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