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.

COURT INQUIRY INTO EPA REFINERY PACT MAY SIGNAL INCREASED SCRUTINY

A federal district court is asking the government for more information about a proposed Clean Air Act (CAA) settlement with the petroleum company Chevron, in an apparently unprecedented court inquiry into the adequacy of an agreement under EPA's long-running CAA petroleum sector enforcement initiative, sources tracking the issue say. A source involved in the litigation says the request sends a signal that courts are willing to scrutinize the agreements more closely -- including any future modifications to existing agreements --...

TRIAL LAWYERS THREATEN SUIT ATTACKING NOVEL ASBESTOS CLEANUP METHOD

Public interest attorneys are threatening to file a lawsuit challenging a controversial method for cleaning up asbestos-contaminated buildings, claiming that the technique violates EPA air toxics standards. But the attorneys and some environmentalists acknowledge that EPA, in response to the lawsuit, could revise its asbestos cleanup requirements to allow for continued use of the method. The upcoming suit comes as local government officials are calling on EPA to allow the method, which reduces the cost of demolishing asbestos-contaminated buildings --...

DUKE CASE COULD HOLD KEY TO PENDING NSR SUITS AGAINST UTILITIES

A pending federal appellate court case could provide a key test for EPA's ongoing enforcement suits against utilities for allegedly violating its original new source review (NSR) rules, with many observers saying the ruling could trigger eventual Supreme Court review. The case, United States v. Duke Energy Corp ., could determine how industrial facilities calculate an increase in emissions that triggers NSR requirements, industry lawyers and other legal experts say. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit heard...

EPA TO ANNOUNCE DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS FOR CLEAN-ENERGY ENGINES

EPA is poised to announce a series of projects with businesses and others designed to promote new clean-vehicle engines and fuels in an effort to advance a long-term transition to a transportation system that is independent of pollution-generating petroleum, according to an EPA air official. The new joint projects were described at a Jan. 27 seminar on "Alternative Technologies for Fuels and Engines" sponsored by the House research and development caucus and the Federation of American Scientists. The caucus is...

EPA TO PROPOSE CHANGES TO AUTO FUEL ECONOMY LABELING THIS SUMMER

EPA plans to release a proposal this summer for changing its procedures on determining gasoline mileage estimates for vehicles, according to an agency source. Environmentalists say the agency's current procedures overestimate the fuel efficiency of vehicles by as much as 20 percent. The agency has been working since early last year on the proposed rulemaking, which could revise consumer notifications of the fuel economy rating for vehicles. EPA has been reviewing public comments submitted last July on an initial plan...

OFFICIALS STAND BY CAFO EMISSION FACTORS DESPITE DISPUTED STUDY

Environmentalists and air officials are criticizing preliminary results of a University of California (UC) study showing much less pollution from cows than currently assumed. The study is one of several ongoing efforts that may play a critical role in the future regulation of state dairies by establishing a definition for large concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) through new pollutant emission factors. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) is charged with adopting a definition for large CAFOs by July, which will...

PACT MAY HELP ACTIVISTS FIGHT RESULTS OF EPA STUDY ON CAFO EMISSIONS

A recent settlement between environmentalists and a major poultry producer will provide activists detailed data on agricultural emissions, which they could use to challenge the results of a study EPA will conduct as part of its controversial safe harbor agreement with concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs). Under the Jan. 26 settlement in Sierra Club v. Tyson Foods, Inc ., the Sierra Club is dropping its lawsuit in federal court in Kentucky -- which charges that Tyson Foods violated environmental reporting...

EPA Eyes Pact With State Utility Regulators To Promote 'Energy Star'

EPA plans to work with state electricity regulators to develop innovative ways to conserve energy, in an effort to promote efficiency and increase the use of products recognized in the agency's Energy Star program. EPA and state public utility commissioners (PUCs) are exploring the idea of changing the state rules governing electricity markets, saying the current rules promote disincentives to energy conservation by encouraging increased power use to boost profits. The ultimate goals of the project may include increasing demand...

New Hampshire Bill Offers Options For Power Plants To Control Mercury

New Hampshire legislators are considering a bill that would allow power plants to use "alternative" compliance options, such as product recycling, as a way to meet strict caps on mercury emissions from smokestacks. The bill is based on a proposal by the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (DES) but state regulators have not determined how they would measure emissions reductions from these alternative methods. One official notes that industrial facilities are unlikely to receive a "one to one credit"...

Inspector General's Report Unlikely To Delay EPA Mercury Rule

The EPA inspector general's (IG) report criticizing the agency's development of its proposed regulations on mercury emissions from power plants is unlikely to delay the final rule's release, according to critics and proponents of the regulation, even though the IG and agency critics have called for delays. The Feb. 3 report says the administration's preferred cap-and-trade approach for regulating mercury emissions from power plants should be strengthened, while all but calling illegal EPA's approach for developing a proposed technology-based standard...

DOD, MILITARY SERVICES CRITICAL OF COLORADO'S INDOOR AIR GUIDE

The Defense Department and military services say Colorado's draft indoor air guidance to address vapor intrusion from volatile organic compounds has significant flaws, namely that its screening and cleanup levels are too stringent and that it gives regulators too much leeway in determining case-specific cleanup requirements while giving the regulated community little direction in appropriately addressing vapor intrusion problems. Further, DOD argues Colorado should promulgate the guidance as a rule given it sets binding action and remediation standards, among other...

Court Inquiry Into EPA Refinery Deal May Signal Increased Oversight

A federal district court is asking the government for more information about a proposed Clean Air Act settlement with the petroleum company Chevron, in an apparently unprecedented court inquiry into the adequacy of an agreement under EPA's long-running enforcement initiative against the refining industry, according to sources tracking the issue. A source involved in the litigation says the request sends a signal that courts are willing to scrutinize the agreements more closely -- including any future modifications to existing agreements...

COURT INQUIRY INTO EPA REFINERY PACT MAY SIGNAL INCREASED SCRUTINY

A federal district court is asking the government for more information about a proposed Clean Air Act (CAA) settlement with the petroleum company Chevron, in an apparently unprecedented court inquiry into the adequacy of an agreement under EPA's long-running CAA petroleum sector enforcement initiative, sources tracking the issue say. A source involved in the litigation says the request sends a signal that courts are willing to scrutinize the agreements more closely -- including any future modifications to existing agreements --...

GOVERNOR BOLSTERS PRESS ON CONGRESS TO PROTECT STATE CAA AUTHORITY

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is bolstering air board efforts to persuade Congress to protect the state's right to set more stringent on- and off-road source emission rules than U.S. EPA and allow other states to copy those rules. The governor's request to leading federal lawmakers last week comes as they consider national Clear Skies legislation, which some sources believe could provide a vehicle for provisions to weaken California's rights under the Clean Air Act (CAA). Schwarzenegger, in a joint letter with...

OFFICIALS STAND BY CAFO EMISSION FACTORS DESPITE DISPUTED UC STUDY

Environmentalists and air officials in the San Joaquin Valley are criticizing preliminary results of a University of California (UC) study showing much less pollution from cows than currently assumed. The study is one of several ongoing that may play a critical role in the future regulation of state dairies by establishing a definition for large concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) through new pollutant emission factors. The Air Resources Board is charged with adopting a definition for large CAFOs by July,...

SHIPPERS STRESS LEVEL PLAYING FIELD IN POSSIBLE MOA WITH ARB

The shipping industry aims to stress maintaining a level playing field among other ports on the West Coast and nationwide in a possible memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the air board to reduce emissions. Without a level playing field, shippers say suppliers could easily withdraw from California ports and deal a severe blow to the governor's plans to expand business opportunities in the state. The Pacific Merchant Shipping Association (PMSA) is "looking to negotiate an MOA with the Air Resources...

ORTIZ REVIVES BILL EXPANDING PENALTY OPTIONS FOR AIR DISTRICTS

Sen. Deborah Ortiz (D-Sacramento) is pushing legislation again this year to allow local prosecutors to press criminal charges against stationary sources for alleged minor air pollution violations that are also the subject of civil actions. Ortiz and supporters say the bill is necessary to further deter violations and to bring air pollution-related prosecution on a par with other environmental prosecution, such as for water violations. The bill, SB 109, seeks to eliminate a current prohibition on criminal actions against air...

WHITE HOUSE OFFICIAL AGREES TO REVIEW AIR TOXICS WAIVER IN CLEAR SKIES

The White House's top environment official, James Connaughton, is promising a closer review of controversial Clear Skies provisions that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) says would allow industrial facilities to avoid existing air toxics control requirements and emit huge amounts of toxic chemicals. Connaughton's pledge came at a Senate environment committee hearing Feb. 2 on a reintroduced Clear Skies bill that was held as part of Republican efforts to jump-start action on the administration-backed legislation. At the hearing, Clinton echoed...

SENATE GOP VOWS PROCEDURAL MOVE TO FORCE FLOOR VOTE ON CLEAR SKIES

Faced with a 9-9 vote on the Clear Skies bill, Republican senators on the Environment & Public Works Committee are eying a special procedural maneuver to allow them to sidestep the committee gridlock and bring the bill directly to the Senate floor for debate. The procedure, known as Rule 14, allows for legislation or a resolution to bypass committee review and be immediately placed on the Senate floor calendar. Generally this rule is invoked for non-controversial resolutions that committees do...

DUKE CASE COULD HOLD KEY TO PENDING NSR SUITS AGAINST UTILITIES

A pending federal appellate court case could provide a key test for EPA's ongoing enforcement suits against utilities for allegedly violating its original new source review (NSR) rules, with many observers saying the ruling could trigger eventual Supreme Court review. The case, United States v. Duke Energy Corp. , could determine how industrial facilities calculate an increase in emissions that triggers NSR requirements, industry lawyers and other legal experts say. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit will...

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