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.

DOE ADVISORS URGE EPA TO REVISIT CLEAN AIR COMPLIANCE DEADLINES

A newly issued report by a Department of Energy (DOE) advisory body calls on EPA to revisit compliance deadlines for implementing national ambient air quality standards as one of a number of measures to ensure adequate domestic refining oil capacity. "As presently structured, attainment deadlines precede the benefits that will be achieved from emissions reductions already planned," the report from DOE's National Petroleum Council states. The recommendations are part of a study sought by DOE Secretary Spencer Abraham that was...

EPA MAY LAUNCH NATIONAL EFFORT TO SPEED DIESEL EMISSIONS REDUCTIONS

EPA is considering a national program to encourage or require diesel trucks to implement costly software fixes to reduce air pollution, but the agency is likely to face opposition from engine manufacturers even if the program is voluntary, agency sources say. EPA is considering the program because it erred in calculating how long it would take to make the fix and reduce emissions, after finalizing a landmark 1998 consent decree that required the engine industry to fund these changes. State...

GAO STUDY ON MERCURY CONTROL TECHNOLOGIES COULD INFLUENCE EPA RULE

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is studying mercury control technologies at electric utilities in a report it expects to release in early 2005, in time to influence EPA's final mercury utility rule that is due by March 15. Nine senators, led by Jim Jeffords (I-VT), in March asked GAO, the investigative arm of Congress, to provide information on "the availability, cost, effectiveness and use of technologies that power plants might install to limit their mercury emissions," according to an interview...

Conservation Advocates Examine Pollution Reduction Credits From Energy Savings

Energy conservation advocates are developing a roadmap for crediting energy savings toward pollution reduction goals in emissions-trading programs, a process that could play a major role in state and federal discussions on addressing air pollution, climate change and rising natural gas prices, according to industry and environmental groups. Development of the analysis comes as industrial electricity users squeezed by high natural gas prices are calling for federal legislation and rules to boost fuel supplies and curb demand. It also comes...

EPA May Expand Innovative Nevada Plan For Mercury From Gold Mines

EPA is evaluating the effectiveness of a recently instituted plan to reduce mercury emissions from Nevada gold mining operations -- a major source of U.S. mercury pollution -- to determine whether the voluntary initiative should be expanded at a time when skyrocketing gold prices are prompting more companies to start mining gold, EPA sources say. EPA has targeted gold mining as a major contributor to mercury emissions, and Nevada, which houses 80 percent of U.S. gold production, is regularly ranked...

SUITS OVER SULFURIC ACID RELEASES MAY FORESHADOW NATIONAL DILEMMA

A third lawsuit has been filed against an electric utility company over unintended sulfuric acid emissions caused by new pollution control technology to reduce nitrogen oxides (NOx). The litigation is teeing up a host of potential problems as EPA is poised to require broad use of the technology to cut transported pollution, and has no plans to regulate sulfuric acid. The technology, known as selective catalytic reduction (SCR), is widely considered the best way to cut ozone-forming NOx emissions from...

EPA REPORT MAY BE EVIDENCE IN FUTURE LAWSUITS CHALLENGING WEAK RULES

EPA admitted in its new annual report that it is failing to achieve several goals to reduce ambient concentrations of key air pollutants, an admission that will likely be used in future lawsuits to show that EPA's air rules are not strict enough, according to environmentalists. The agency's Fiscal Year 2004 Annual Report , released Nov. 15, shows the agency failed to meet clean air targets to reduce ambient levels of criteria pollutants that are regulated under the national ambient...

EPA MAY LAUNCH NATIONAL EFFORT TO SPEED DIESEL EMISSIONS REDUCTIONS

EPA is considering a national program to encourage or require diesel trucks to implement costly software fixes to reduce air pollution, but the agency is likely to face opposition from engine manufacturers even if the program is voluntary. The move is being considered because EPA erred in calculating how long it would take to make the fix and reduce emissions, after finalizing a landmark 1998 consent decree that required the engine industry to fund these changes. State air regulators hoping...

EPA WEIGHS OVERHAULING OZONE RULES FOR VOLATILE ORGANIC COMPOUNDS

EPA will soon seek comment on a proposed overhaul of the way it regulates ozone-forming volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The effort could result in a major reorganization of a key policy that has changed little since 1977, which EPA hopes will produce more effective ways to reduce ozone levels. The proposal may seek to replace the current emphasis on reducing overall VOC content in the atmosphere with a more flexible system that distinguishes between each compound based on its potential...

EPA REVISING COST-BENEFIT MODEL TO ACCOUNT FOR TECHNOLOGY LIMITS

EPA is planning revisions to a controversial clean air cost-benefit model that could help the agency to counter claims by state and environmental groups that industry can achieve early emission reduction targets that are stricter than what EPA has proposed in its mercury control plan. The planned revisions are drawing harsh criticism from state officials and at least one agency source. EPA is revising a key assumption in its integrated planning model (IPM) -- that technology needed to achieve steep...

ENVIRONMENTAL MODELERS EYE NEW 'ETHICS' POLICY TO ENSURE RELIABILITY

Environmental modeling experts inside and outside of government may join with policymakers to form a professional association and adopt a code of modeling ethics, in an effort to provide greater assurances about the ability of models to predict realistic outcomes. The move comes amid concerns that some modeling forecasts sacrifice accuracy to reflect outcomes that would benefit their sponsors. Modelers and policymakers discussed the issue of integrity in models at a Nov. 18 workshop sponsored by the National Association of...

DEREGULATED POWER MARKETS MAKE EMISSION CUTS DIFFICULT, INDUSTRY SAYS

Some electric power companies are calling on Northeast environment officials to weigh in on future proposals that could make it easier for them to fund environmental improvements in deregulated electricity markets. The companies say that in states where the markets are still tightly regulated, it is relatively easy to pass the costs of environmental compliance on to consumers. But they argue that prospect becomes much more difficult in the growing number of deregulated markets. Industry officials are also highlighting a...

NAVAJO NATION BECOMES FIRST TRIBE TO WIN FEDERAL PERMIT AUTHORITY

EPA is granting the Navajo Nation authority to administer the federal clean air operating permits program known as Title V, making it the first Indian nation to control permits for major pollution sources on their lands. The Nov. 18 decision is likely to prompt other tribes to seek similar authority to take charge of their own Title V programs rather than have EPA run them, according to one Navajo source. "This is a very significant decision. Now that we have...

ENVIRONMENTALISTS EYE MANDATORY INSURANCE PLAN TO REDUCE EMISSIONS

Activists believe a pay-as-you-drive (PAYD) automobile insurance proposal, included in a new book of policy offerings on reducing air pollution aimed at President Bush, is a good idea but would have to be mandatory to have any real impact. PAYD would set up a method of calculating insurance costs for drivers based on the amount of time they spend behind the wheel. Activists believe PAYD can help states reduce their mobile source emissions without having to implement new laws or...

NORTH CAROLINA LIKELY TO SUE TVA AS ACTIVIST CASE MOVES AHEAD

North Carolina's attorney general is planning to sue the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) for alleged violations of EPA's new source review (NSR) regulations, in a move that could add weight to an already-pending lawsuit that citizens groups filed against the utility. At the same time, North Carolina is threatening to sue EPA for failing to respond to its petition filed under the Clean Air Act to control upwind pollution. State Attorney General Roy Cooper (D) sent a Nov. 10 letter...

EPA ARGUES COURT LACKS JURISDICTION IN ONGOING MERCURY LAWSUIT

EPA claims a lawsuit calling for the agency to implement strict mercury rules for power plants must be dismissed because the court hearing the case does not have jurisdiction to decide it. EPA's Nov. 18 response to the court is the latest development in a lawsuit brought by the National Wildlife Federation, the Izaak Walton League of America and the Natural Resources Council of Maine alleging that EPA exceeded statutory deadlines for issuing stringent power plant mercury regulations. The agency...

STATE GROUP EYES NEXT MOVE AFTER AVIATION EMISSIONS TALKS COLLAPSE

State and local air pollution regulators are examining their legal and regulatory options for reducing emissions from airports over the next several years after the collapse of long-running talks facilitated by EPA and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) aimed at developing emissions reduction strategies for the aviation sector, according to an association representing the state and local officials. In a Nov. 22 letter, the State & Territorial Air Pollution Program Administrators /Association of Air Pollution Control Officials (STAPPA/ALAPCO) formally notified...

ANALYSIS SHOWS COAL PLANTS PROFITABLE DESPITE ENVIRONMENTAL RULES

A new analysis by an international consulting firm finds that future environmental requirements -- including many possible policies for curbing greenhouse gases -- are unlikely to erode the competitiveness of most coal-fired power plants and could even make many facilities more competitive as they install pollution controls. "The value of efficient large coal-fired power plants can actually increase rather than decrease with stringent environmental control programs," says an executive summary provided to Inside Washington Publishers by Cambridge Energy Research Associates...

STEVENS' ROLE AS PANEL CHAIR SUGGESTS NEW FOCUS FOR CLIMATE DEBATE

Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens' (R) likely ascension to chairman of the commerce committee could change the focus of the Senate's debate on climate change -- with Stevens focusing more on mitigating climate impacts in Alaska and elsewhere and less on outgoing chairman Sen. John McCain's (R-AZ) bill regulating greenhouse gas emissions, Senate sources say. Stevens, a longtime proponent of drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), suggested at a Nov. 16 hearing on the recent scientific assessment on Arctic...

OMNIBUS BILL CUTS EPA FUNDS FOR FY05, REJECTS CONTROVERSIAL 'RIDERS'

An omnibus appropriations bill Congress approved Nov. 20 will slightly cut overall EPA spending, with the agency's water infrastructure loan program suffering the brunt of those reductions. At the same time, lawmakers included several "riders" that will ease environmental protections for cattle grazing and wildlife areas, while rejecting other controversial proposals that environmentalists say would have gutted the Endangered Species Act. The omnibus bill, which funds 13 departments and various federal agencies, provides EPA with $8.1 billion for fiscal year...

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