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.

SAN JOAQUIN AIR PLAN HEADS TO ARB, EPA; LEGAL FIGHT POSSIBLE

The air board later this month is expected to approve a controversial ozone attainment plan for the San Joaquin Valley that may test the state's oversight role as well as U.S. EPA's transition from a one-hour attainment standard to an eight-hour standard, according to sources. Environmentalists maintain that the district and the regulatory agencies are violating the Clean Air Act by allowing the district to extend compliance with the standards and approving a plan that will soon be moot. At...

GLOBAL DISPUTE COULD HALT NEW GREENHOUSE GAS GUIDELINES FOR SHIPS

An emerging global dispute is threatening to derail the International Maritime Organization's (IMO) development of first-time guidelines for calculating greenhouse gas emissions from ships, leaving U.S. EPA and other federal officials concerned that the disagreement could also undermine a host of future IMO standards affecting the environment. Talks took place this week in London at a meeting of the IMO Marine Environmental Protection Committee, where developing countries, including India and China, are expected to argue that they should not have...

INDUSTRY STUDY SAYS EPA INTERSTATE AIR RULE TO RAISE ELECTRICITY PRICES

A new analysis by industry consultants of U.S. EPA's proposal to reduce interstate air pollution caused by power plant emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides shows the rule would raise electricity prices 25% by 2010 and an additional 10% by 2015. The energy-cost impacts of the proposal are surprising because EPA has touted the plan as striking a good balance between economic growth and environmental progress. The study, The Outlook for U.S. Steam Coal Long-Term Forecast to 2023...

DOJ SUIT COULD SIGNAL BROADER USE OF CLEAN AIR ACT'S CRIMINAL PENALTIES

The Justice Department's (DOJ) high-profile prosecution of a New Jersey pipe manufacturer for alleged criminal violations of the Clean Air Act (CAA) and other environmental laws could signal broader DOJ use of criminal prosecutions under the air law, industry and government attorneys say. In U.S. v. Atlantic States, et. al, a case pending in federal district court in New Jersey, the department is seeking to impose criminal penalties for alleged violations of CAA Title V permit requirements for excess carbon...

CORPORATE TAX BILL PROVIDES INCENTIVES FOR MEETING EPA DIESEL RULE

Small oil refiners would be provided tax breaks to comply with EPA regulations capping the sulfur content of diesel fuel used by trucks through a provision included in a major corporate tax bill that President Bush is expected to soon sign into law. The tax credits have long been sought by petroleum refiners, who say the costly new EPA rule is hurting small refiners' ability to compete in the marketplace. The provision, which was originally part of stalled energy legislation,...

DELAY IN EPA VOC DECISION MAY HAMPER USE OF LESS-HARMFUL OZONE CHEMICAL

EPA's delay in exempting a chemical from regulation as a volatile organic compound (VOC) may delay widespread use of the substance in a slew of ground-level ozone nonattainment areas -- even though EPA just approved it as an alternative to a chemical recently banned for depleting the stratospheric ozone layer, EPA and industry sources say. EPA's failure to finalize the VOC exemption discourages local areas out of attainment with federal ground-level ozone standards from allowing building contractors and others to...

WISCONSIN ACTIVISTS SEEK TOUGHEST-EVER BACT LIMITS FOR NEW COAL PLANT

Wisconsin environmentalists are pressing the state's Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to require a proposed 500-megawatt, coal-fired power plant to meet clean air standards for nitrogen oxide (NOx) and sulfur dioxide (SO2) far lower than mandated in permits before. A draft air permit issued in July for Wisconsin Public Service Corp.'s proposed Weston 4 plant would require stringent best available control technology (BACT) limits for NOx and SO2, but the Sierra Club is pressing hard for those limits to be...

INDUSTRY STUDY SAYS EPA INTERSTATE AIR RULE TO RAISE ELECTRICITY PRICES

A new analysis by industry consultants of EPA's proposal to reduce interstate air pollution caused by power plant emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides shows the rule would make electricity prices rise 25 percent by 2010 and an additional 10 percent by 2015. The energy-cost impacts of the proposal are surprising because EPA has touted the plan as striking a good balance between economic growth and environmental progress. The study, The Outlook for U.S. Steam Coal Long-Term Forecast...

Justice Department Suit May Signal Increase In Air Act Criminal Prosecutions

The Justice Department's high-profile prosecution of a New Jersey pipe manufacturer for alleged criminal violations of the Clean Air Act (CAA) and other environmental laws could signal broader use of criminal prosecutions under the air law, industry and government attorneys say. The case , U.S. v. Atlantic States, et al., is pending in federal district court in New Jersey, where the department is seeking to impose criminal penalties for alleged violations of CAA Title V permit requirements for excess carbon...

Global Dispute Could Halt New Greenhouse Gas Guidelines For Ships

An emerging global dispute is threatening to derail the International Maritime Organization's (IMO) development of first-time guidelines for calculating greenhouse gas emissions from ships, leaving EPA and other U.S. officials concerned that the disagreement could also undermine a host of future IMO standards on the environment and other issues. Talks are taking place this week in London at a meeting of the IMO Marine Environmental Protection Committee, where developing countries including India and China are expected to argue that they...

Industry Study Finds EPA Interstate Air Rule Would Raise Electricity Prices

A new analysis by industry consultants of EPA's proposal to reduce interstate air pollution caused by power plant emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides shows the rule would make electricity prices rise 25 percent by 2010 and an additional 10 percent by 2015. The energy-cost impacts of the proposal are surprising because EPA has touted the plan as striking a good balance between economic growth and environmental progress. The study, The Outlook for U.S. Steam Coal Long-Term Forecast...

EPA Revises Regulatory Reviews To Discount Long-Term Benefits

EPA science advisers are recommending a revised regulatory review process that would discount the long-term benefits of environmental controls in a way that would emphasize the projected costs of future regulations. The new approach, which expands on a preliminary analysis included in EPA's nonroad diesel rule released in May, will be used to assess controls on particulates in the agency's upcoming interstate air quality standard, and will eventually be adopted for all EPA air standards, a key agency air economist...

Corporate Tax Bill Provides Incentives For Complying With EPA Diesel Rule

Small oil refiners would be provided tax breaks to comply with EPA regulations capping the sulfur content of diesel fuel used by trucks, as part of a provision included in a major corporate tax bill that is expected to soon be signed into law. These tax credits have long been sought by petroleum refiners who say the costly new EPA rule is hurting small refiners' ability to compete in the market place. The provision, which was originally part of stalled...

Suit On EPA Air Toxics Rule Could Fuel Battle Over Mercury Plan

Environmentalists' litigation challenging EPA's air toxics rule for industrial boilers could help activists in any future challenge to provisions in the administration's controversial mercury rule that set different emissions standards for different coal types, environmentalists and industry sources say. Specifically, the maximum achievable control technology (MACT) rules for industrial boilers and mercury both call for separate standards, or subcategories, based on the type of fuel being regulated. Environmentalists believe the Bush administration is establishing requirements that distinguish between coal or...

Industry Seeks Repeal Of Clean Air Waiver Process For Stricter California Rules

Industry groups are mounting a push for Congress to eliminate California's ability to set mobile source emissions standards independently from EPA, as well as the option for other states to adopt those California rules. Groups are making their case to a National Academy of Sciences (NAS) panel that has been formed to look at state mobile source standards. The industry officials say these special provisions for California, in place since the original 1970 Clean Air Act, are "outdated." Industry groups...

Study Downplays Clean Water Effect Of Future Acid Rain Regulations

A preliminary EPA-New York state analysis downplays the likelihood that EPA's pending clean air interstate rule or other stringent future air emissions requirements will reduce high acidity levels in some Northeast lakes without additional acid neutralizing measures, agency sources say. The analysis is part of a state effort to develop aggregate pollution limits, known as total maximum daily loads (TMDL), for acid deposition in the Adirondack Mountains. Sources say the state's effort could lead to new -- and potentially stricter...

REPUBLICANS TAKE AIM AT WIDELY REFERENCED CLIMATE CHANGE STUDY

Senate Republicans are calling into question the validity of a scientific study that forms the basis of many climate change policies, including the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The Republican Policy Committee (RPC) is now highlighting arguments raised by economists who say the so-called hockey stick study, authored by Michael Mann and first published in 1998, includes faulty assumptions, unreliable methodology and cannot be trusted, these critics charge. The RPC released a report last month highlighting alleged...

INDUSTRY ARGUES FOR ELIMINATING CALIFORNIA MOBILE SOURCE WAIVERS

Industry groups are mounting a push to eliminate California's ability to set mobile source emissions standards independently from EPA, as well as the option for other states to adopt California rules. Groups are making this case in front of an ongoing National Academy of Sciences (NAS) panel looking at state mobile source standards, and they also anticipate future calls for legislation. The industry officials maintain that these special provisions for California, in place since the original 1970 Clean Air Act,...

CALIFORNIA MEXICAN TRUCK LAW MAY FACE ENFORCEMENT DIFFICULTIES

A new California law aimed at limiting increased air pollution from Mexican trucks may be difficult to enforce and also subject to legal challenge, sources say. Sources tracking the issue say the law appears to contain enforcement shortcomings that could severely limit the state's ability to mitigate even a fraction of the expected increase in pollution. And these sources say the law may be ripe for a challenge by U.S. parties under the Clean Air Act and federal commerce law,...

EPA SEEKS MORE SNOWMOBILE LIMITS IN YELLOWSTONE THAN NPS PROPOSES

EPA is urging the National Park Service (NPS) to better protect the environment than it is proposing to do in its new plan to allow 720 snowmobiles per day in Yellowstone National Park this coming winter. The agency submitted comments Sept. 20 on NPS' draft temporary winter use plan environmental assessment (EA), in which the park service identified a Clinton-era plan to replace snowmobiles with snowcoaches as the "environmentally preferred alternative" but then rejected that approach in favor of one...

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