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.

ACTIVISTS CRITICIZE EPA PLAN FOR FACILITY WAIVERS IN RESIDUAL RISK RULE

EPA air office plans for exempting low-risk industrial facilities from a new round of air toxics controls is facing criticism from environmentalists, who say the Clean Air Act does not allow the agency to provide site-specific exemptions. The office is drafting a rule that would exempt industrial facilities from air toxics control requirements if the facilities can demonstrate their emissions pose minimal risks to public health. Agency sources say the possible exemptions are being considered as a way to focus...

Sen. Voinovich's Call For Deadline On Clear Skies Deal Prompts Doubts

Sen. George Voinovich's (R-OH) vow to give competing sides six months to negotiate a compromise deal on President Bush's controversial Clear Skies proposal is being rejected by a wide range of observers, who say competing groups are unlikely to narrow their long-standing differences over carbon dioxide (CO2) controls, as well as contentious provisions in the bill. Voinovich, the chairman of the Senate clean air subcommittee, is vowing to abandon President Bush's controversial Clear Skies proposal unless opponents and supporters of...

Environmentalists Cite New Study In Push To Revise Mercury MACT

Environmentalists say new findings on mercury emissions at chlorine manufacturing plants could force EPA to impose new technology standards that would phase out certain industrial processes. The environmentalists are planning to submit the new findings to EPA as part of an ongoing review of maximum achievable control technology (MACT) standards for chlor-alkali plants. The report , released Jan. 26, by the environmental group Oceana, claims chlorine manufacturing plants release more mercury than the average power plant. Electric utility plants are...

Transportation Planners Seek Flexibility From EPA Emissions Modeling

Transportation planners in small cities and rural areas are urging EPA to drop its requirement that modeling for highway air emissions must use the agency's latest, preferred method. The planners say many local authorities do not have the money or staff to run the more sophisticated modeling method, and should be free to test alternatives. These officials say EPA's newest on-road emissions model, known as MOBILE6, can increase estimates of nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions by as much as 30 percent...

Industry Study May Allow EPA To Limit Air Act Controls For Agribusiness

The results of an industry-funded study that EPA is conducting under its recently announced enforcement initiative on agricultural air pollution could help the agency determine whether animal feeding operations (AFOs) produce "fugitive" emissions that are excluded from Clean Air Act permitting requirements. The study could resolve a protracted dispute between the agriculture industry and EPA over what types of emissions are subject to regulation under the air act. Fugitive emissions, which are not funneled through smokestacks or other types of...

Local Governments Decline To Back New Senate Clear Skies Bill

Senate Republicans have so far failed to allay concerns from state and local governments that the recently-introduced version of the Bush administration's Clear Skies legislation would undercut their ability to attain EPA's new air quality standards for ozone and fine particulate matter (PM2.5), despite lobbying by GOP staff and a key lawmaker. State officials say they do not believe the bill will help them attain EPA's new standards and so far, no local government group has formally endorsed the bill...

Wisconsin Law Granting Regulatory Flexibility Seen As National Model

State officials from across the country are meeting this month in Wisconsin to examine a new state law that rewards companies that are good environmental actors with relaxed enforcement and granting them flexibility in meeting regulatory requirements. The Wisconsin program, which is being touted as a national model, expands on similar initiatives by EPA, such as Performance Track and Project XL, but which have failed to attract strong support from industry and the Bush administration. The University of Wisconsin-Madison's La...

EPA Official Urges Utilities To Limit Push For Emissions Trading Flexibility

TUCSON, AZ -- A top EPA air official is urging the electric utility industry to use discretion in pushing for greater flexibility under Clear Skies legislation and the agency's clean air interstate rule, telling the industry that support for successful cap-and-trade approaches in both plans depends on them being environmentally credible and economically sustainable. "The success of cap-and-trade rests on its credibility -- its credibility environmentally and its credibility financially," said Brian McLean, director of EPA's office of atmospheric programs...

COURT NARROWS PRECEDENT-SETTING DECISION 'VACATING' CLEAN AIR RULE

A federal appellate court has narrowed its landmark decision that vacated an EPA air rule it considered unlawful, rather than allowing it to remain in place while the agency revises it. The new ruling rejects a Bush administration request to reconsider the case. The ruling, which backs an industry challenge to an EPA-approved list of alternatives to an ozone-depleting chemical, allows courts to decide whether rejected rules can remain in place while the agency revises them. The decision may quell...

McCain May Chair Possible New Senate Climate Change Subcommittee

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) may head a new subcommittee on climate change being considered by the Senate commerce committee, which would allow the influential lawmaker to retain his oversight of the high-profile issue despite his having to step down as chairman of the full committee. A new climate change subcommittee could be announced as early as next week as part of a restructuring of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. McCain, who has been a leading voice in Congress...

ARB EJ PILOT TARGETS CHILDREN'S HEALTH IN THREE TOWNS

As part of Cal/EPA's environmental justice (EJ) action plan, the air board is proposing to focus a pilot project to reduce pollution on three mostly Latino communities in southern California affected by diesel emissions from refineries, ports, trucks, metal plating and auto-body facilities and locomotives. All the facilities are related to goods movement, which is the subject of a separate agency project to control pollution while still stimulating job creation and improving the state's economy. Air Resources Board officials are...

ACTIVISTS' SUIT ACCUSES DPR OF VIOLATING TOXIC AIR CONTAMINANT ACT

Environmentalists are suing the pesticides department, alleging it has not submitted nearly enough chemicals for consideration as toxic air contaminants (TACs) and has failed to develop regulatory controls for the few chemicals it has sent through the TAC process. Environmentalists also allege in the suit that a new risk assessment process developed by the department is an underground regulation that should be set aside. A department spokesman declined to comment on the lawsuit's specific allegations, but noted that the department...

SOUTH COAST DEVELOPS RULE TO REDUCE WASTE TRANSFER STATION ODOR

The South Coast air district is drafting a regulation to reduce emissions at waste transfer stations, which are drawing increasing complaints from nearby residents over foul odors, according to a district source. Waste industry representatives are expected to participate in the rule's development, based on concerns about the cost of any compliance methods as well as the chance that other air districts may seek similar crackdowns. Rule 410 -- Odor Abatement for Solid Waste Transfer Stations and Processing Facilities --...

SOUTH COAST MULLS CHANGES TO CONTROVERSIAL FACILITY RISK RULE

South Coast air district officials are expected soon to decide whether to modify a controversial draft risk-threshold rule to limit the location or relocation of industrial facilities near schools. Industry groups, including petroleum, grocery and service station organizations, argue the rule will not reduce any risk to children and that the district should hold off on any rule until the state air board and Cal/EPA finalize a local land-use handbook addressing cumulative impacts in sensitive areas. The proposed district rule,...

CALPERS CHIEF SEEKS FEB. 14 MEETING WITH AUTOMAKERS OVER ARB GHG REGULATION

Automaker representatives have yet to indicate whether they will meet Feb. 14 with the chief investment officer of the California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) to discuss the industry's lawsuit against the air board's greenhouse gas (GHG) regulation, according to sources. Some members of the fund's board have criticized the industry for opposing the regulation, saying that a good long-term corporate vision should include efforts to reduce GHG emissions from their products. Mark Anson, chief investment officer for CalPERS, which...

PORT EXPANSION FOCUS OF CAL/EPA, TRANSPORTATION AGENCY PROJECT

The Schwarzenegger Administration is kicking off a sensitive project to improve goods movement statewide -- including port facility expansion and trucking access -- while maintaining environmental protection, with Cal/EPA expected to push innovative incentive programs to prevent excess air pollution. The project, a joint effort between Cal/EPA and the Business, Transportation & Housing Agency (BT&H), is expected to draw significant input from a variety of stakeholders at a special meeting scheduled for Jan. 27-28 in Los Angeles. The expansion of...

KEY UTILITY LAWYER SUGGESTS 'GLOBAL SETTLEMENT' TO RESOLVE NSR SUITS

A key industry lawyer is suggesting that EPA, states, utilities, environmentalists and others involved in ongoing new source review (NSR) lawsuits may need to enter "global settlement" talks to resolve the litigation in exchange for the industry agreeing to implement standards in the agency's pending clear air interstate rule (CAIR). "One idea to put forward is a global settlement that would involve the pending [NSR] cases and the cases in the queue," Robert Sussman, a former EPA deputy administrator who...

INDUSTRY GROUP SEEKS CLEAN AIR ACT AMENDMENT FOR OIL AND GAS WELLS

An industry group plans to ask Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM) to clarify language in the Clean Air Act to ensure EPA cannot aggregate oil and natural gas wells as a single source of criteria air pollutants, which could force additional air requirements on the wells. The Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA) says the language is necessary to make the statute consistent for oil and natural gas wells, and failure to do so could subject industry to duplicative state requirements...

INDUSTRY FEARS SWEEPING IMPACT FROM TRANSBOUNDARY POLLUTION SUIT

U.S. industry groups are urging a federal appeals court to overturn a recent district court ruling that found federal Superfund law can apply to transboundary contamination, saying the decision could prompt widespread retaliation against U.S. companies by a host of foreign governments over air and water pollution that crosses international borders. The arguments raised in recent amicus filings with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit suggest the case could set a precedent allowing the extraterritorial application of...

U.S. TO PUSH 'COLLABORATIVE' MERCURY CUTS AS ALTERNATIVE TO EU TREATY

The United States plans to propose a "collaborative" approach to reducing global mercury emissions, which could be pushed as a scaled-back alternative to European calls for a treaty banning certain commercial activities. Switzerland, Norway, Sweden and other European nations have recently proposed sweeping mercury control measures, including a possible ban on trade involving the neurotoxin, and the European Union (EU) is expected to propose a treaty process at a Feb. 21-25 United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) Governing Council meeting in...

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