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.

UTILITY CONTROLS COULD TRANSFER MERCURY TO DRY WALL MAKERS

EPA officials may consider first-time mercury emissions regulations for wallboard manufacturers because the industry production techniques could release mercury trapped in power plant waste as a result of utility controls required by the agency's controversial new mercury rule. Utility researchers, wallboard manufacturers and Energy Department (DOE) officials are launching a series of new studies to quantify how much mercury from utility waste is released when the waste is processed and heated during the manufacture of wallboard. However, it is unclear...

FINAL MERCURY RULE WEAKENS EMISSIONS LIMITS COMPARED TO PROPOSAL

EPA's final mercury rule includes less stringent caps for new and existing power plants in the first phase of reductions for the toxic air pollutant, compared to the expected caps in the agency's initial proposal. The agency is justifying the change based on a new analysis of the "co-benefits" achieved by the Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR) released earlier this month. Under the rule released March 15, EPA followed its expected approach in setting up a controversial cap-and-trade system for...

EPA MERCURY RULE FRUSTRATES STATE EFFORTS TO MEET WATER STANDARDS

The mercury reductions required under EPA's new rule creating a cap-and-trade approach for cutting mercury emissions from power plants will make it nearly impossible for states to achieve water quality standards for the toxin, state sources and environmentalists say. The rule, which requires a 70 percent cut in mercury emissions by 2018, falls short of the 90 percent reduction goal that critics have long said is needed in most states to meet their water quality requirements. "Unless EPA uses its...

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...

INDUSTRY CONCERNS MAY LIMIT SCOPE OF EPA AIR PACT FOR FARMERS

EPA is meeting resistance from many sectors of the agriculture industry over its clean air enforcement agreement for animal feeding operations (AFOs), raising the prospect that the agreement could be less effective if these businesses decline to participate. The mounting concern comes as the agency has extended the deadline for signing on to the agreement, in response to pleas that many businesses could not participate without more time to review possible concerns. Companies will now have until July 1, rather...

UTILITY RESEARCH GROUP CITES AUTO METALS AS MAJOR PARTICULATE RISK

Scientists at a power industry-funded research organization say preliminary, unreleased data indicates possible adverse health effects from metals found in car brakes and tires. The power industry may use these results to pressure states and EPA to enact strict emissions regulations for particulate matter (PM) that comes from mobile sources rather than utilities, industry officials and some scientists say. However, some scientists not affiliated with the study maintain the only types of metals proven to have serious health effects are...

RESEARCH GROUP POISED TO BEGIN NEW INQUIRY OF PM RISK DRIVERS

The Health Effects Institute (HEI), a joint EPA/industry research group that focuses on health effects of mobile source pollutants, is launching a major new effort to identify the most toxic components of fine particles (PM) that may indicate what industry sectors EPA and states may target in current and future air regulations, sources say. The plan is moving ahead at a time when an electric utility research group recently unveiled preliminary study results that suggest PM from automobiles may be...

INDUSTRY BATTLES PENDING NEW JERSEY LAW TO MANDATE DIESEL RETROFITS

Engine manufacturers are fighting New Jersey legislation that would establish one of the nation's first mandates for retrofitting diesel engines, with the industry arguing that voluntary incentives are a better option and that state action is prohibited under the Clean Air Act. Yet the state legislation may be gaining momentum after its sponsors claim to have found an alternative funding source that would pay for the bill's costs to industry. New Jersey environment officials also dispute the industry's argument that...

LAWMAKERS PUSH CLEAR SKIES ALTERNATIVES DESPITE DOUBTFUL SUPPORT

Bipartisan opponents of the Bush administration's Clear Skies legislation are pushing alternatives to the bill in the House and Senate in an effort to continue a debate on multi-pollutant legislation, despite a widespread belief among congressional sources, activists and the utility industry that neither of the alternative bills on the table will get a hearing. The Clean Smokestacks Act of 2005, introduced in the House last week by Reps. Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY), would create cap-and-trade systems...

CLEAR SKIES BACKERS EYE HOUSE STRATEGY TO PUSH FOR NEW SENATE VOTE

Following the tied vote in the Senate environment committee, Republican supporters of Clear Skies legislation now hope to pass the bill in the House to pressure the Senate to act, but opponents -- including a key Senate Republican -- say the strategy is unlikely to work. A House Energy & Commerce subcommittee hearing on the bill, originally scheduled for March 17 but delayed until April 21, should be seen as a "broad signal" that Clear Skies supporters will push forward...

SENATE BUDGET VOTE UNLIKELY TO END HILL FIGHT OVER ANWR DRILLING

Supporters and detractors of drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) say the Senate's vote to retain language in the budget blueprint that assumes revenue from the project is unlikely to end legislative debate on the issue. Nevertheless, the vote removes a major hurdle for advocates to make drilling in ANWR become a reality and is a major blow to environmentalist opponents of the effort. "It is one step at a time. This is not the final vote," said...

BOXER EYES HOLD ON JOHNSON CONFIRMATION TO PROTEST MERCURY RULE

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) may place a hold on EPA Administrator-nominee Stephen Johnson's nomination to protest the agency's recently released mercury emissions rule, as one of several options to oppose the controversial regulation. But Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) is suggesting that Johnson's involvement with one rule may not be enough for him to oppose the nomination. Sen. James Jeffords (I-VT), the ranking senator on the Environment & Public Works Committee, has strongly endorsed Johnson's nomination. Boxer told Inside Washington Publishers...

PROPOSED WESTERN STATE PSD REFORMS COULD PROVIDE NATIONAL MODEL

Officials in several Western states say changes they have proposed to simplify the agency's prevention of significant deterioration (PSD) program could provide a nationwide model for reforming the complicated requirements, which set out an air quality permitting regime that determines whether pollution can be increased near national parks and other pristine areas. Air quality officials in the West have been urging EPA to make changes to the way the agency implements the program, saying it puts a huge burden on...

WESTERN STATES URGE DIALOGUE WITH EPA TO BLUNT HAZE RULING

State and local government officials in the West are pledging to cooperate with EPA in the development of analyses bolstering the legal rationale for a regional emissions trading program for sulfur dioxide (SO2), responding to a ruling questioning the basis for the program for addressing haze problems at national parks and monuments. Five Western states and the city of Albuquerque, NM, wrote a letter March 4 to EPA air chief Jeffrey Holmstead urging that EPA immediately engage with the states...

EPA DELAYS CAIR DECISION ON EXCLUDING EAST FROM REGIONAL HAZE RULE

EPA has postponed a decision on whether its newly issued interstate air rule effectively exempts the Eastern half of the United States from an upcoming standard to reduce regional haze. EPA earlier indicated the interstate rule might be sufficient to address regional problems in the East, but the agency now says it will wait until next month, when it issues its haze rule, to determine whether the Eastern region will be subject to additional requirements. The controversy stems from EPA's...

OMB TARGETS EPA RULES FOR REVISION TO HELP MANUFACTURING SECTOR

The White House Office of Management & Budget (OMB) has released a report that lists 38 rules and guidances that it wants revised to reduce the burden on the manufacturing sector, among them methods of monitoring leaks of volatile air pollutants at industrial plants. The report is part of a broader administration effort to promote the manufacturing industry, and the report includes a total of 76 federal regulations for reform. The report is available on InsideEPA.com. The EPA rules tagged...

INDUSTRY APPLAUDS SEN. VITTER AS CLIMATE CHANGE SUBCOMMITTEE CHAIR

Industry officials who oppose government controls on carbon dioxide emissions are welcoming Sen. David Vitter's (R-LA) March 8 appointment to head a new subcommittee on global climate change. The conservative senator's record may indicate he could use the role to "give a microphone" to scientists who are skeptical that global warming exists, these sources say. The new subcommittee is being formed as part of a restructuring of the Senate Commerce, Science & Transportation Committee, which had been chaired by Sen...

OIL, NATURAL GAS PRODUCING STATES OFFER STRATEGY FOR CARBON CAPTURE

In an effort to promote the capture and storage of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, governors from oil and gas producing states are urging regulators to avoid classifying the emissions as a waste or applying drinking water rules to underground storage of CO2. The recommendations come as Congress and the administration struggle to establish a national policy on CO2 emissions, and the governors argue that regulation of CO2 storage should largely remain the domain of state regulators. The governors caution against...

DOE RELEASES NEW DRAFT GREENHOUSE GAS REPORTING GUIDELINES

The Department of Energy (DOE) has released for public comment revised interim guidelines for companies seeking to register voluntary efforts to curb greenhouse gases under what is known as the 1605 (b) program. A source familiar with the guidelines says they retain language calling on large emitters participating in the program to report on their total emission of greenhouse gases, instead of reporting only on emissions from specific projects. The guidelines also include guidance for companies seeking to report reductions...

PANEL URGES CALIFORNIA AIR BOARD TO ACT ON MAJOR INDOOR AIR THREATS

Four scientists who peer reviewed a controversial California 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 California Air Resources Board (CARB) draft staff...

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