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.

Industry Says Delays In Bush Clean Air Act Reforms Would Harm Environment

The American Chemistry Council has joined with a broad coalition of industry groups in intensifying its efforts to defend proposed Bush administration reforms to Clean Air Act permitting requirements, referred to as new source review (NSR) requirements. The coalition is warning House lawmakers in a new letter that any delay in the Bush administration's implementation of the reforms will come at the cost of cleaner air. The Aug. 20 letter , signed by 44 industry trade associations, is the latest...

U.S. Automakers Split With International Counterparts On Global Warming

U.S. automakers are backing away from a report they released along with their Asian and European counterparts which includes a statement that carbon dioxide (CO2) from auto emissions contributes to global warming. Representatives from the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers (AAM) -- which represents the biggest three U.S. automakers -- are now saying that they only support portions of an International Automobile Manufacturers (IAE) report to the United Nations' sustainable development conference, despite being listed as one of its three primary...

EPA, Activists Ink Proposed Pact To Speed Air Toxics Permit Deadlines

EPA and the Sierra Club have reached a proposed legal settlement that will require many industries to submit permit applications to regulators developing air toxics standards one year earlier than EPA had originally intended. The proposed settlement , which requires EPA to propose the deadline changes in an upcoming rulemaking, could also make it easier for activists to obtain information about facilities by requiring plant owners to immediately submit already required air quality plans to EPA in the event of...

Appeals Court Backs Ethanol-Friendly Air Act Interpretation

A recent federal appeals court decision has backed an EPA interpretation of Clean Air Act rules that could provide a long-term benefit to companies seeking to produce ethanol from municipal waste, by lessening the need under some circumstances for facilities to install state-of-the-art pollution control technologies. Legal experts say the ruling provides a precedent affirming regulators' decision not to regulate as a chemical processing plant a proposed experimental waste-to-ethanol facility -- and perhaps other similar facilities in the future. The...

Mexican Truck Suit's Pollution Debate Rattles Trucking Industry

A closely watched air quality lawsuit challenging Mexican-based trucks unfettered access to U.S. highways under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is splitting the trucking industry, with one key organization backing the U.S. government's decision not to study the environmental impacts of the foreign vehicles. The American Trucking Associations (ATA), a national organization that represents trucking companies, is backing the unlimited truck access, while the California Trucking Association, an ATA member, and truck drivers who are members of the...

Federal Officials Eye Changes To Rules On Traffic Congestion, Air Quality Conformity

Federal officials and Senate lawmakers are discussing several possible changes to federal rules for reducing the impact of transportation emissions on air quality -- including possible relief for areas that fail to comply with EPA's yet-to-be-implemented fine particle and ozone standards, along with changes to congestion programs. Discussion of possible changes to the program -- aired at a July 30 hearing by the Senate Environment & Public Works Committee -- comes as Congress gears up for a reauthorization of the...

Administration Unveils Clear Skies Plan, Including Details Of Air Act Changes

The Bush administration's Clear Skies power plant legislation unveiled this week outlines the most detail to date on White House proposals for Clean Air Act changes in exchange for overall emissions caps on the industry -- proposing new criteria to shield the industry from separate legal attacks by downwind states, and significantly narrowing the scope of new source review (NSR) rules for the power sector. The administration's proposal -- which was introduced by Reps. Joe Barton (R-TX), W.J. "Billy" Tauzin...

Court Boosts Industry Role In Clean Air Act 'Conformity' Cases

A federal appeals court has boosted industry's role in clean air transportation conformity cases, ruling that a trade association representing road builders can intervene in an environmentalists' suit accusing the federal government of failing to fully consider the air quality impact of road construction projects. The ruling will likely boost the participation of road building interests in similar suits currently pending in Atlanta, Houston and St. Louis, industry sources say. A federal appeals court ruled July 5 in for Better...

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