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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: JohnM who wrote (6136)	8/27/2003 7:16:52 PM
From: LindyBill	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793612

This was the right thing to do but the Dems will have a field day with it among their base. It's their best issue. [The New York Times] August 27, 2003 E.P.A. Exempts Old Plants From Using Anti-Pollution Devices By KATHARINE Q. SEELYE WASHINGTON, Aug. 27 - In one of its most far-reaching environmental actions, the Bush administration today adopted a final rule that will allow thousands of older power plants, oil refineries and industrial units to make extensive upgrades without having to install costly new anti-pollution devices. The measure covers 17,000 power plants, refineries, pulp and paper mills, chemical plants and other industrial facilities. The new rule, for which industries have lobbied the Bush administration for two years, could save them billions of dollars in costs. Explaining their rationale for the rule, administration officials said it would clarify an otherwise subjective standard and allow plants to modernize more easily, thus leading to greater efficiencies. But critics said that it rolled back an important section of the landmark Clean Air Act and would lead to significantly more pollution. Several environmental organizations and states attorney generals vowed to take the Environmental Protection Agency to court to try to stop it from taking effect. The rule allows industrial facilities to avoid installing pollution-control devices when they replace equipment ? even if the upgrade increases pollution ? as long as the cost of the replacement is less than 20 percent of the cost of essential production equipment. That is, if a plant wanted to replace a boiler, as long as that boiler cost less than 20 percent of the cost of the entire production unit - the boiler, turbine, generator and other parts that convert coal into electricity - it would not have to install pollution controls. The rule could undermine several lawsuits that the Justice Department began under the Clinton administration and is continuing under the Bush administration. The Justice Department contends that 51 power plants are in violation of the Clean Air Act because they made significant upgrades and increased their pollution without installing pollution controls. Under the new rule, those plants would not be in violation of the Clean Air Act and could make their upgrades without triggering the pollution-control requirement. The Justice Department has obtained settlements from five of the 12 companies that operate the 51 plants. Earlier this month, it won a major case against FirstEnergy's Ohio Edison , with a federal judge ruling that the plant upgraded seven coal-fired power plants illegally because it did not install pollution equipment. The E.P.A. has estimated that if it won all of the cases involving the 51 plants, it would cut nearly 7 million tons of pollutants every year. That would amount to a 50-percent reduction of air pollution generated by all electric utilities in the United States. Abt Associates, a technical consulting firm sometimes contracted by the E.P.A., estimated that the failure to install pollution controls on the 51 plants being sued is responsible for 5,000 to 9,000 premature deaths and 80,000 to 120,000 asthma attacks every year. nytimes.com