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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (504142)	12/5/2003 11:51:45 AM
From: Neocon	Respond to of 769669

This sounds like a good plan to me: EPA Aims to Change Pollution Rules Utilities Could Buy Credits From Cleaner-Operating Power Plants By Eric Pianin Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, December 5, 2003; Page A02 The Bush administration yesterday proposed rules that would set new targets for the utility industry to reduce overall air pollution in the next 15 years. Under the plan, major polluters could buy credits from cleaner-operating plants as long as the overall industry targets were met. Mike Leavitt, the new administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, said the plan to slash emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and mercury by 70 percent would cost the industry $5 billion or more to implement and would represent "the largest single investment in any clean air program in history." The proposed rules, largely targeted to 30 northeastern and midwestern states with the greatest problems of smog and acid rain, closely match provisions of President Bush's "Clear Skies" legislation, which has languished in Congress for a year. With dim hopes of getting any action on that plan before the 2004 election, Leavitt and White House officials have decided to take a regulatory approach. "We still believe that the Clear Skies Act is the best approach and will work for its passage, but we didn't feel like we could wait and that we need to move forward now," Leavitt said in an interview. "We'll achieve many of the same benefits, and we're clearly deploying many of the same strategies." Yesterday's announcement consolidates key elements of the administration's clean-air efforts, which are certain to become hot issues in the presidential campaign. While some environmental groups support the general thrust of the proposals for combating nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide -- major sources of smog and dangerous fine particles that contribute to asthma and lung disease -- they overwhelmingly oppose administration plans for dealing with highly toxic mercury emissions, which cause severe neurological and developmental damage in humans. The administration is trying to undo regulations that had been in the works to force power plants to sharply reduce mercury emissions within three years by installing expensive, state-of-the-art equipment. That plan drew fierce resistance from industry groups and their congressional allies, who say the new regulations would be excessively costly and would force plants to switch from coal to more expensive natural gas to run their facilities. Now the White House and Leavitt are trying to rescind a 2000 EPA ruling, which concluded that mercury was among the most toxic chemicals that needed to be placed under the most stringent standards. Instead, the administration intends to place mercury under a less stringent category of the Clean Air Act. Mercury is a dangerous pollutant, on a par with asbestos, chromium and lead. Mercury accumulates in the environment and can cause long-term damage if it gets into the food chain. By reclassifying its category, mercury emissions would be subject to a mandatory "cap and trade" program, similar to the successful program to combat acid rain that was begun in 1990. It would allow utilities to buy emission "credits" from cleaner-operating plants to meet an overall industry target. Critics charge that the net effect of the move would be to require smaller reductions in mercury emissions that otherwise could be achieved and add nearly a decade to the time it would take the industry to implement mercury reduction technology. "This allows industry to pollute more and longer," said Frank O'Donnell of the Clean Air Trust. "It takes the Clear Skies plan and puts a big Christmas bow around it for industry polluters." Other environmentalists, citing records of White House meetings with industry representatives, charged that the White House forced the mercury plan on Leavitt within weeks of his taking charge. "The EPA is following the script written by the country's largest polluting industry," said David Hawkins of the Natural Resources Defense Council. "This is a wolf in sheep's clothing. It will slow pollution reduction, not speed it up." Leavitt and a senior aide denied that the mercury plan was foisted on them and argued that the revised proposal will force industry to spend far more and achieve greater pollution reductions than was likely to occur under the previous plan. "This, like all other policies that affect broad ranges of society, received broad discussion" within the administration, Leavitt said. "But the rules are ultimately made and signed here" at the EPA. The proposed rules are expected to become finalized in a year, Leavitt said, although legal challenges might delay the process. An industry spokesman responded cautiously to the plan. Scott Segal, director of the Electric Reliability Coordinating Counsel, said: "As with many complex environmental issues, the devil is in the details. Any proposal that forces further switching from coal to natural gas may only exacerbate the already desperate gas price and supply situation gripping the nation." One environmental group, the Adirondack Council, hailed the administration plan, saying it would lead to the elimination of acid rain in upstate New York. "This is the best news we've seen on acid rain since the Clean Air Act amendments of 1990," said council Executive Director Brian L. Houseal. washingtonpost.com