UPDATE - Bush admin won't drop utility pollution lawsuits
Date: 17-Jan-02
Country: USA
Author: Chris Baltimore
The government's announcement came at a time when activist groups and congressional sources say the White House has been finalizing a plan to ease Environmental Protection Agency rules for aging power plants that expand their energy production.
At issue is how far a U.S. utility can go in enlarging or upgrading an old plant before it must invest in expensive new air pollution technology to control smog, acid rain and soot.
The Clinton administration's Justice Department sued nine Midwestern and Southern utilities in November 1999 to enforce the Clean Air Act's so-called "new source review" rule. The rule exempts power plants and oil refineries built before 1977 from installing modern pollution controls unless major modifications are made to the plants.
The industry, which has bitterly opposed the pollution rule, claimed the regulations prevented more power plants from being expanded and limited energy supplies.
After the Bush administration took power, many green groups expressed concern that the lawsuits would be quietly dropped and the rule rewritten to please the industry.
Attorney General John Ashcroft said in a statement that the EPA "has a reasonable basis" for continuing the lawsuits.
"Ensuring cleaner air for the health and well-being of all Americans is critically important," Ashcroft said.
U.S. utilities across the nation account for roughly 70 percent of all sulphur dioxide emissions each year and 30 percent of nitrogen oxides emissions. Both are harmful to children, the elderly and people with asthma.
However, the Justice Department also said its review covered only lawsuits already filed and "expresses no opinion on how the Clean Air Act should be enforced in the future."
GREEN GROUPS WORRY ABOUT RULE
Environmental groups said the Tuesday announcement might be a preemptive move by the Bush administration to soften the blow of a future change in the EPA air pollution law.
Last year, the Bush administration directed the EPA to overhaul the new source review rules.
The EPA's planned changes, which have been the target of intense lobbying by both environmental groups and electric utilities, are being reviewed by the White House. Industry sources expect them to be released soon.
Environmental and congressional sources previously said the administration's plan would likely increase the amount of maintenance that companies can perform without triggering the rule. For example, the requirement for new pollution equipment would kick in only if an upgrade cost more than a specific threshold such as 8 percent of a plant's capital cost.
Utilities say such requirements will allow them to maintain their plants to meet rising power demand without incurring expensive modification requirements.
"The crucial - and as yet unanswered - question is whether the administration will bow to industry pressure to gut the law that underlies these enforcement actions," said John Walke, an attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Frank O'Donnell of the Clean Air Trust, a non-profit group supporting stricter pollution rules, agreed.
"Our conclusion is that this is only the first shoe to drop and probably not the loudest one legally," O'Donnell said. "The sequence is deliberate, which is to put the good news first."
NEW LAWSUITS THREATENED
The attorneys general of a half-dozen Northeast states are also closely watching the Bush administration's handling of the air pollution issue. The states have long complained about wind-borne pollution from coal-fired power plants in the Midwest that blows into their back yards.
New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer said he welcomed the prosecution of existing lawsuits and that any easing of the EPA pollution rules in the future would be seen as "another capitulation to the president's industry supporters."
Spitzer has threatened to lead fellow Northeast states in a lawsuit against the administration if it weakens the EPA air pollution