Pennsylvania, Coalition of Cities and States Sue Federal Government to Protect Clean Air Act Requirements
28 October 2003 - 9:54AM
PR Newswire (US)
Pennsylvania, Coalition of Cities and States Sue Federal Government
to Protect Clean Air Act Requirements States Argue NSR Changes
Weaken Pollution Regulations, Endanger Public Health HARRISBURG,
Pa., Oct. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Pennsylvania Department of
Environmental Protection (DEP) Secretary Kathleen A. McGinty today
announced that Pennsylvania has joined a coalition of states and
cities to sue the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to
block changes to the New Source Review (NSR) program established
under the federal Clean Air Act. The states argue that newly
promulgated NSR changes will weaken national air pollution
regulations, damage the environment, threaten public health and
hinder economic growth. "It is clearly in the public interest to
challenge EPA's newly promulgated routine maintenance, repair and
replacement rules," Secretary McGinty said. "Otherwise, the
residents of Pennsylvania and other downwind states will be left to
pay the price. Why the federal administration wants to so
disadvantage Pennsylvania is unclear. But we cannot stand idle
while it happens. "Because emissions from sources in upwind states
likely will increase considerably under the rule changes,
Pennsylvania businesses will be put at a competitive disadvantage.
The fact is that weakening clean-air standards hinders economic
growth." In a lawsuit filed today in the U.S. Court of Appeals for
the District of Columbia Circuit in Washington, D.C., the states
argue that only Congress has the authority to make sweeping changes
in the Clean Air Act. The new rules proposed by EPA undermine
Congress' intent in passing this pioneering environmental
legislation. Specifically, with the new rules in place, it is
estimated that more than 17,000 older power plants, oil refineries
and industrial units could avoid making extensive upgrades to
reduce emissions. The Clean Air Act requires major sources of air
pollution to operate with state-of-the-art pollution controls. It
also requires existing industrial sources of air pollution to
install modern air pollution controls when they are modified. While
Congress intended pollution controls to be added for any
modification that increases pollution, EPA long ago allowed
exemptions for "routine maintenance" to exclude work that would not
be expected to increase pollution. For years, EPA interpreted this
"routine maintenance" exemption by looking at the nature, purpose,
cost and frequency of the modification. In a dramatic change, the
new EPA regulation states that any modification costing up to 20
percent of the replacement cost of the unit will be considered
"routine maintenance" and be exempt from pollution controls, even
if the plant modification results in much higher levels of air
pollution. For instance, if a power plant was built for $25 million
35 years ago -- before pollution controls were required under the
Clean Air Act -- but replacement cost would be $100 million, the
power plant operator could spend up to $20 million each year to
upgrade and extend the life of the plant without installing any air
pollution controls. Even if the plant actually polluted more than
it had, it would not be required to install modern pollution
controls under the new rule. The revisions to the New Source Review
program were signed by the EPA acting administrator on Aug. 27 but
did not become final until they appeared in the Federal Register
today. Pennsylvania joined the suit with the states of New York,
Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New
Jersey, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin;
Washington, D.C.; the cities of New York and San Francisco; and
several cities in Connecticut. For information about air quality,
visit the state's Web site at http://www.state.pa.us/, Keyword:
"DEP Air Quality." CONTACT: Kurt M. Knaus, Pennsylvania Department
of Environmental Protection, +1-717-787-1323. DATASOURCE:
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection CONTACT: Kurt
M. Knaus, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection,
+1-717-787-1323 Web site: http://www.state.pa.us/
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