|
WASHINGTON, DC, January 9, 2002 (ENS) - After reports that federal regulators are considering rolling back a key clean air rule, two U.S. Senators plan to hold hearings regarding whether relaxing the Clean Air Act's New Source Review rule would worsen air pollution.
Senator Jim Jeffords, the Vermont Independent who chairs the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, and Senator Patrick Leahy, the Vermont Democrat who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, announced Tuesday that their two panels early this year will convene a joint hearing on the pending decision.
The Senators are concerned about media reports that the Bush administration plans to relax the New Source Review (NSR) rule, which requires federal review of companies that add or modify a source of air emissions, such as power plants. The regulation applies to power plants built prior to the Clean Air Act which were exempted from the Act's standards until the facility shut down or the owners made "significant modifications" to the sites.
"The Bush Administration will make a terrible mistake if it turns a bad 'grandfather clause' into an even worse 'Santa clause' for the big energy companies with the dirtiest powerplants," said Leahy. "This rollback would boost power plant pollution, and New England and other downwind regions would reap the worst of it."
Several multimillion dollar enforcement actions against coal fired power plants believed to have violated the NSR rule are now pending in the courts. These include several initiated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) during the Clinton administration, as well as by the attorneys general of Vermont, New York, Connecticut and New Jersey.
At a press conference on Tuesday, nine state attorneys general warned the Bush administration that they would take legal action against the federal government if it seeks to overturn the NRS rule.
"The idea behind New Source Review is one of constant improvement to protect the public's health and the environment," said Senator Jeffords. "Polluters are supposed to reduce their total emissions as time goes by, not increase them. The administration should consider itself put on notice that it will be held accountable."
|
|
