In yet-another indication that the Obama administration plans to ratchet up pressure on Congress to enact climate-change legislation, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on July 6 proposed regulations that would require power plants to reduce emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) to meet state-by-state emission targets.
But significantly, EPA said its new proposed rule represented a "new approach" that the agency said "can and will be applied again as further pollution reductions are needed to help areas meet air quality health standards." EPA Assistant Administrator for Air Quality Gina McCarthy called it a "new model" for future EPA regulations designed to further limit other air pollutants.
The agency said that by 2014, EPA's proposed rule and other EPA and state actions would reduce SO2 emissions by 71 percent compared to 2005 levels, while NOx emissions would decline by 52 percent. EPA cited the so-called "good neighbor" section of the Clean Air Act as providing the agency authority to mandate reductions in the "interstate transport" of air pollutants from "upwind" states that contribute to air quality problems in "downwind" states. The agency said the proposed regulations would affect 31 states and the District of Columbia. Twenty-eight states would be required to reduce both annual SO2 and NOX emissions to help "downwind" states achieve air quality standards. Twenty-six states would be required to reduce NOX emissions during summer months of the ozone season because they contribute to downwind states' ozone pollution. States not affected by the proposed rule are located in the West, as well as North and South Dakota, Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont.
The proposal resulted from a December 2008 federal appellate court ruling that ordered the agency to revise an earlier 2005 clean air interstate rule implemented by the Bush administration after North Carolina and several utilities successfully argued that some provisions violated the Clean Air Act. SO2 and NOx react in the atmosphere to form fine particle pollution and ground-level ozone (smog) that EPA said are linked to "widespread illnesses and premature deaths." Further, EPA said these pollutants "are carried on the wind" to 31 eastern states and the District of Columbia, contributing to health problems for their residents and interfering with states' ability to meet air quality standards. EPA said its proposal's estimated $2.8 billion annual cost in 2014 would be outweighed by more than $120 billion in annual health benefits that year. EPA said the proposed power plant emission reductions could be achieved by "proven and readily available" pollution-control technologies already implemented at "many power plants across the country." A 60-day comment period is to be provided, and the agency plans to schedule several public meetings on the proposal. More information is available from EPA's website by clicking here.