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Source: Environment Reporter: News Archive > 2011 > 03/25/2011 > Air Pollution > Air Quality Standards: New York, North Carolina Urge EPA To Take Action on Air Transport Rule
Air Quality Standards
New York, North Carolina Urge EPA To Take Action on Air Transport Rule
RALEIGH, N.C.—The attorneys general of North Carolina and New York are urging Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson to take prompt action on a final rule addressing the interstate transportation of air pollution from power plants.
In a letter released March 21, North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper and New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman called on EPA to finalize the rule by June to protect human health and enable states to meet their requirements under the Clean Air Act.
“We respectfully request your leadership in carrying out EPA's central responsibilities in remedying the upwind smokestack pollution that interferes with our ability to restore and maintain healthy air for our citizens,” Cooper and Schneiderman wrote in the letter to Jackson, which was dated March 14.
They also requested that Jackson provide dates by which EPA would complete certain steps in the final rulemaking process.
In July 2010, EPA proposed an interstate transport rule would require 31 Eastern and Midwestern states and the District of Columbia to take steps to reduce interstate transport of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, aimed at helping downwind states achieve EPA's national ambient air quality standards for ozone and fine particles (75 Fed. Reg. 45,210; 41 ER 1501, 7/9/10).
The proposed rule would replace the Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR), a regional emissions trading program that had been struck down by judges from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in 2008. The court said EPA failed to adequately ensure that the upwind emissions reductions would be sufficient to help downwind states meet air quality standards and that the agency improperly tied sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides emissions reductions required by CAIR to Title IV of the Clean Air Act, which was meant to combat acid rain (North Carolina v. EPA, 531 F.3d 896, 67 ERC 1151 (D.C. Cir. 2008)).
The appeals court subsequently remanded the rule to EPA, calling for revisions.
In response, EPA issued a proposed transport rule that includes more extensive emissions reductions on a more rapid timeline than under the CAIR rule. The proposal would establish state-by-state emissions budgets for nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide and only allow limited interstate emissions trading.
Public Health, Other Benefits Argued
According to Cooper and Schneiderman, finalizing the transport rule by the end of June 2011 would enable states to receive air quality benefits in 2012, protecting human health and addressing the federal court's concerns over timing.
“In deciding to remand the rule rather than vacating it, the Court again underscored the importance of EPA taking prompt corrective action,” the attorneys general said in their letter.
In addition, Cooper and Schneiderman wrote that final action no later than June 2011 also is “central” to states' abilities to carry out the air quality planning and management responsibilities assigned to them under the federal Clean Air Act.
Other states that commented on the proposed transport rule voiced concern over their ability to develop related implementation plans, and several argued that EPA used flawed modeling and outdated emissions data, resulting in projected emissions that are often several times larger than observed emissions (41 ER 2237, 10/8/10).
The proposed rule also is the subject of scrutiny by members of Congress (42 ER 477, 3/11/11).
New York's Office of Attorney General issued a March 21 news release announcing the joint letter.
“Cutting the amount of air pollution that crosses state lines would avoid hundreds of thousands of illnesses and produce benefits worth hundreds of billions of dollars annually nationwide,” Schneiderman said in a March 21 statement. “To realize these enormous benefits and protect New Yorkers' air—and lungs—without delay, the EPA should take prompt action to help stem the dangerous tide of dirty air flowing into New York,” he said.
In a related matter, North Carolina recently requested that the U.S. Supreme Court consider its nuisance claims against the Tennessee Valley Authority over transported air pollution. The court has allowed interested parties to file legal briefs in that matter (North Carolina v. Tennessee Valley Authority, U.S., No. 10-997, petition filed 2/2/11; 42 ER 264, 2/11/11).
By Andrew M. Ballard.
The letter from the attorneys general of New York and North Carolina urging prompt action on an interstate transport rule is available at http://op.bna.com/env.nsf/r?Open=smiy-8f6mtj.
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