Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Court finds fault with EPA haze program for parks, wilderness (U.S. Court of Appeals, DC Circuit)
Bakersfield Californian ^ | 2/18/05 | John Heilprin - AP

Posted on 02/18/2005 7:58:55 PM PST by NormsRevenge

WASHINGTON (AP) - A federal appeals court on Friday rejected a government-approved program used by five Western states to improve their air quality and visibility in national parks and wilderness areas.

Siding with an industry coalition, the court said the states' program was based on Environmental Protection Agency methods that the court, ruling in a case three years ago, had found to be "inconsistent with the Clean Air Act."

Friday's decision deals with efforts by Arizona, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah and Wyoming to cut sulfur dioxide pollution that contributes to regional haze, particularly at the Grand Canyon.

Mike Leavitt, now the Health and Human Services Department's secretary and formerly EPA's administrator, had helped lead those efforts as Utah's governor.

Judge Stephen Williams, writing for a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, said the similarity between methods rejected by the court and adopted for the haze program "fatally taints EPA's rule."

The judges' decision came in a challenge from the Alexandria, Va.-based Center for Energy and Economic Development, a coalition of coal, utility, rail and other companies.

But the court agreed with EPA that the Clean Air Act lets states develop pollution-trading programs that rely on the market to cut haze regionally, as opposed to strictly requiring retrofitted pollution controls on a per-plant basis.

"We are disappointed," EPA spokeswoman Cynthia Bergman said. "We will continue to work with the Western states and with all other states that seek to use such trading programs to achieve these goals."

States are still assessing the ruling's impact and will need time to figure out a new approach, said Joseph Mikitish, an Arizona assistant attorney general who represented the five states and two others, California and Illinois, that supported the efforts.

"We're going to have to revisit the program that we adopted now that the court struck it down," he said Friday night. "We need to go back to the drawing board."

EPA is scheduled to issue by mid-April regulations on cleanup requirements for power plants and other industrial sources of haze in national parks.

Vickie Patton, an attorney for Environmental Defense, called the court's decision "another chapter in the coal industries' efforts both in the courts and in the Congress to weaken clean air protections for our national parks."

The National Park Service's air resources division reported earlier this month that ozone pollution is worsening at Yellowstone, Rocky Mountain, Craters of the Moon, Canyonlands, Mesa Verde and Grand Canyon national parks. Other parks where ozone is worsening are North Cascades in Washington state, Death Valley in California, Acadia in Maine and Congaree Swamp in South Carolina, the Park Service said.

---

On the Net:

EPA: http://epa.gov/visibility/regional.html


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Extended News; Government; Politics/Elections; US: Arizona; US: New Mexico; US: Oregon; US: Utah; US: Wyoming
KEYWORDS: cleanairact; coal; court; energy; environment; epa; fault; finds; haze; parks; program; sulfurdioxide; wilderness
The National Park Service's air resources division reported earlier this month that ozone pollution is worsening at Yellowstone, Rocky Mountain, Craters of the Moon, Canyonlands, Mesa Verde and Grand Canyon national parks. Other parks where ozone is worsening are North Cascades in Washington state, Death Valley in California, Acadia in Maine and Congaree Swamp in South Carolina, the Park Service said.


Ozone is worsening ??

Nukes,, Build them now,, We will use them and all benefit in the long run.

If it's good enough for FRance, Germany and Japan, why not the US?

1 posted on 02/18/2005 7:59:00 PM PST by NormsRevenge
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: farmfriend


2 posted on 02/18/2005 8:05:20 PM PST by Libertarianize the GOP (Make all taxes truly voluntary)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: NormsRevenge
Wind-borne pollution from China and neighboring countries is spreading to California and other parts of the nation and Canada as a result of surging economic activity and destructive farming practices half a world away, according to new scientific studies. The research shows that a mix of pollutants, from dust to ozone to toxic chemicals, travels farther than once realized.

link

3 posted on 02/18/2005 8:17:27 PM PST by SouthTexas
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: NormsRevenge; abbi_normal_2; Ace2U; adam_az; Alamo-Girl; Alas; alfons; alphadog; AMDG&BVMH; amom; ..
Trees can produce a lot of air polution. Liquid amber are some of the worst.

Rights, farms, environment ping.
Let me know if you wish to be added or removed from this list.
I don't get offended if you want to be removed.

4 posted on 02/18/2005 10:07:36 PM PST by farmfriend ( Congratulations. You are everything we've come to expect from years of government training.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson