Posted on 11/22/2002 8:31:55 AM PST by The_Victor
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Bush administration will ease clean air rules, allowing power plants and refineries to avoid new pollution controls when expanding operations, administration sources said Friday.
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The long-awaited rule changes will "increase energy efficiency and encourage emissions reductions," the Environmental Protection Agency (news - web sites) said in a statement obtained by The Associated Press.
An announcement of the rule change was to be made later in the day.
Environmentalists and a group of Northeastern states said they plan to file suit immediately challenging the changes. The state officials contend that the easing of the clean air requirements "will undermine efforts" to meet air quality standards.
The rule changes, which have been a top priority of the White House, are aimed at making it easier for utilities and refinery operators to change operations and expand production without installing new controls to capture the additional pollution.
Industry has argued that the old EPA regulations have hindered operation and prevented efficiency improvements.
The changes will "encourage emissions reductions," EPA Administrator Christie Whitman argues in remarks prepared for the announcement. She said that the old rules "have deterred companies from implementing projects that would increase energy efficiency and decrease air pollution."
Well,not yet but that's exactly what they have in mind. We desperately need more refining capacity AND coal-fired power plants, so now we can get on with it. Of course the enviros will whine and cry, hold their breath and turn blue if we don't let THEM run our energy production systems. Tough!
Fuel prices will be much more stable with additiional refining capacity available.
--Set higher limits for the amount of pollution that can be released by calculating emissions on a plant-wide basis rather than for individual pieces of equipment.
--Rely on the highest historical pollution levels during the past decade when figuring whether a facility's overall pollution increase requires new controls.
--Avoid having to update pollution controls if there has already been a government review of existing ones within the past 10 years.
--Exempt increased output of secondary contaminants that result from new pollution controls for other emissions.
In addition, the agency is proposing a new way of defining what constitutes ``routine maintenance, repair and replacement'' -- key language that helps determine when the regulations should kick in and is particularly important for aging coal-fired power plants.
The EPA plans to grant power plants, factories and refineries an annual ``allowance'' for maintenance. Only when expenditures rise above that allowance would an owner or operator have to install new pollution control equipment. Replacement of existing equipment would be considered maintenance.
The administration said the new maintenance treatment ``will offer facilities greater flexibility to improve and modernize their operations in ways that will reduce energy use and air pollution.''
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