Nine States File Suit Challenging EPA Mercury Rule
Attorneys general from nine U.S. states have filed a lawsuit challenging a new
federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule that the states claim fails
to protect the public adequately from harmful mercury emissions from coal-fired
power plants. Coal-fired power plants are the largest source of uncontrolled
mercury emissions, generating 48 tons of mercury emissions per year nationwide.
The suit, filed by New Jersey on behalf of the coalition, challenges an EPA rule
published March 29, 2005, that removes power plants from the list of pollution
sources subject to stringent pollution controls under the federal Clean Air Act.
The EPA announced the rule on March 15, 2005, along with a second rule
establishing a cap-and-trade system for regulating mercury emissions. According
to the lawsuit, the trading scheme will allow some plants to actually increase
mercury emissions, creating hot spots of local and regional mercury deposition.
Members of the coalition also plan to file suit challenging the cap-and-trade
rule once it is published in the Federal Register.
The lawsuit was filed March 29, 2005, in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
District of Columbia Circuit by the attorneys general of New Jersey, California,
Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York and
Vermont.
(NY Attorney General's Office news release, 3/29/05)
(18) DOE Releases New GHG Reporting Guidance, Seeks Public Comment
The U.S. Department of Energy
(DOE) has invited further public comment on its revised guidelines for voluntary
reporting of greenhouse gas emissions, sequestration and emission reductions.
The program was established by section 1605(b) of the Energy Policy Act of 1992,
and, according to DOE, will help the Department enhance its voluntary reporting
program to reduce overall greenhouse gas emissions while improving the accuracy,
verifiability and completeness of emissions data reported to the federal
government.
"These revised guidelines represent another significant step in our broad
national effort to reduce the greenhouse gas intensity of the U.S. economy, and
address the risk of global climate change,” Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman
said. “With the help of a wide range of stakeholders, we have improved upon
our earlier effort to provide a clear and transparent accounting system that
will encourage increased participation in voluntary efforts to reduce greenhouse
gas emissions in a cost-effective way.”
The revised guidelines emphasize the importance of providing a full accounting
of all domestic and international greenhouse gas emissions, sequestration
activities and emission reductions. The revised guidelines also include “state-of-the-science”
guidance and tools for estimating emissions from agricultural, forestry and
conservation activities important for carbon sequestration efforts.
The revised guidelines will enable DOE to recognize those participants in the
program that provide an accurate and complete accounting of their greenhouse gas
emissions and activities to reduce, avoid and sequester their greenhouse gas
emissions. Under the revised guidelines, utilities, manufacturers and other
businesses that emit greenhouse gases will be able to register their emission
reductions achieved after 2002 if they also provide entity-wide emissions
inventory data.
The guidelines reflect consideration of the many comments received from states,
industry and environmental groups during the numerous stakeholder reviews and
meetings conducted by the interagency group, which included the Departments of
Energy, Agriculture, and Commerce, along with the Environmental Protection
Agency, the Council on Environmental Quality, and the Office of Management and
Budget.
The guidelines will be published in the Federal Register for a 60-day
public comment period and are expected to become effective 180 days from
publication.
Two public workshops are planned to discuss these latest revisions to the
guidelines. The first, to be held in late April, will address the full scope of
issues raised by the guidelines. The second workshop, scheduled for early May,
will focus on those issues raised by the agricultural and forestry sections of
the guidelines.
More information on these workshops and on the guidelines is available at www.pi.energy.gov/enhancingGHGregistry.
Those wishing to offer comment on the proposed guidelines can do so by emailing 1605bguidelines.comments@hq.doe.gov.
(Source: U.S. DOE news release, 3/22/05)