Taking The Hill
President's State of the Union Address
President Clinton's last State of the Union Address outlined several ambitious, but vague, environmental goals, most of which affect air quality issues. Global warming is a high priority for the president, who claimed that emissions cuts do not have to slow economic growth.
Plans for addressing climate change include initiatives to encourage the use of clean energy technologies in developing countries, and more funding for the development of bio-based fuels. Plans also include a second attempt to establish the Clean Air Partnership Fund; tax incentives for purchasing clean cars, homes and appliances; cuts in government energy use; rewarding early voluntary emissions reductions by industry; electricity industry restructuring; and working toward more participation in the Kyoto protocol by developing countries.
EPA to Designate 8-Hour Nonattainment Areas
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will begin working with states to designate eight-hour nonattainment areas by this summer, according to Robert Perciasepe, EPA assistant administrator. A federal court last May blocked the EPA's authority to implement the eight-hour standard but is allowing the agency to continue to identify areas that fail to meet the standard.
The EPA is likely to reinstate the less-strict, one-hour ozone standard in nearly 3,000 counties where it has been revoked since 1998. The EPA overturned the one-hour standard in these areas to make way for the stricter eight-hour standard, but the eight-hour ruling by the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals disrupted the transition.
Senate Committee to Investigate Air Emissions
The U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee plans to investigate emissions from power plants in this congressional session. Sources claim the hearings will address a broad array of issues related to air emissions, including a look at the EPA's New Source Review lawsuit against eight utilities.
Superfund Update
The battle lines in the 2000 Superfund fight are beginning to take shape. U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) has drafted a "white paper" urging members of Congress to reinstate the now expired industrial taxes that feed the Superfund Trust Fund. U.S. PIRG is also pushing legislators to rely solely on revenues from the fund to pay for the massive cleanup program.
Environmentalists claim that the move would return Congress and the federal government to the "polluter pays" principle, which dictates that only funds derived from the Superfund taxes - and not general revenue taxes - should be used to address Superfund sites. Once the trust fund is empty, funding will have to come entirely from the general revenues unless the taxes are reinstated, which would represent the ultimate betrayal of the polluter pays principle, environmentalists say.
EPA Unveils 1999 Enforcement Tally
The EPA released its final tally of enforcement actions and penalties for fiscal year 1999. Enforcement settlements for environmental cleanup, pollution control equipment and improved monitoring totaled $3.6 billion, an 80 percent increase over the previous year. Overall, the agency claims its enforcement actions reduced NOx by 5.8 million pounds, SO2 by 19 million pounds, VOCs by 6 million pounds and CO2 by 4 million pounds.
AutoInc. Magazine ® Vol.XLVIII, April 2000 E-mail: asainfo@asashop.org, Web Site: http://www.asashop.org Copyright © 2000 Automotive Service Association (ASA). All rights reserved.