Taking The Hill
Murkowski Attacks Clinton on Renewables
U.S. Sen. Frank Murkowski, R-Alaska, chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, accused the administration of inaction on the country's dependence on foreign oil. The senator attacked an administration proposal to tear down hydroelectric dams and its opposition to so-called clean coal. Murkowski went on to say that while he supports research into renewable energy, the administration's endorsement of renewable energy - namely wind, solar and geothermal energy - is not technologically feasible at present. “Despite the fact that we've spent billions in federal subsidies on renewables, today they account for barely 3 percent of this country's energy,” Murkowski said.EPA Moves to Eight-Hour Designations by June
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently distributed guidelines to state regional air directors informing them that they have until June 30 to recommend their regions to be designated as nonattainment areas under the EPA's disputed eight-hour standard. EPA will review the recommendations and provide feedback to states by the end of the summer, then finalize the designations no earlier than December. The designations could take effect in early 2001, though deadlines for states to achieve pollution reductions is unclear.The agency is moving forward with the eight-hour standard despite a ruling of a federal court last year that blocked the agency's authority to implement the standard. The court did allow the agency to identify areas that fail to meet the standard, though.
Federal Court Strikes EPA's Use of Guidance
A federal appeals court has ruled unanimously that the EPA circumvented its obligation to make major policy changes through formal rule-making processes by seeking to expand monitoring activities under the Clean Air Act through the use of guidance, rather than a rule. The decision marks a major victory for industry groups who have long argued that the EPA sidesteps notice and comment requirements by establishing regulations through non-binding guidance. The ruling also strikes the EPA's move to strengthen periodic monitoring requirements for thousands of sources of emissions.Industry sources suggest that the ruling could have broad ramifications, and that it could embolden and strengthen industry efforts to challenge a variety of guidance documents that amount to policy changes without adequate notice and comment procedures.
OSHA Policy Criticized
Members of the U.S. House of Representatives Education and the Workforce Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee used a recent panel hearing to question Labor Department officials on the fairness of policymaking at the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). A great deal of concern was raised about how OSHA set policies on the inspection of home offices as well as the agency's efforts to gather public comment on its ergonomics rule. Criticism of both issues ranged from charges of rule language ambiguity to inadequate time in the comment period.Voinovich Bill Incorporates Cost-Benefit Analysis
U.S. Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, introduced S.2362, the Air Quality Standard Improvement Act of 2000. The bill would require the EPA administrator to consider risk assessments and cost-benefit analyses as part of the process of establishing new or revised air quality standards. The bill has been referred to the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and has three cosponsors: Senators John Breaux, D-La., Mary Landrieu, D-La., and James Inhofe, R-Okla.Environmentalists are enraged, saying that the bill would “reverse 30 years of precedent under which the Clean Air Act has placed air quality and public health above cost,” according to a statement from the environmentalist group Clear the Air.
AutoInc. Magazine ® Vol.XLVIII, June 2000 E-mail: asainfo@asashop.org, Web Site: http://www.asashop.org Copyright © 2000 Automotive Service Association (ASA). All rights reserved.