ADIRONDACK COUNCIL
CALLS ON US EPA TO FINALIZE CLEAN AIR INTERSTATE RULE, NOW THAT
CLEAR SKIES PLAN IS OFF THE TABLE
Clean Air Interstate
Rule Would Bring Similar Cuts on a Faster Timeline, Without Any
Changes to the Current Clean Air Act or States' Rights to Impose
Tougher Regs
For more information:
John F. Sheehan, Communications Director
518-432-1770 (w)
518-441-1340 (cell)
Released, Wednesday, March 9,
2005
WASHINGTON, D.C. - An Adirondack
environmental organization that has become a national leader
in the struggle to stop acid rain today called on the US Environmental
Protection Agency to finalize the clean air regulations it proposed
at the end of 2003.
The regulations were due to go into effect in December 2004,
but were put on hold while the Bush Administration made on final
attempt to gain Congressional approval for its proposed Clear
Skies Act.
"Now that the Clear Skies debate has concluded without any
action being taken on new clean air legislation, it's time for
EPA to do what it promised to do when former Administrator Michael
Leavitt visited the Adirondacks last August," said Brian
L. Houseal, Executive Director of the Adirondack Council. "EPA
should immediately finalize the Clean Air Interstate Rule. The
sooner the rules go into effect, the sooner power plants will
begin making the deep cuts we need to stop acid rain damage in
the Adirondack Park."
Houseal, who lives in Essex County, was the only non-Washington-based
expert called to testify before the Senate Environment and Public
Works Committee on the Clear Skies legislation in February.
"The Clean Air Interstate Rule requires cuts of 70 percent
each in the two main chemical air pollutants that cause acid
rain - sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides," Houseal explained.
"The cuts would be complete within 10 years, which is three
years sooner than the original Clear Skies plan. Unlike Clear
Skies, the CAIR rule would make no changes to states' rights
to file suits against power plants that have violated the Clean
Air Act's New Source Review program. Nor would it restrict any
state's current rights to enact laws or regulations for air pollution
that are tougher than federal law."
CAIR was first proposed by former EPA Administrator Leavitt in
December 2003. During his visit to Paul Smith's College for an
annual water quality conference in August 2004, Leavitt vowed
to finalize the rule by December 2004. However, Leavitt was appointed
commissioner of Health and Human Services in December 2004, leaving
the top post at EPA vacant until early March.
Administration officials announced in December that they wanted
to give the Senate one last opportunity to pass President Bush's
Clear Skies Act. After weeks of hearings and debate, the Senate
Environment and Public Works Committee officially gave up on
the bill Wednesday, when it became clear that recent changes
to the legislation had not moved the deadlocked committee to
take action.
Today, the Senate EPW Committee deadlocked in a 9-9 vote on
the Clear Skies bill, failing to gain the majority needed to
pass it on to the full Senate.
"The Clean Air Interstate Rule was not designed to stop
acid rain," Houseal added. "It was designed to stop
smog and soot pollution that is harming human health in at least
29 eastern states. In yet another example of how intricately
interwoven the web of life is, stopping the pollution that is
harming people will stop the pollution harming the environment.
By saving ourselves, we will also save the lakes and forests
of the Adirondacks."
Houseal noted that if the Senate or House decides to again take
up clean air legislation later this year, it should use the Clean
Air Interstate Rule as a baseline from which they can work for
improvements. He said any new legislation should be at least
as good as CAIR and should not restrict state's rights to sue
out-of-state air polluters affecting their air quality.
The EPA is due to finalize a national mercury standard by March
15. A recent federal study shows that mercury pollution in the
western Adirondacks is among the worst in the Northeast, due
to the combined impact of direct mercury deposition in the soil
and the conversion of harmless inorganic mercury to an organic
form that can damage organs and nerve cells.
The Adirondack Council's mission is to ensure the ecological
integrity and wild character of the Adirondack Park. Founded
in 1975, the Adirondack Council is an 18,000-member, privately
funded, not-for-profit organization with offices in Elizabethtown
and Albany.
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