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Released: Monday, August 2, 2010

WASHINGTON, D.C. – New York’s leading Adirondack environmental advocacy organization is calling on the U.S. Senate to pass legislation that will deal with acid rain and mercury pollution.

As the first step in the process, the Adirondack Council is calling on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee to mark up and pass S. 2995, the “Clean Air Act Amendments of 2010,” introduced by Senator Tom Carper, D-DE.

“We were disappointed to hear that the Senate leadership has decided to change its approach and not deal with climate change right away,” said Adirondack Council Executive Director Brian L. Houseal. “But at the same time, we are hopeful that the Senate will still address three other critical pollutants that are poisoning the Adirondack Park.”

Last week, the Senate Environment and Public Works’ (EPW) Clean Air and Nuclear Safety Subcommittee held a hearing on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s new Transport Rule, a regulation designed to replace the Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR). CAIR was deemed flawed by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals in 2008. EPA’s proposal contains reductions for sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides similar to those in the legislation, but not quite as strong. EPA is expected to promulgate a separate rule for mercury later this year.

“We have called on Congress for over a decade to pass a bill limiting all three of these pollutants that continue to slowly destroy the Adirondack Park,” continued Houseal. “While we support EPA’s efforts, we know they are almost always challenged in court and have lengthy delays. Laws are easier to defend and we want Congress to act now.”

The Council has called on Senator Carper to work with his colleagues from both parties to craft the strongest possible bill and move it out of the EPW Committee as soon as possible. New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand is a Committee member and also a co-sponsor of the bill.

“Senator Gillibrand has been working on this issue since her time in the House of Representatives,” added Houseal. “We know she is concerned about acid rain and understands the damage it has caused in the Adirondacks, Catskills and Long Island.”

The Adirondack Council has also called for some additional improvements to the legislation.

The group has asked Senator Carper to lower the cap on nitrogen oxides (NOX) even further to help states like New York meet federal air quality standards, which EPA will make even restrictive in the next few months. They have also requested more funding for the programs that collect scientific data and record the progress clean air laws and regulations are having on the amount of acid rain and mercury falling from the sky.

“These changes would make a very good bill a great bill,” noted Houseal. “We know there are industry lobbyists out there right now trying to water down this bill. However, we need the deepest cuts that are possible in order to protect human health and help our environment start to recover from decades of pollution falling on our lakes and forests.”

The EPW Committee is scheduled to begin a formal mark up on the bill this Wednesday, August 4.
The Adirondack Council is a privately funded not-for-profit organization with members in all 50 United States. The Council’s mission is to ensure the ecological integrity and wild character of New York’s 9,300-square-mile Adirondack Park. The Council carries out its mission through research, education, advocacy and legal action.