ADIRONDACK COUNCIL
CALLED BEFORE SENATE PANEL TO TESTIFY ON PROPOSED CLEAR SKIES
ACT
Calls for Bill at
Least as Protective as Pending
Clean Air Interstate Rule In Comments to Environment & Public
Works Committee
 Click Here to Read
Testimony
For more information:
John F. Sheehan, Communications Director
518-432-1770 (w)
518-441-1340 (cell)
Released, Wednesday, February
2, 2005
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Adirondack
Council Executive Director Brian L. Houseal today called on the
US Senate Environment and Public Works Committee to pass legislation
that is at least as protective of environmental and human health
as the proposed Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR).
CAIR, which is due to go into effect in March, is a new regulatory
program advanced by the US Environmental Protection Agency that
would require deep cuts in the pollutants that cause acid rain.
It would affect 29 states from Texas to the Atlantic Coast. Using
its existing authority under the Clean Air Act, EPA would require
all of the cuts be made by 2015.
However, regulations are more prone to legal challenges than
is Congressional legislation.
"While we support CAIR, we would like to see legislation
to ensure more legal certainty in the cap levels and timelines,"
Houseal said. "We have witnessed numerous regulations tied
up in the court system for decades. Another benefit of legislation
is that reports to Congress on the progress of the program, along
with funding necessary to expand the chemical and ecological
monitoring of sensitive ecosystems like the Adirondacks, can
be mandated."
Houseal said there were three keys to ensuring that any acid
rain initiative would be successful. "First, action
to stop acid rain must be taken this year. Second, it must be
as good as or better than EPA's Clean Air Interstate Rule. Third,
no individual state's current enforcement mechanisms should be
eroded."
Houseal cited New York Governor George Pataki's and Attorney
General Eliot Spitzer's successful efforts to secure pollution-reduction
agreements from in-state power plants, over potential violations
of the Clean Air Act's New Source Review (NSR) requirements.
He noted that the Adirondack Council has been calling for further
reductions in the emissions that cause acid rain for almost a
decade, since the EPA first reported in 1995 that further reductions
beyond the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments would be necessary.
"The Adirondack Council has testified before this committee
twice before on the problem of acid rain," Houseal said.
"It has now been ten years since EPA's 1995 report detailing
the need for additional cuts to help places like the Adirondacks
recover. Something must be done this year to stop acid rain.
"Studies have shown that approximately 25,000 U.S. citizens
die annually because of power plant pollution. In essence, the
lack of action by Congress since the first time that the Adirondack
Council testified here over 5 years ago has resulted in roughly
133,000 lives being needlessly cut short. We need progress this
year - you cannot come home empty-handed yet again.
"Today, we have a new floor in the form of the Clean Air
Interstate Rule, Houseal testified. "CAIR represents a reduction
of 65% in nitrogen and 70% in sulfur emissions respectively from
current levels, in 29 eastern states plus the District of Columbia.
This rule, proposed by the EPA in December 2003, is scheduled
to be finalized March 15.
"Any legislation that is passed must build upon the floor
established by CAIR," he explained. "In order to achieve
this, Clear Skies would have to be amended to move the compliance
dates up from 2018 to 2015. We believe this is possible as it
would follow the model of the ten-year phase-in of the Clean
Air Act Amendments of 1990. Even lower emissions caps and compliance
dates would serve to speed up the recovery process of our lakes,
streams and mountains. Lowering the cap on sulfur dioxide further
would also produce a significant co-benefit in terms of reducing
mercury emissions."
"And while the Council supports a new cap on mercury emissions,
we don't support the idea of trading mercury allowances,"
he concluded.
Approximately one quarter of the Adirondack Park's 2,800 lakes
and ponds are biologically dead, meaning they can no longer sustain
their native plant and animal life. Those lakes and additional
waterways are further impacted seasonally by "spring shock,"
a phenomenon that occurs when the winter snowpack melts and sends
a high level of nitrogen into the water.
Although the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments have begun to lessen
the impacts of acid rain, the problem has clearly not been solved.
Some early data has shown a slight improvement in the acid neutralizing
capacity (ANC) of a handful of our lakes. This evidence, along
with a litany of reports from government agencies and non-governmental
organizations indicates that the 1990 amendments targeted the
right pollutants to combat acid rain, but did not reduce the
pollution levels sufficiently.
The Adirondack Council's mission
is to ensure the ecological integrity and wild character of the
Adirondack Park. Founded in 1975, the Council is a privately
funded not-for-profit organization with 18,000 members. The Council
carries out its missions through research, education, advocacy
and legal action.
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