Air Quality Update

• Northeast Unhappy With Delay in Midwest Reductions

• Fuel Cell Report Cites Tough Road Ahead

• President Sees Coal Future in West Virginia

Northeast Unhappy With Delay in Midwest Reductions

Citing a number of court decisions from last summer, EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman has notified Congress that the deadline for emissions rollbacks from a host of midwestern power plants will be delayed. The agency's new course of action will add at least another year to the plants' clean-up time, additional flexibility that has been widely condemned by state officials and environmental advocacy groups in the East and Northeast.

Whitman's position on the delay is based on decisions by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, affecting EPA's initiatives to reduce transported pollution from the Midwest. The compliance date for a widespread group of fossil-fueled electric power plants had been set for May 1, 2003 until the court's verdict on a number of petitions from industry groups.

EPA officials now plan to extend the deadline for another year out to May 31, 2004. Anything but a random selection, this new deadline coincides with EPA's milestone by which states must submit their nitrogen oxides (NOx) control plans. More commonly known as the "NOx SIP call," this plan places the onus for emissions reductions on states. The Court of Appeals decisions from last summer, however, targeted individual power plants focusing the issue of NOx and ozone transport under Clean Air Act Section 126 on the facility level.

By joining the two deadlines, EPA hopes to place more emphasis on the overall statewide compliance captured by the NOx SIP call. In addition, the EPA Administrator noted in her remarks to Congress that the agency would withdraw the requirements under the Section 126 rule controlling transport at individual facilities if states stayed on track with their NOx SIPs.

Since their region is widely seen as the recipient of NOx and ozone via airborne transport, officials with Northeastern states have condemned this latest change in time lines from EPA. Already struggling to meet the one-hour ozone standard, an official with New Hampshire's Department of Environmental Services said the new schedule makes it even more difficult to reach attainment. New Hampshire is one of several states trying to abandon EPA's oxygenated gasoline rule due to worries over groundwater contamination linked to the additive methyl tertiary butyl ether or MTBE. Replacing the emissions reductions tied to oxygenated fuel with other control measures could be difficult for state air officials. In addition, they now must contend with a year's delay in the expected emissions reduction benefits from at least some power plant reductions.

Officials with the Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management (NESCAUM) also expressed their displeasure with the EPA decision. Claiming that the slip in schedules prevents Northeasterners from breathing clean air for another year, a NESCAUM spokesperson noted that more than 100 electric power plants were part of the original requirement for a May 2003 clean up.

Fuel Cell Report Cites Tough Road Ahead

While research in fuel cell technology has progressed rapidly, the institutional and political barriers in making fuel cell vehicles marketable are still formidable. So says a new study published by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE).

The SAE research details the hurdles facing the industry before consumers can expect fuel cell cars on the showroom floor. Advocacy group, Environmental Defense through senior fellow, John DeCicco, released the report. According to DeCicco, "Compared to other long run options, fuel cells hold great promise to address multiple concerns, including air pollution, oil dependence, and global warming. . . " However, the report highlights the absence of incentives or market requirements for greater fuel economy, a key component that could drive further progress with many new technologies, including fuel cells.

A number of automakers have committed to putting a marketable fuel cell car on the road by 2005. However, the research identifies a "deployability gap" of at least another ten years before costs and market forces could result in profitable, viable, mass production of fuel cell cars.

President Sees Coal Future in West Virginia

Visiting coal king West Virginia, President Bush late last month called for increased use of abundant domestic coal and other fossil fuels as well. The president also told a Charleston crowd that enhanced technologies can help increase production and help ensure that coal burns cleaner.

President Bush's remarks highlighted coal burning as a key part of our national energy strategy. The president's comments centered on energy issues in the coal-rich state, as he challenged Congress to pass a comprehensive energy plan.

Clean coal technologies are front-and-center in the debate over power plant emission reductions. Pollution reductions from the utility industry are keystones of EPA's NOx SIP call and the litigation surrounding Section 126 of the Clean Air Act, both of which address the ozone transport issue.

More than half the country's electricity is produced by coal. In West Virginia, 53 of 55 counties produce the fossil fuel and nearly half of the coal bound for export comes from the Appalachian state.

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