Environment Update
December 3, 2002
Volume III, Number 8
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New Source Review (NSR) Update
On November 22, 2002, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it has finalized a 1996-proposed rule on NSR reforms-Plantwide Applicability Limits (PALs), pollution control and prevention projects, clean unit provision and emissions calculation test methodology- and is proposing, through a full and open public rulemaking process, a new regulatory definition of routine maintenance, repair and replacement (RMRR). The new definition proposes that two future categories of activities-activities within an annual maintenance, repair and replacement allowance and replacements that meet EPA's equipment replacement provision criteria- be considered RMRR. Officers of NCSL's Environment and Natural Resources committee will meet with Jeffrey Holmstead, EPA Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation, during the Fall Forum to discuss the impact these proposals will have on states.
FY2003 Appropriations May Be In Danger
On November 19, 2002, Congress passed a continuing resolution (CR) (HJRes 124), to keep the federal government up and running at FY2002 funding levels until January 11, 2003. Now, FY2003 appropriations will fall into the hands of the 108th Congress, which will have to complete eleven of the thirteen unfinished FY2003 appropriations bills. Stakeholders fear the 108th Congress will simply extend FY2002 spending levels until October 2003, thereby denying federal agencies and states regular FY2003 appropriations and consequently limit spending in the FY2004 appropriations bills and multi-year funding authorizations. The new CR goes so far as to require reports from federal agencies on the effects of operating under a full-year CR.
Department of Defense and Military Construction FY2003 appropriations bills were approved and have been signed by the president.
Energy Bill Finally Laid to Rest
Congress adjourned for the year without reaching agreement on comprehensive energy legislation. During the week of November 18, 2002, conferees on H.R. 4, comprehensive energy legislation, ended negotiations that started June 2002. Compromise provisions on dozens of issues were tossed, but Senate and House advocates vowed to "start fresh next year". Representative Billy Tauzin (R-Louisiana), recognizing the conference's inability to resolve such issues as Arctic National Wildlife Refuge drilling, electricity transmission and ethanol-related matters, offered up a trimmed-down pipeline safety and nuclear energy liability reauthorization compromise. The Senate rejected the offer. The administration strongly backed the Senate vote, refusing to accept anything without an electricity restructuring title. Both houses did approve in a separate bill (H.R. 3609) the energy bill's pipeline safety provisions. The pipeline safety legislation requires initial pipeline inspections within 10 years after enactment and reinspections every seven years. H.R. 3609 is now on its way to the president's desk.
The energy bill's controversial issues will be revisited when the Republicans take Senate leadership in the 108th Congress. Ethanol advocates fear the MTBE/ethanol compromise provision, which would have required the production of 5 billion gallons of ethanol by 2012, will have little chance of advancing without Senator Tom Daschle (D-South Dakota) as majority leader. Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), outgoing Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee chairman, warns that increased fiscal strains may force cuts in the $34 billion energy tax title next year.
U.S. General Accounting Office Report Sets Stage for Multi-Pollutant Debate
On November 12, 2002, the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) released a report that estimates that CO2 emissions could increase anywhere from 28 percent to 48 percent and mercury emissions could increase from 9 percent to 21 percent by 2020. GAO made the forecast based on anticipated increase in power plants' use of fossil fuels to keep pace with demand and a "general absence of federal or state regulations establishing emission standards for CO2 and Mercury." However, the report estimated that SOx and NOx power plant emissions would decrease thanks to Clean Air Act regulations. The GAO report is based on the Energy Information Administration's estimate that power production will increase by 42 percent by 2020. This year Senate Republicans and Democrats introduced competing versions of multi-pollutant legislation (S. 2815, S. 556), and Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.) introduced a centrist bill (S. 3135), but all three bills failed to pass. The report, Air Pollution: Meeting Future Electricity Demand Will Increase Emissions of Some Harmful Substances, was requested by Senator Joe Liberman (D-Conn.) and outgoing Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Jim Jeffords (I-Vermont). The report is available at www.gao.gov/new.items/d0349.pdf.
Administration Confirms Commitment to Brownfields
On November 13, 2002, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Christie Whitman announced that EPA and 21 other federal agencies will work together to prevent, assess, clean up, and reuse brownfields. The administration confirms its commitment in the Brownfields Federal Partnership Action Agenda, a compilation of over 100 pledges that the 21 participating federal agencies will undertake to help communities deal with brownfields. The collaboration of agency expertise and experience will help make federal brownfields programs work more productively for communities affected. Action Agenda items range from making brownfields funding a budget priority, to changing policies to facilitate brownfields redevelopment. The Brownfields Federal Partnership Action Agenda and a list of participating agencies are available at www.epa.gov/brownfields/pdf/fedparfs.pdf.
Congress Approves State Dam Safety Funding
On November 15, 2002, the Senate approved the reauthorization of the National Dam Safety Program (H.R. 4727), which authorizes $6 million a year through FY2006 for state dam safety grants. The legislation, approved by the House in September, establishes financial assistance for states to strengthen their dam safety programs. The Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the designated coordinator of the program, is required to prepare a strategic plan in coordination with the states to establish national goals and deadlines in an effort to improve security of the nation's 78,000 dams. The measure also authorizes $1.5 million a year for dam safety research and $500,000 a year for safety training. The president's FY2003 budget proposal requested $5.9 million for the program. The authorizing legislation awaits the president's signature. Appropriation of the funds will not be resolved until the 108th Congress convenes (See article: FY2003 Appropriations May Be In Danger). More information on the National Dam Safety Program is available at www.fema.gov/fima/damsafe/dsreport2.shtm.
Congress Passes Reauthorization of North American Wetlands Conservation Act
On November 15, 2002, Congress approved the North American Wetlands Conservation Reauthorization Act (NAWCRA) (H.R. 3908), which authorizes $325 million through FY2007 for wetlands preservation in Canada, Mexico and the U.S. The NAWCRA program was initiated in 1989 as an agreement between the three countries to provide long-term habitat protection for migratory birds and waterfowl in North America. The original NAWCRA language required that at least 50 percent of the funds be dedicated to projects in Canada and Mexico each year, but the bill amends the language so that the U.S. will receive between 50-70 percent of the funding for 135 projects. On December 2, 2002, the president signed the bill. Again, actual appropriations are still pending. (See article: FY2003 Appropriations May Be In Danger).
Preliminary Senate Republican Priorities in the 108th Congress
Senator Pete Dominici (R-NM), incoming chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and Senator James Inhofe (R-Okla.), incoming chairman of Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, will most likely promote Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards, electricity transmission regulations and Arctic National Wildlife Refuge drilling. Senate Republican leaders also plan to challenge or review environmental issues such as power plant emissions, water quality, endangered species and mining regulations.
Administration to Propose Stricter Fuel Economy Standards
On November 12, 2002, the Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) issued a draft notice of a proposed rulemaking to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). NHTSA will propose to raise the corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standard for Sport Utility Vehicles (SUVs), light trucks, and minivans for model years (MY) 2005-2007. The OMB and the Department of Energy are required by law to review the proposal before the notice of a proposed rulemaking is published. The final rule, must be published by April 1, 2003 in order to provide the automobile industry 18 months to make design changes in the MY 2005 fleet of vehicles. The current standard of 20.7 miles per gallon mile per gallon has not been changed since 1996. Unofficial reports speculate the standards will be raised roughly half a mile per gallon each year in the MYs 2005-2007, totaling 1.5 miles per gallon by MY 2007. The administration says the fuel economy proposal was not influenced by the potential war with Iraq, but was influenced by improving passenger safety and protecting American jobs. As current law stands, NHTSA is required to consider energy conservation, passenger safety, job protection and environmental quality when studying the possibility of raising the standards.
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Mark Your Calendars!
2002 Fall Forum
December 11-13, 2002
Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill
Washington, DC
www.ncsl.org/standcomm/fall02.htm |
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NCSL Contacts:
Molly Stauffer
Committee Director
(202) 624-3584
Laurie Holmes
Committee Assistant
(202)624-8695
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