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Friday, July 18, 2008

Enironment - More on: DC Circuit strikes down the Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR)

Updating this ILB entry from July 11th, James Bruggers of the Louisville Courier Journal reported yesterday, July 17th:

An unexpected ruling from a federal appeals court has raised questions about dozens of air pollution control measures at coal-fired power plants in Kentucky and Indiana.

And in striking down the Bush administration’s Clean Air Interstate Rule as “fundamentally flawed,” the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia last week undercut Louisville’s strategy to tackle its long-standing problems with the two types of pollution linked to lung ailments, heart attacks and death.

The 2005 EPA rule was an important piece of the city’s effort to meet clean air standards, said Matt Stull, spokesman for the Louisville Metro Air Pollution Control District. “We’re waiting for guidance from EPA on what parts, if any, are allowed to go forward.”

Installation of new pollution controls the rule required in a 28-state area that includes Kentucky and Indiana could come to a halt, and those that were previously installed could sit idle because of the costs of running them, warned Jeffrey Holmstead, who led the EPA air program when the 2005 rule was adopted.

“They no longer have any legal obligation” under the rule, Holmstead said of the power companies. “I can say with some confidence (that) people in the Eastern United States will be breathing dirtier air unless the EPA figures out something.” * * *

The federal rule that was struck down by the court established a regional cap-and-trade system for nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide and created an incentive for utilities to add pollution controls.

Companies that cut their pollution get a credit that can be sold to others who exceed limits.

It was generally supported by both industry and environmentalists.Mayoral task forces aimed at dealing with ground level ozone, or smog, and fine particle pollution, both cited the importance of the rule.

As a result of the rule, Louisville was counting on LG&E parent E.On U.S next year to start operating devices year round that sharply reduce nitrogen oxides at several plants, including its Mill Creek plant in Louisville. The utility has been required to run them only during the spring and summer ozone season. And some plants were scheduled to have those devices turned on for the first time in 2009.

With the legal dust still settling, company officials this week said they are not sure what they’ll do.

“It wouldn’t be appropriate to speculate on what changes, if any, our company may have to make going forward,” said Chip Keeling, an E.On spokesman.

Likewise, the future of some upgrades at Duke Energy plants in Indiana are also uncertain, company officials said. While there are no immediate plans to turn off three new sulfur dioxide scrubbers at its Gibson plant in southern Indiana, the officials would not make long-term pledges.

“This decision has created a lot of uncertainly,” said Duke spokeswoman Marilyn Lineberger. “We’ll be working with state and federal regulators on next steps.”

In some good news for Louisville area residents, new 70-foot-tall “bag houses” to collect soot and other particles at Duke’s Gallagher plant in New Albany cannot shut down because of how they were built into the power plant, said Angeline Protogere, another Duke spokeswoman.

Duke has said the bag houses would cut by 70 percent the particle pollution from the plant, and reduce sulfur dioxide by 40 percent.

Duke was among several companies that challenged aspects of the EPA rule, joining in the original lawsuit brought by North Carolina, which argued that the cap-and-trade provisions in the rule could allow too much pollution to blow in from other states. Duke, meanwhile, had contested how the rule allocated allowances for sulfur dioxide reductions.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on July 18, 2008 08:37 AM
Posted to Environment