EPA sets rigid rules to slash emissions of smog ingredient

By Seth Borenstein Copyright 1998 Houston Chronicle September 25, 1998

WASHINGTON - Bucking pressure from Midwestern and Southern states and the utility industry, the Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday set strict new rules to slash emissions of a key smog-producing chemical by 28 percent in five years.

In regulations first proposed a year ago and only slightly softened when formalized Thursday, the EPA essentially sided with the Northeast in a long-running smog battle with the nation's industrial heartland and its power plants.

Eastern states have long complained about smog traveling with prevailing winds from the Midwest, and Thursday's regulations mark the EPA's first effort to deal with the problem of smog pollution across state lines.

Industry is expected to spend $ 1.7 billion annually to meet the new rules, but consumers would pay no more than an extra $ 1 a month in electric bills because of the pollution curbs if states follow the EPA's recommendations, EPA Administrator Carol Browner said at a news conference.

The new rules, which go into effect in 2003 but won't be enforced until 2007, will limit emissions of nitrogen oxide, a key smog ingredient, in 22 states in the Eastern United States and the District of Columbia.

Browner and environmental activists said this would mean cleaner air for 138 million people, including 31 million whose air is expected to be improved to the point that it no longer violates federal health standards.

"Smog can aggravate bronchitis, asthma and other respiratory illnesses," Browner said. "In certain circumstances, it can even cause premature death."

Industry officials said the new rules may force companies to shut down older and dirtier power plants where pollution controls will be too expensive. If all goes according to the EPA's plans, the amount of nitrogen oxide produced by fossil fuel-powered plants will have to drop by as much as 85 percent in many places.

Utilities will have the ability to trade smog credits, so that older plants can purchase emission savings made by newer plants, even across state lines, EPA officials said.

The new rules require stricter emission reductions in "upwind" states, such as Michigan, Ohio and Indiana, instead of downwind states, such as New Jersey, New York and Massachusetts. That's partly because of the way pollution travels and in part because Eastern states have already made strides in cleaning up emissions, EPA officials said.

States that will be forced to cut emissions include Ohio, by 36 percent; Indiana, 36 percent; Kentucky, 33 percent; Michigan, 30 percent; North Carolina, 29 percent; Georgia, 26 percent; Pennsylvania, 24 percent; and South Carolina, 21 percent. New Jersey, an industrialized state, faces only a 9 percent reduction. The District of Columbia will be allowed to increase its emissions by 3 percent.

Michigan officials said they may sue the EPA to stop the rules.

"These rules are draconian and are a very big deal for Michigan," said Russ Harding, director of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality. "It could impose upon us the necessity of implementing emission testing and testing of tailpipes for all cars."

He said studies show that smog doesn't travel like the EPA believes. Michigan is responsible for no more than 5 percent of the pollution in New York, he said.

Indiana Gov. Frank O'Bannon, chairman of the Midwestern Governor's Conference, added: "We are already working with our communities on a path toward cleaner air. I am disappointed that the EPA ignored our progress and dictated its own one-size-fits-all approach."

Environmentalists lauded the EPA decision.

"It's a huge step forward. It's aggressive. It's more than we expected," said Rebecca Stanfield, energy advocate for the U.S. Public Interest Research Group. "They were under a tremendous amount of pressure from the Midwestern and Southern governors."

The fight over how to meet these ambitious mandates will now turn to the states.

The EPA plan does not tell states how to cut nitrogen oxide emissions. The easiest and cheapest way is to tightly regulate utility plants that burn fossil fuels, Browner said.

If states decide to achieve the same results by regulating something else - such as car emissions, manufacturing plants, barbecues or lawn mowers - it could cost $ 2,000 to $ 10,000 per ton of fossil fuel consumed, Browner noted.

Most states involved won't be able to meet the new standards without doing something to reduce power-plant emissions, said Bob Perciasepe, assistant EPA administrator for air issues.

Proposals to focus on utilities won't eliminate smog by themselves, warned Linda Schoumacher, spokeswoman for the Edison Electric Institute, a trade association of electricity-producing plants.

But environmental advocates say the utilities are at the heart of the smog problem.

Midwestern coal plants are out of date and have been exempt from federal air-quality laws for more than 20 years, said Jonathan Birdsong of the Izaak Walton League, an environmental group. "These grandfathered plants account for approximately 90 percent of the national utilities' nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide emissions."

The technology is now available to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions, Browner said, citing work done by the Tennessee Valley Authority and Northeastern states.

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