U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regional officials are protesting a planned revision of airborne toxic emission rules for industrial plants.
The proposal, which some regional officials say would be "detrimental to the environment," was made public Monday by the advocacy group Natural Resources Defense Council, The Washington Post reported. The NRDC said the proposal would change emissions standards for oil refineries, hazardous waste incinerators, chemical plants, steel mills and other facilities that discharge thousands of pounds of airborne toxins such as arsenic, mercury and lead.
Under current law, plants emitting 10 tons or more of a toxin within a year, or 25 tons or more of a combination of toxins, must install "maximum achievable control technology" to reduce the emissions by at least 95 percent. The proposal lifts that requirement for polluters reducing their emissions to below 25 tons a year, The Post said, potentially allowing emissions to increase as long as they remained under the 25-ton limit.
An internal memo from eight of the EPA's 10 regional offices said the change might result in increased toxic emissions. Seven offices said the proposal would allow polluters to "virtually avoid regulation," the newspaper reported.
Copyright 2006 by United Press International
Related stories:
Biofuels research searches for new sources
The words are becoming familiar, even if the products aren't: biofuel, biobased, biodiesel, bioethanol. All refer to fuel that's made from bio-produced materials such as plants. Chengci Chen (pronounced Chen-see Chen), an assistant professor of cropping systems at the Central Agricultural Research Center at Moccasin, Mont., and his collaborators are investigating Montana's potential for producing biofuels using "biomass," which refers to all biologically produced materials like grains, straw, hay, trees and fruits. He and his collaborators are working on a project to evaluate the ethanol production potential of various straws, hays, and silages in Montana.
Michigan plans to cut mercury emissions
Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm has announced plans to reduce mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants by 90 percent in the next decade.
U.S. EPA proposes toxic emission cuts
The U.S. Environmental Protection agency says it is proposing reducing emissions from gasoline, vehicles and gasoline containers.
Bad sign for global warming: Thawing permafrost holds vast carbon pool
Permafrost blanketing the northern hemisphere contains more than twice the amount of carbon in the atmosphere, making it a potentially mammoth contributor to global climate change depending on how quickly it thaws.
Thawing permafrost likely to boost global warming
The thawing of permafrost in northern latitudes, which greatly increases microbial decomposition of carbon compounds in soil, will dominate other effects of warming in the region and could become a major force promoting the release of carbon dioxide and thus further warming, according to a new assessment in the September 2008 issue of
BioScience.
Carmakers falling short on EU emissions targets: report
Car makers are not doing enough to meet proposed EU targets for cutting carbon dioxide emissions, according to a report Tuesday, with some German and Japanese brands facing the biggest challenge to make the grade.
Paying to save tropical forests could be a way to reduce global carbon emissions
Wealthy nations willing to collectively spend about $1 billion annually could prevent the emission of roughly half a billion metric tons of carbon dioxide per year for the next 25 years, new research suggests.
A 'red flag' for expanding biofuels in the tropics
Biofuels, by recycling atmospheric carbon, are a potential boon to the world's ailing climate. But efforts in the tropics to significantly expand biofuel production by replacing tropical forests with oil palm, sugarcane and other agricultural biofuels could, in fact, accelerate climate change, according to a new study published this week (July 9).