Clean Air Act

[Guest guest]

By Charlene and Holly BinnsThe Florida ForumSunday, July 21, 2002America has made great strides in the fight for cleaner,healthier air, butpollution - particularly from the nation's electric powerplants - remains alife-threatening problem to thousands in communities acrossFlorida.Power plants built before the 1970s are exempt from modernpollution controlregulations. Under the Clean Air Act, these units were"grandfathered" in,allowing them to emit harmful pollutants at 4 to 10 timesthe rate allowablefor plants built today. This loophole in the Clean Air Actwas createdbecause utilities claimed that these old power plants wouldbecome obsoletewithin 20 to 30 years and be replaced with new, cleanertechnology.Unfortunately, that has not happened.Recently, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator ToddWhitman announced a set of changes that add up to thelargest regulatoryweakening of clean air protections in the 30-year history ofthe Clean AirAct. These rule changes would allow pollution increases frommore than17,000 facilities.When she was governor of New Jersey, Whitman stronglysupported nationalpolicies that would help Florida and other East Coast statesachieve theirclean air goals. Surprisingly, at EPA, Whitman has used herauthority toundo rules that she strongly supported as governor.At issue is a clean air program known as New Source Review,which has beenan effective tool for reducing air pollution. This programrequires powerplants, refineries and other industries to installstate-of-the-artpollution controls when they make major,pollution-increasing plantmodifications. Each year this program has kept more than amillion tons ofair pollution out of our skies.Enforcement of New Source Review secured emissionsreductions from TampaElectric Company's Big Bend and Gannon power plants, whichwere ranked amongthe nation's dirtiest.But in February, the Bush administration called for arevamping of the NewSource Review in favor of his own "Clear Skies" proposal.It purports tosolve the problem of power plant pollution by settingnational caps formercury, sulfur and nitrogen emissions.But instead, the caps will allow more emissions of thesethree harmfulpollutants over a longer period of time than are allowedunder currentrules. In addition to the enormous health and environmentalprice tag,President Bush's plan will also push power companies tospend hundreds ofmillions of dollars on patchwork measures that prop up agingplants, ratherthan encouraging investment in newer, cleaner and moreefficient energytechnologies.Air quality experts have identified reducing emissions frompower plants asa technologically feasible and cost-effective approach toachieving cleanerair. The cost of these dirty dinosaurs includes the highcost of missed workdays, hospital emergency room visits, increased insurancepremiums, andexpensive prescription drugs to treat asthma and respiratoryillnessestriggered by power plant pollution. A recent report by theClean Air TaskForce shows that the public health benefits of enforcing theNew SourceReview outweigh clean up costs by as much as 10 to 1.The New Source Review rules provide important protectionsfrom air pollutionand should be left intact. But we should also take the nextstep, and theClean Power Act is a responsible solution. The measure setsmandatory limitson all four major power plant pollutants, and ensures thatevery old,grandfathered power plant eventually installs modernpollution controls.In late June, Sen. Bob Graham (D-FL) and the Environmentaland Public WorksCommittee passed the Clean Power Act. Senator Graham'ssupport of clean airprotections is to be commended. As the Clean Power Act movesto the Senatefloor, it is critical that Sen. Graham continue to play aleadership role inthis debate if we are going to have a clean air future. is the Clean Power Project Coordinator for theAmerican LungAssociation of Florida. Binns is the Clean Air Advocate forthe FloridaPublic Interest Research Group.The Florida Forum is an educational organization thatprovides the media withthe views of state experts on major public issues.