Clean Air Act Issues in the 108th Congress

Publication Date: November 2004

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

Author(s):

Research Area: Environment

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Abstract:

The most prominent air quality issue in the 108th Congress was what to do about emissions from coal-fired electric power plants. On January 30, 2004, EPA proposed standards for mercury, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen oxide emissions from such plants. The proposed mercury standards have been particularly controversial: EPA claims that technology to achieve more than a 30% reduction in mercury emissions cannot be implemented until 2018, an assertion widely disputed.

Legislation was also proposed on the subject — a group of bills referred to as “multi-pollutant” legislation. The Administration version (the Clear Skies Act, H.R. 999/S. 485/S. 1844) proposed to replace numerous existing Clean Air Act requirements with a national cap and trade program for sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and mercury. Senators Jeffords and Carper, and Representatives Sweeney, Waxman, and Bass, all introduced bills that were more stringent than Clear Skies, and four of the five would have regulated carbon dioxide in addition to the other pollutants. Congress took no action on any of the measures.

Controversy also arose over EPA’s proposed and promulgated changes to the Clean Air Act’s New Source Review (NSR) requirements. NSR requires installation of best available emission controls when power plants and other major facilities are modified. Since December 31, 2002, EPA has promulgated several changes to streamline (and, many argue, weaken) the NSR requirements. On January 22, 2003, the Senate approved an amendment to H.J.Res. 2 that directed the National Academy of Sciences to conduct a study of the NSR changes. The President signed the bill, with the amendment, February 20, 2003 (P.L. 108-7).

The conference report on the energy bill (H.R. 6), which came to the House and Senate floor for action the week of November 17, 2003, contained several Clean Air Act provisions. Most of these were also contained in S. 2095, a revised version of the bill introduced February 12, 2004, and in H.R. 4503, which passed the House June 15, 2004. Most of the air provisions concerned the gasoline additives MTBE and ethanol, used to meet Clean Air Act requirements that reformulated gasoline (RFG) sold in the nation’s worst ozone nonattainment areas contain at least 2% oxygen, to improve combustion. MTBE has contaminated ground water in several states. All three bills would have banned the use of MTBE as a fuel additive nationwide, except in states that specifically authorized its use, after December 31, 2014; repealed the requirement that RFG contain oxygen; provided a major new stimulus to the use of ethanol; authorized $2 billion in grants to assist merchant MTBE production facilities in converting to the production of other fuel additives; and authorized funds for MTBE cleanup. H.R. 6 and H.R. 4503 would also have provided a “safe harbor” from product liability lawsuits for producers of MTBE and renewable fuels; S. 2095 would not have.

The 108th Congress also enacted changes to the “small engine” provisions of the Clean Air Act and considered changes to the requirement that metropolitan area transportation plans “conform” to the act.