EPA tells 22 states to cut air pollution; PA must comply with bid to reduce flow of pollutants from Midwest to
Northeast
By Don Hopey, Post-Gazett staff writer
Copyright 1998 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
September 25, 1998
Pennsylvania and 21 other states must significantly reduce
smog-causing emissions to comply with tougher, health-based federal air quality
standards and reduce the flow of pollutants from the Midwest to the Northeast.
Coal-burning power plants from the Midwest through the Ohio River Valley will
have to come up with
most of the emissions reductions, which will raise consumers' electric bills by
an average of 1 percent.
According to the U.S Environmental Protection Agency, that increase will be
more than offset by power cost reductions resulting from utility deregulation.
The tougher controls, which must be in place in
most areas by 2003, are expected to cut nitrogen oxide emissions by 1.1 million
tons or 28 percent annually by 2007.
EPA Administrator Carol Browner said the targeted emissions reductions
announced yesterday are the "centerpiece" of efforts to reduce urban
smog and bring regions into compliance with last year's tougher federal air quality
standards.
"By requiring states to reduce the emissions which cause
ozone smog problems in
downwind areas, EPA is doing the most important thing we can to improve the
health and air quality of millions of Americans across the eastern half of the
U.S.," said W. Michael McCabe, EPA's mid-Atlantic regional administrator.
Pennsylvania must reduce its nitrogen oxide emissions by 79,338
tons annually by 2007, or 40.3 percent of projected total emissions in the year
2007, for the
ozone-forming compound.
Other states face even steeper emissions reductions. West Virginia must cut its
nitrogen oxide emissions in 2007 by 97,967 tons or
62.9 percent. Maryland must make reductions totaling 48.6 percent; Virginia,
43.8 percent.
The new reduction plan represents the EPA's first attempt to protect public
health by reducing the amount of pollutants carried by prevailing winds from
the Midwest to the Northeast, which makes it impossible
for northeastern states to meet federal clean air standards.
For example, about one-third of the
smog-causing pollution in southwestern Pennsylvania comes from states to the west
and south, where dozens of coal-burning utilities operate plants.
Nitrogen oxide is a key ingredient of ground-level
ozone, which is a primary component of
smog.
Smog is the most pervasive air pollutant in the United States and aggravates
respiratory problems such as asthma, especially in the elderly and children.
Marcia Spink, EPA regional associate director of air quality, said the cost of
the emission reductions to utilities and
industry is estimated at $ 1.7 billion. The benefits in lower medical costs and
reduced
ozone damage to crops and forests is calculated at $ 3.1 billion.
"The reason for this rule is that we now have scientific evidence that the
states impacted by pollution transported by prevailing winds can't get their
own air clean enough to meet our health-based standards," she said. "They
can't solve their own problem, and this action is necessary to help them
achieve healthy air."
The Ridge administration said the EPA's final rule for regional nitrogen oxide
emission reductions announced yesterday is a "positive
step" toward controlling
smog.
"This is a good first step, and it's important that the EPA follows through
with implementation in a timely manner," said April Linton, a state Department
of Environmental Protection spokeswoman.
"This is the first time the EPA has recognized the need for a regional
solution to reducing
ozone."
The seven-county Pittsburgh region is classified as a moderate non-attainment
area, while Philadelphia is classified as in serious non-attainment of federal
air quality standards.
Linton said Pennsylvania utilities should be able to meet the nitrogen oxide
reduction targets.
"Pennsylvania is
a part of the
Ozone Transport Commission and has already signed an agreement to reduce nitrogen
oxide from utilities by 55 percent by May 1999," she said. "So the companies
have been preparing for that and should be in good shape."
States have until September 1999 to submit an emissions reduction
proposal, called a State Implementation Plan or "SIP." Needed controls must
be in place by 2003.
Under the new plan, states have flexibility to decide how the pollution
reductions will be achieved, but are urged to do so in the most cost-effective
manner.
The cost of cutting
a ton of nitrogen oxide from a coal-burning power plant is approximately $
1,500, compared to $ 3,400 a ton to make the same pollution reduction from cars
and trucks.
Utilities in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri and West Virginia, which have
not had to curb emissions in the past like
many utilities in the Northeast, are facing the toughest pollution reductions.
Harold Miller, director of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Growth Alliance and a
persistent critic of the EPA's air quality plans and proposals, said the new
SIP call is both good news and bad news.
"It's good, a
major victory, that the EPA is finally for the first time doing something about
other states sending us their dirty air," Miller said.
"But it's bad, because the leveling of the playing field won't occur for
several years and could be delayed even longer by legal challenges
by the midwestern states."
Miller said the new emissions reductions also fall heavily on Pennsylvania
power plants, and no one has calculated theeconomic effect. The targeted
reductions also assume continued slow growth in the state, he said.
"The reductions are calculated on projections based on that slow
growth rate, so we're being locked into that and will pay an economic penalty
for it."
The Pittsburgh region exceeded the federal standards five times this summer,
but still probably will be reclassified as an attainment region after this
year.
Roger Westman, manager of the Allegheny
County Health Department's Air Quality Division said the region, like most of
the rest of the Northeast, will have trouble meeting the new standards.
"They'll be a major challenge for all of the eastern U.S. and rest of the U.S.
as well, so we'll need to continue our existing emissions reduction
programs and then some," Westman said.
"The SIP call should go a long way to help us to reduce our
ozone, especially the contribution made by the states to the west and downwind from
us."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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