Director's Discretion as a Cost Effective Emission Reduction Strategy

摘要

Director's discretion refers to provisions in rules or regulations that allow a state or local agency official to approve alternatives to the basic provisions of a rule without further regulatory process or EPA approval. In 1988, EPA began State Implementation Plan (SIP) deficiency "calls" based on Section 110(a)(2)(H) of the Clean Air Act, including disapproval of rules with director's discretion clauses. Contrary to assertions that director's discretion clauses may adversely alter the stringency of a federally approved SIP, careful application of director's discretion in state and local regulations could be a beneficial component of ozone precursor regulation. Based on cost evaluation of rules at a local agency that incorporate director's discretion clauses, benefits have been found to include greater overall emissions reductions from source categories and reduced costs of compliance for both affected industry and the regulatory agencies. Properly applied, director's discretion clauses can be made consistent with EPA policies in newly revised regulations.