Whitfield Weighs Using House Bill To Boost States'Air Permit 'Sovereignty'

摘要

Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-KY), chair of the energy committee's power panel, is weighing possible revisions to a draft bill that would speed the Clean Air Act permitting process in order to boost states' "sovereignty" in deciding how to write air permits for industrial facilities in the absence of EPA guidance on implementing federal air standards. During a May 21 power subcommittee hearing on the draft legislation, Delaware environment chief Collin O'Mara downplayed tie need for the bill that would require EPA to issue guidance to states on implementing its six national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) concurrently with any revisions to its NAAQS. Currently, the agency has no obligation under the air law to issue the guidance alongside the NAAQS, and the guides are often delayed.