EPA Denial Of Alabama SIP May Crimp States' Efforts To Ease Opacity Limits

摘要

Environmentalists are lauding EPA Region IV's rejection of an Alabama state air quality plan provision that the agency said unlawfully eased smokestack opacity limits, saying it is likely to dissuade other states from attempting to adopt the provision that critics argue could lead to violations of particulate matter (PM) emissions limits. The agency March 29 issued its final reconsideration of the Bush EPA's approval in 2008 of the provision, which Alabama adopted through a change to its state implementation plan (SIP), an air quality blueprint outlining the pollution cuts states will impose on sources to attain EPA air standards. Environmentalists asked the Obama EPA to reconsider the Bush-era approval. Relevant documents are available on InsideEPA.com. Seepage 2 for details. The provision eased Alabama's opacity limits, which are measures of the pollutants a facility releases determined by the darkness of the smoke, applicable to fine PM emissions. The SIP revisions were first submitted to EPA in 2003 and not approved until 2008, the result of a lot of back-and-forth, according to one Alabama industry source. But EPA in a fact sheet released with the final reconsideration and rejection of the plan said the change and supporting data "do not ensure continued compliance with the Clean Air Act requirements in affected areas."