EPA AIR CHIEF'S NOMINATION MAY PROMPT SENATE DEBATE ON IGCC, AIR TOXICS

摘要

The nomination of William Wehrum to head EPA's air office may prompt Senate scrutiny into issues such as technological requirements for power plants to cut emissions, Clean Air Act enforcement and EPA's air toxics agenda, observers say. President Bush announced Feb. 27 that Wehrum would be nominated to be EPA's assistant administrator for air & radiation, after serving in an acting position since July 2005. Wehrum originally came to EPA's air office as a close associate of former Assistant Administrator Jeffrey Holmstead, whom he had worked with at the law firm Latham & Watkins. The nomination is available on InsideEPA.com. See page 2 for details. Environmentalists are already painting Wehrum as someone tied to many of the contentious policies that have emerged from the air office under Bush. "His record is deeply, deeply controversial," one activist charges. "He has yet to associate himself with any positive air quality agenda."