The Bush administration finally authorised in August the revised EPA rule on emissions controls for renovated plants. The new rule is designed to save older installations from falling foul of NSR (new Source Review) provisions that until now obliged them to install new emissions control equipment to a standard not required of them before the renovation.
It affects 500 power plants and an estimated 20 000 factories and refineries, and has met with fierce opposition from environmentalists who see it as yet another element of the Bush energy strategy that sides with industry over the conflict of priorities in emissions control - increased energy production or reduced degradation of the environment.
The new rule allows operators to carry out upgrades worth up to 20 % of a plant's value without installing new emissions controls. The administration expects the measure to increase the efficiency of older coal fired plants, allowing them to produce more power more cheaply. Such plants still have to abide by state and federal air pollution laws so they won't necessarily increase pollution. Critics of the measure, a redefinition of existing NSR rules after months of lobbying by industrial interests, say that it will allow many plants to increase their current levels of pollution, particularly SOx, NOx and particulates, without exceeding their allowed limits.
New Jersey governor James McGreevey was quoted as saying that these changes 'rip the heart out of' the Clean Air Act. Ten states are currently sueing the EPA over previous changes to the pollution regulations, and reportedly many plan to do so over the new rule, including New York and Pennsylvania.
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