E.P.A. Cuts Pollution Levels With Refinery Settlements

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Enforcement efforts begun in the Clinton administration have led to negotiated settlements with a dozen companies in the last four years, resulting in fines of $40 million and promises by the companies to spend $2.2 billion for equipment upgrades that reduce toxic emissions. The improvements are projected to eliminate nearly 170,000 tons of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide, substances that cause problems for human health and the ozone.
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The agency has had less success with utility companies because of the way they interpret accusations of violations of Clean Air Act regulations under what is known as the New Source Review rule, which requires older facilities to install pollution controls when renovations would lead to increased emissions.

The operators of power plants, which account for almost a quarter of the nation's nitrogen oxide emissions and nearly 70 percent of sulfur dioxide emissions, have generally argued that they are complying with all federal laws and court decisions would eventually bear that out.

The utilities' willingness to litigate has been emboldened by two lawsuits, now on appeal, in which the trial court ruled in favor of the company, as well as by a Bush administration decision to revise the New Source Review rule to make it easier for operators to delay or avoid adding the new controls. The revision has come under attack from environmental groups and the E.P.A.'s inspector general, who issued a report last week that criticized the administration approach as lenient to companies and harmful to the air.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/10/politics/10epa.html?oref=login