Pennsylvania, Coalition of Cities and States Sue Federal Government to Protect Clean Air Act Requirements States Argue NSR Changes Weaken Pollution Regulations, Endanger Public Health HARRISBURG, Pa., Oct. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Secretary Kathleen A. McGinty today announced that Pennsylvania has joined a coalition of states and cities to sue the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to block changes to the New Source Review (NSR) program established under the federal Clean Air Act. The states argue that newly promulgated NSR changes will weaken national air pollution regulations, damage the environment, threaten public health and hinder economic growth. "It is clearly in the public interest to challenge EPA's newly promulgated routine maintenance, repair and replacement rules," Secretary McGinty said. "Otherwise, the residents of Pennsylvania and other downwind states will be left to pay the price. Why the federal administration wants to so disadvantage Pennsylvania is unclear. But we cannot stand idle while it happens. "Because emissions from sources in upwind states likely will increase considerably under the rule changes, Pennsylvania businesses will be put at a competitive disadvantage. The fact is that weakening clean-air standards hinders economic growth." In a lawsuit filed today in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in Washington, D.C., the states argue that only Congress has the authority to make sweeping changes in the Clean Air Act. The new rules proposed by EPA undermine Congress' intent in passing this pioneering environmental legislation. Specifically, with the new rules in place, it is estimated that more than 17,000 older power plants, oil refineries and industrial units could avoid making extensive upgrades to reduce emissions. The Clean Air Act requires major sources of air pollution to operate with state-of-the-art pollution controls. It also requires existing industrial sources of air pollution to install modern air pollution controls when they are modified. While Congress intended pollution controls to be added for any modification that increases pollution, EPA long ago allowed exemptions for "routine maintenance" to exclude work that would not be expected to increase pollution. For years, EPA interpreted this "routine maintenance" exemption by looking at the nature, purpose, cost and frequency of the modification. In a dramatic change, the new EPA regulation states that any modification costing up to 20 percent of the replacement cost of the unit will be considered "routine maintenance" and be exempt from pollution controls, even if the plant modification results in much higher levels of air pollution. For instance, if a power plant was built for $25 million 35 years ago -- before pollution controls were required under the Clean Air Act -- but replacement cost would be $100 million, the power plant operator could spend up to $20 million each year to upgrade and extend the life of the plant without installing any air pollution controls. Even if the plant actually polluted more than it had, it would not be required to install modern pollution controls under the new rule. The revisions to the New Source Review program were signed by the EPA acting administrator on Aug. 27 but did not become final until they appeared in the Federal Register today. Pennsylvania joined the suit with the states of New York, Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin; Washington, D.C.; the cities of New York and San Francisco; and several cities in Connecticut. For information about air quality, visit the state's Web site at http://www.state.pa.us/, Keyword: "DEP Air Quality." CONTACT: Kurt M. Knaus, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, +1-717-787-1323. DATASOURCE: Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection CONTACT: Kurt M. Knaus, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, +1-717-787-1323 Web site: http://www.state.pa.us/

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