Tag: Environmental Protection Agency

Lawsuit Over New Air Quality Regulations Filed

Attorneys general from West Virginia and Kentucky filed a lawsuit against the EPA over new air quality standards. They allege the standards burden manufacturing and infrastructure projects.

Attorneys general from West Virginia and Kentucky have sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over a recent policy that raised air quality standards nationally.

Filed Wednesday, the lawsuit claims that adjusting to the new standard would financially burden manufacturing and infrastructure projects. EPA officials have said the new policy reduces major public health risks.

Controversy grew in February after the EPA lowered the maximum concentration for particulate matter in the air by 25 percent, requiring companies to reduce their levels of air pollution.

Particulate matter refers to particles invisible to the naked eye, like some forms of soot and smoke. When inhaled, these particles can cause eye, nose and throat irritation, blood abnormalities and even lung damage.

The EPA has stated that raising air quality standards will reduce these health risks and the costs associated with them.

EPA officials have already stated that all 55 counties in West Virginia already meet the new air quality standards. Some regions with major industrial activity, like parts of Pennsylvania and Ohio, might not.

But in a press release Wednesday, Morrisey said the new measure marks an EPA attempt “to advance [President Joe] Biden’s radical climate agenda.”

The new rule is being enforced by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), a federal agency tasked with monitoring financial markets and watching for financial fraud. Companies are now being asked to estimate their potential greenhouse gasses to the SEC.

“How is the company supposed to know if greenhouse gas emission will affect its finances?” he said. “How many trucks are going to be too many? How much coal to use versus natural gas or other forms of energy?”

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of 24 states in the D.C. Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals.

Wednesday’s lawsuit also listed EPA Administrator Michael Regan as a defendant. Beyond the lawsuit, EPA intervention in state air pollution standards stands on shaky ground.

Last month, members of the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments against another EPA policy from representatives of several different states, including West Virginia.

Some have said that the justices are poised to overturn that policy, which cracks down on the emission of air pollution across state lines. This could mark the third Supreme Court case lost by the EPA recently.

EPA Rule On Carbon Emissions Won’t Apply To Existing Gas Plants

The rule, expected in April, would still apply to existing coal and new gas plants. The agency will pursue a separate rule for existing gas plants after the November election.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has scaled back its proposal to limit carbon dioxide emissions from power plants.

The EPA said Thursday that existing gas-fired power plants would be exempt from its pending rule limiting greenhouse gas emissions.

The rule, expected in April, would still apply to existing coal and new gas plants. The agency will pursue a separate rule for existing gas plants after the November election.

“As EPA works towards final standards to cut climate pollution from existing coal and new gas-fired power plants later this spring, the agency is taking a new, comprehensive approach to cover the entire fleet of natural gas-fired turbines,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan said in a statement.

The change won’t have much effect in West Virginia. The state relies on coal for 89 percent of its electricity, and only 4 percent comes from gas.

Neighboring states – particularly Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia – receive more than 50 percent of their electricity from gas.

“This is a welcome step that will protect Ohio jobs and help keep electricity costs from rising for Ohio families,” said U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio. “I encourage the administration to keep working with stakeholders – including labor and manufacturers – as they finalize this rule and work to build a clean energy future.”

Coal plants will still be required to capture 90 percent of their carbon emissions, transition to gas or hydrogen, or shut down.

U.S. Rep. Carol Miller, R-West Virginia, wants the EPA to scrap the rule entirely.

“This new guidance from the EPA is nothing more than a thinly veiled attempt to destroy the coal industry,” she said. “The EPA continues to create uncertainty with flawed rule making, resulting in unstable markets and higher energy costs for all Americans.”

New $3 Million Water Treatment Plant Slated For Berkeley County

Residents of Bunker Hill, an unincorporated community of Berkeley County, are slated to receive a new $3 million water pump through the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

Berkeley County will soon receive a new water treatment plant, following a $3 million investment from the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

The new plant will service the unincorporated community of Bunker Hill. The current treatment plant there is 65 years old.

The Berkeley County Public Service Water District, which oversees the plant, has gained 4,000 new users in the last four years.

With West Virginia’s water infrastructure facing long-running issues tied to age and decreased funding, state officials have invested in water system upgrades for local communities in recent years.

This year alone, tens of millions of dollars have gone toward water projects across the state. The latest round of funding follows a federal spending request from Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va.

In a press release Tuesday, Capito said she hoped the project would support population growth in the Eastern Panhandle county.

“As communities in Berkeley County continue to grow and develop, the need for additional clean water infrastructure is critical,” she said. “This funding is a step in the process of directing the resources that these communities need to provide clean water to the growing number of residents and businesses in the area.”

State Coal Plants Meet A New EPA Standard, Except For One

The EPA proposes a revision to its Mercury and Air Toxics Standards to lower emissions of nickel, arsenic and lead from coal-burning power plants.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has proposed stricter standards on non-mercury metal pollution, and one West Virginia power plant may not meet the new requirements.

The EPA proposes a revision to its Mercury and Air Toxics Standards to lower emissions of nickel, arsenic and lead from coal-burning power plants.

According to the agency, most West Virginia power plants can meet the new standard. However, the Mon Power Harrison Power Station in Harrison County may have to be upgraded.

The updated rule is under interagency review, according to the EPA. When implemented, power plant operators will have three to four years to comply.

Hannah Catlett, a spokeswoman for Mon Power, said the company reviews all new and proposed rules for operational impacts.

“As proposed, we do not currently believe that this rule change will have a material impact to the operations of the Harrison Station,” she said.

The original Mercury and Air Toxics rule, issued in 2012, resulted in the retirement of numerous older coal-burning power plants in Appalachia.

Those included Appalachian Power’s Philip Sporn plant in Mason County, the Kanawha River plant in Kanawha County and the Kammer plant in Marshall County.

The EPA estimates the original rule led to a 90 percent reduction in mercury emissions from coal plants by 2021. 

The revised rule would reduce filterable particulate matter, including non-mercury metals, by 67 percent.

According to the agency, emissions of mercury and non-mercury metals can cause fatal heart attacks, cancer and developmental delays in children.

U.S. Supreme Court Hears Challenge To EPA’s ‘Good Neighbor’ Rule

Among other things, it could force power plants that don’t have the best NOx controls to invest in expensive new equipment.

West Virginia is part of a U.S. Supreme Court challenge to a federal rule on pollution that crosses state lines.

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments Wednesday in a challenge by West Virginia, Ohio and Indiana to the Cross-State Air Pollution, or Good Neighbor Rule.

The rule requires a reduction in nitrogen oxide, which causes smog, from power plants.

Among other things, it could force power plants that don’t have the best NOx controls to invest in expensive new equipment.

It’s estimated that Mon Power would have to spend around $500 million to equip its Fort Martin Power Station in Monongalia County with a new system that eliminates NOx.

The three states are asking the justices to stay the rule. They say the EPA lacks the authority to enforce it under the Clean Air Act.

Revitalization Of Communities Is EPA’s Focus In State, Ortiz Says

Adam Ortiz, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency administrator for Region 3, says the EPA has invested half a billion dollars in West Virginia during the Biden presidency.

State and local environmental advocates welcomed a special guest to the Capitol Tuesday for E-Day.

Adam Ortiz, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency administrator for Region 3, which includes West Virginia, came to the Capitol to speak to lawmakers and advocacy groups.

Ortiz says the EPA has invested half a billion dollars in West Virginia during the Biden presidency. That money has gone to improving water and wastewater systems and cleaning up abandoned coal mines and industrial sites.

“It’s not just cleaning up the stuff in the past but preparing this infrastructure for the future. So, it’s hard to attract a hotel to a community if you don’t have strong water systems, both drinking water and wastewater. So, we’re partnering with localities partnering with the state because we want to help West Virginia open its next chapter revitalization and you know, cleaning up the old stuff as part of that process.”

Ortiz says West Virginia has the infrastructure and the workforce to support its economic future. He says the EPA’s role is to help the state clean up the legacy pollution of its historical mining and industry.

“So our focus at EPA working with the state is on revitalization, taking a lot of these abandoned mine areas, as well as brownfields. And it wasn’t just coal production here, but also lots of chemicals and companies that are long gone. And often these sites, these properties are right in the middle of, you know, great old towns and cities, they’re connected to the water, they’re connected to the rail. So our job is to help the state clean them up and get them back online economically.”

Ortiz also praised the young people who came to the Capitol to speak out on environmental issues and share their ideas with lawmakers.

“So we’re really cheering on the young people, the universities and the schools for their environmental programs, because they’re going to have the baton before too long.”

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