Sierra Club wins another one, this time in Michigan. I think it is time to put WV-DEP on notice that we will insist on this as part of any CTL permits.
JBK
Fred Heutte phred@SUNLIGHTDATA.COM 2/20/2009 5:59 PM >>>
http://www.eenews.net/eenewspm/2009/02/20/1/
COAL: Citing GHG emissions, EPA board remands Mich. permits (02/20/2009)
Robin Bravender, E&E reporter
U.S. EPA's Environmental Appeals Board has ordered Michigan regulators to reconsider air pollution permits issued to a proposed coal-fired power plant in the Upper Peninsula for failing to consider emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) issued federal air permits to Northern Michigan University, authorizing construction of a new boiler to burn coal, wood and natural gas at the Ripley Heating Plant in Marquette, Mich.
EPA's appeals board earlier this week sided with the Sierra Club, which argued MDEQ had failed to conduct proper reviews for CO2 and nitrous oxide emissions from the boiler.
"It underscores the days of ignoring CO2 are over, and we're thankfully in a new era when science is back in vogue," said Bruce Nilles, director of Sierra Club's Move Beyond Coal campaign.
The board based its ruling on its decision last year on permits for a planned expansion by the Deseret Power Electric Cooperative in Bonanza, Utah. In that case, the board said EPA has discretion to regulate CO2 from coal-fired power plants and ordered the Region 8 office in Denver to reconsider its decision against requiring CO2 controls on the planned expansion of the Bonanza plant.
The Michigan decision came the day after EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson announced the agency would reconsider a memorandum issued during the Bush administration that described why the government should not regulate CO2 from new coal-fired plants.
Industry groups had welcomed the Bush EPA's memo, arguing that the appeals board's decision in the Deseret case had opened up the possibility for a host of new Clean Air Act regulations on small pollution sources like schools and hospitals. But environmentalists said the memo violated the appeals board's decision.
By rejecting MDEQ's permits and not referencing the Bush administration memo, "the appeals board is following Lisa Jackson's lead," Nilles said.
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James Kotcon