October 27, 2003
CONTACT: Michael Fiorentino, 215-567-4004 x238
Jonathan Lewis, 617-292-0234 x12

CITIZEN GROUPS FILE SUIT TO PRESERVE
CRUCIAL CLEAN AIR ACT PROTECTIONS
EPA action increases air pollution and public health risk

Philadelphia - Clean Air Council and other environmental and public health organizations will file a lawsuit Tuesday to prevent the Bush Administration from significantly weakening federal clean air regulations. The changes to the New Source Review (NSR) program would threaten the health of millions of Americans by allowing aging power plants and other industrial facilities across the country to increase their emissions of dangerous air pollutants.

The new rules, published today by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), undercut the NSR program by exempting 17,000 power plants, refineries, chemical plants, and other sources of air pollution from the requirement to update pollution controls when they replace major components and increase air pollution.

The Clean Air Task Force is filing the lawsuit on behalf of Clean Air Council and the following six groups: the Alabama Environmental Council, Group Against Smog and Pollution, Michigan Environmental Council, the Ohio Environmental Council, Scenic Hudson, and Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. The Southern Alliance for Clean Energy is also being represented by the Southern Environmental Law Center. The lawsuit charges that the new rule is illegal and will lead to increased air pollution.

"Our members live and breathe in the vicinity of some of the oldest and dirtiest power plants in the country, and cannot tolerate increased emissions from these and other industrial polluters," said Joseph Otis Minott, Esq., Executive Director of Clean Air Council. "EPA's new rules have effectively rendered the NSR program irrelevant, leaving us no choice but to take the Agency to court to restore the program."

Pollution emitted by power plants and other industrial facilities has been linked to premature death, heart and lung disease, birth defects, and numerous other threats to public health. Pollution from these facilities also contributes to a host of environmental problems such as acid rain, algae blooms in lakes and bays, and haze in national parks and wilderness areas.

The NSR program was designed to reduce air pollution from large stationary sources by requiring that aging facilities install up-to-date pollution controls when they make physical or operational changes that increase air pollution. Under the new rule proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency, however, outdated facilities across the country will no longer be required to install pollution controls when they replace equipment - even if the upgrade increases pollution - as long as the cost of the replacement does not exceed twenty percent of the cost of the entire "process unit." Because there is nothing in the rule that limits the number of replacement projects that a facility can undertake, a facility could be completely rebuilt over the course of six nominally separate projects.

"The rule changes trample on the letter and the spirit of the Clean Air Act," said Clean Air Task Force staff attorney Jonathan Lewis. "Pollution from old coal-fired power plants and other facilities already cause thousands of premature deaths each year. Unless the new rule is overturned, that pollution will only increase."

"Southeastern Pennsylvania continues to be in nonattainment of the federal health-based ozone standards and EPA will soon acknowledge dozens of other Pennsylvania counties do not meet federal ozone standards," said Minott. "EPA's NSR rollback deprives Pennsylvania of a vital Clean Air Act tool needed to achieve healthy air."

The lawsuit will be filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

#####