[WASHINGTON (Jan. 8) –– The New York Times today reported that top officials in the Bush Administration have informally recommended "relaxation" of legal interpretations and enforcement of a major Clean Air Act rule known as "New Source Review" (NSR). Several multi-million dollar enforcement actions against coal-fired power plants believed to have violated NSR Clean Air Act law are currently pending in the courts. These include several initiated by the EPA during the Clinton Administration, as well as by the Attorneys General of Vermont, New York, Connecticut and New Jersey. NSR rules require thorough federal review of companies adding or modifying a source of air emissions (i.e., a power plant) and require compliance with Clean Air Act air quality standards. The regulation applies to power plants built prior to the Clean Air Act which were ‘‘grandfathered’’ to exempt them from such standards until the facility shut down or the owners made "significant modifications" to the sites. The Bush Administration had urged a re-examination and report on NSR rules in its published energy policy of May 2001. Sen. Jim Jeffords (I-Vt.), who chairs the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, and Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, today announced that their two panels early this year will convene a joint hearing on the pending decision. Below are comments released today by Leahy and Jeffords:]

Senator Patrick Leahy, Chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee:

"The Bush Administration will make a terrible mistake if it turns a bad ‘‘grandfather clause’’ into an even worse ‘‘Santa clause’’ for the big energy companies with the dirtiest powerplants. This rollback would boost power plant pollution, and New England and other downwind regions would reap the worst of it. Despite specious and opportunistic arguments about energy security that some companies are making for this rollback, the simple fact is that, for 30 years, big energy firms have broken the law by mis-using the ‘‘grandfather’’ loophole to make vast profits while spewing tons of chemical toxins into the air. The Clinton Administration chose environmental leadership, filing lawsuits under the New Source Review rules to bring polluters to justice. It would be a great injustice to the public for the Bush Administration to irresponsibly ‘‘reinterpret’’ that historic legal action. It would show a preference for bigger industry profits at the expense of Americans’’ air quality, environment and health."

Senator Jim Jeffords, Chairman, Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works:

"I am particularly concerned that this Administration's actions may degrade air quality in the Northeast and across the Nation. The idea behind New Source Review is one of constant improvement to protect the public's health and the environment. Polluters are supposed to reduce their total emissions as time goes by, not increase them. The Administration should consider itself put on notice that it will be held accountable. The NSR enforcement actions started by the last Administration will drastically reduce pollution impacts in the Mid-West and Northeast. But, they seem to be placed in limbo while energy lobbyists actively try to undermine the foundation of those actions. Congress is still waiting for the Administration to propose its multi-pollutant legislation, which the President's energy plan promised. We need that and more constructive engagement from them to get this legislation done. Administrative reforms to NSR can wait until we make real progress with that bill."

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