Word: epa
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...fuel-economy rules proposed by the federal Department of Transportation and the Environmental Protection Agency are the first major move by the U.S. toward cracking down on greenhouse-gas emissions. The proposed program includes miles-per-gallon requirements and national emissions standards under the EPA's greenhouse-gas-emissions guidelines for model years from...
...exemption that is already drawing fire is the so-called "German loophole," which allows automakers selling fewer than 400,000 vehicles in the U.S. to meet a weaker EPA standard. All the German automakers - Mercedes, BMW and Volkswagen - will qualify for the exemption as well as Mitsubishi, Subaru, Kia and more exotic brands such as Ferrari, Aston Martin, Jaguar and Land Rover...
...Therefore, it is no great surprise that power generators routinely store fly ash in unsafe conditions—and not just in Kingston. A 2007 EPA report concluded that fly ash had contaminated surface and ground water at 67 sites. Last month, the Department of the Interior found that 27 percent of American freshwater fish contained unsafe levels of mercury; fly-ash pollution is a likely contributing factor. The coal industry’s failure to safely dispose of fly ash has put hundreds of American towns in harm’s way. A rapid and meaningful response from...
...EPA has already taken steps in the right direction. In March, the agency’s director, Lisa Jackson, announced a plan to inspect disposal sites, order cleanups and repairs, and develop safety regulations to be announced by December. Furthermore, Representative Nick Rahall has proposed legislation that would federally mandate engineering standards for fly-ash impoundments. The TVA is now preparing to convert its coal waste disposal from slurry form to dry storage, which is much less likely to leach into soil and cause toxic spills...
...This strong start must be backed up by further action. The EPA should classify fly ash as a hazardous material, just as mercury, battery acid, and PCBs are. Doing so would require power generators to adhere to higher disposal standards and clean up existing dumping sites as well as increase public awareness of fly ash’s toxicity. Regulators should also ban disposal of fly ash in slurry form and require utilities to store dry fly ash in lined landfills to avoid leaching. The federal government should create financial incentives for makers of building materials to recycle more...