Subject: Governors Endorse Voluntary Carbon Reduction, New Source Review Reform
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Date: Tue, 7 Aug 2001 13:16:50 -0700 (PDT)

FYI - From Today's Inside EPA
Governors Endorse Voluntary Carbon Reduction, New Source Review Reform
As Congress and the White House struggle to produce a strategy to limit power plant emissions of greenhouse gases, state governors are endorsing voluntary reductions of carbon dioxide (CO2), along with an overhaul of EPA's New Source Review regulations under the Clean Air Act.
An energy policy statement </secure/data_extra/dir_01/epa2001_3641.pdf>, approved August 7 by the National Governors Association at their annual meeting in Providence, recommends that Congress "significantly reduce and cap emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, mercury, and voluntary reductions of carbon dioxide from electric power generators." This call to action puts political pressure on Congress and the White House, who are now in the process of deciding whether to add voluntary CO2 reductions to legislation regulating the other three pollutants.
But the governors also add a caveat that the regulation of pollutants should be flexible enough not to harm the economy. "The legislation should provide regulatory certainty by establishing reduction targets for emissions, phasing in reductions over a reasonable period of time, and providing market-based incentives, such as emissions-trading credits to help achieve the required reductions," the policy says.
A source with the association also says that states have already endorsed voluntary programs to lower CO2 emissions, and have said as much in earlier policy statements on climate change.
The governors are further recommending changes to EPA's New Source Review (NSR) program, which industry has long criticized as too costly and cumbersome because, in some cases, it requires permits for minor plant modifications. EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman has suggested that the Administration's proposal for limiting emissions may make new source review unnecessary.
But the governors urge EPA to reform NSR. "New Source Review requirements should be reformed to achieve improvements that enhance the environment and increase energy production capacity, while encouraging energy efficiency, fuel diversity, and the use of renewable resources," the policy reads.
And the governors are also asking for more state input into federal rules on energy and the environment. The policy asks that states be allowed to review regulations in EPA, the Department of Energy and other agencies before they are released for public comment.
Source: InsideEPA.com
Date: August 7, 2001 
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