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| HOW CLEAN IS CLEAN ENOUGH? September 12, 1997 |
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Questions asked in this forum:
Should the U.S. instigate a fee-based system to control pollution? What explains the increasing number of asthma cases? Will stricter standards in the U.S. increase pollution from Mexico? What lessons can environmentalists learn from the fight against the cigarette industry? Who controls pollution better: the states or the federal government? Where does a breath of fresh air fit into a cost-benefit analysis? Additional comments...
NewsHour Backgrounders
June 25, 1997:
Margaret Warner leads a discussion of the tougher clean air standards.
June 25, 1997:
Read our Online Forum: U.S.Representatives Julia Carson (D-IN) and Jim Gibbons (R-NV) debated the effectiveness of the EPA.
November 27, 1996:
The Environmental Protection Agency proposes to reduce smog levels by a third.
December 21, 1995:
Spencer Michels reports on the changing role of the Environmental Protection Agency.
Browse the Online NewsHour's coverage of the environment.
External Links:
Environmental Protection Agency
Citizens for a Sound Economy advocates market-based solutions to public policy problems.
Air Quality Resources on the Internet.
Clean Air Act Information Network
A question from Robert E Krug of Valencia, CA: I work for the California EPA - Dept of Toxic Substances Control as a Hazardous Substances Scientist. I have worked in both Compliance and Site Mitigation. I have a couple of questions:
How can we eliminate diesel engines? I know the Teamsters and the Trucking Industry are strong, but please expedite this. Leaded gasoline should be next.
When will Govt. agencies be inspected for environmental compliance? Govt agencies do not like to investigate other govt agencies or themselves. We are some of the worse violators.
Carol Browner of the Environmental Protection Agency responds:
The Clean Air Act requires the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish emission standards that require engine manufacturers to redesign diesel engines to emit less pollution. We have set a series of increasingly more stringent standards over the past several years. And we are not done. Tighter emission requirements take effect in 1998 and, in a couple of weeks, EPA will announce another round of even tighter standards that will take effect in 2004. These technology-forcing standards will reduce by 50% the already low levels of pollution from new diesel trucks and buses.
Of course, we also need to address the problem of old diesel vehicles that can be found in many cities. Since 1995, old buses have been required to install up-to-date pollution control equipment. And we are working closely with state and local governments to establish periodic inspections for diesel trucks to identify polluters and encourage truck owners to keep their vehicles tuned-up.
Finally, many cities across the country are converting buses and trucks from diesel power to cleaner burning fuels, such as natural gas and electric power, to help curb air pollution.
Question: How can we eliminate leaded gasoline?
It's already gone. Beginning January 1, 1996, it became unlawful to sell or dispense unleaded gasoline for any motor vehicle anywhere in the U.S. In addition, because lead is such a toxic pollutant, EPA is working hard to make developing countries aware of its dangers as a fuel additive. Our efforts have been successful--as many countries, most recently China, have announced plans to phase out the use of lead in gasoline.
Question: When will government agencies be inspected for environmental compliance? Government agencies do not like to investigate other government agencies or themselves. We are some of the worst violators.
Federal government facilities are required to comply with federal, state and local environmental and public health laws to the same extent as private parties. In addition, EPA and state regulatory agencies inspect federal facilities to ensure that the facilities are in compliance with all federal environmental and public health laws -- including the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, RCRA and others. In 1996, for example, EPA and state regulatory agencies conducted over 1,700 inspections at federal facilities.
EPA and the states also have taken numerous enforcement actions against federal facilities that are not complying with the nation*s environmental laws. Since the Federal Compliance Act was passed by Congress in 1992, EPA and the states have issued over 120 administrative orders to federal facilities and assessed over $15 million dollars in penalties for violations of our nation*s hazardous waste law (RCRA). Federal facilities are not exempt from environmental and public health laws.
Paul Beckner of "Citizens for a Sound Economy" responds:
Vice President Al Gore first advocated doing away with the very invention that has made possible our enviable standard of living in his book "Earth In The Balance." He wrote, "[I]t ought to be possible to establish a coordinated global program to accomplish the strategic goal of completely eliminating the internal combustion engine over, say, a twenty-five-year period." The Vice President obviously believes only a government-imposed approach could yield such a result, since his operative verb is "establish." At CSE, we believe that if the market needs a replacement of the internal combustion engine and promises greater benefits (environmental as well as economic) then it will happen. Need, afterall, is the mother of all invention.
As for your second point, federal agencies should of course comply with the same environmental regulations imposed on state and local governments and on the private sector. It is not unusual for departments and agencies to be at odds with the EPA on regulations, and to be concerned about the potential burden of new standards. When the new air standards were being considered, for instance, a majority of federal agencies (including the Departments or Defense, Transportation, Agriculture, Treasury, and Commerce, and the President's Council of Economic Advisors, the Office of Science and Technology Policy and the Small Business Administration) all expressed strong concerns about the impact of the standards on their own operations and on those of their constituencies.
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