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By Rose Hooper
and Lynn Hotaling
The Jackson County Board of Commissioners unanimously passed a
resolution urging N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper to join other
states in filing a Petition for Review against the recent decision
by the Environmental Protection Agency to weaken the Clean Air
Act's New Source Review "Routine Maintenance" provision.
Offered by the Canary Coalition and passed Tuesday (Nov. 18),
the resolution also urges the entire North Carolina Congressional
delegation to co-sponsor legislation to reverse the EPA decision.
The New Source Review calls for plants to install modern technology
to control pollution if planned upgrades go beyond routine maintenance.
However, the new rules, scheduled to take effect next month, would
allow plant operators to spend up to 20 percent of the value of
their plants on improvements without having to go through environmental
reviews.
This means that in five years a factory or power plant could be
completely rebuilt under the guise of "routine maintenance."
In passing the resolution Jackson County follows the example set
by the towns of Sylva and Chapel Hill as the first to pass the
resolution.
"In 2001, when we asked the commissioners to pass a resolution
supporting the Clean Smokestacks Act, they did, making Jackson
County the first in the state to do so. Others joined and the
act – one of the strongest ever – was passed. We are
asking Jackson County to take a stand again," said Avram
Friedman, chairman of the Canary Coalition.
"I support this 100 percent," said commissioner Joe
Cowan. "Western North Carolina is getting the brunt of air
pollution from other states. Meanwhile the EPA is gutting the
Clean Air Act. We are going to pay for it is asthma cases."
Votes on similar resolutions are pending in Buncombe and Mecklenburg
counties, the cities of Durham, Salisbury and Asheville, Friedman
said.
"There has been no indication, to date, from our attorney
general's office about his intentions regarding this matter,"
said Friedman, "although state officials from at least 13
other states have joined together to challenge the EPA's decision
in federal court."
Friedman said he believes the EPA's action is illegal because
the agency has disregarded the legislative intent of the NSR provision
of the Clean Air Act, which is that all grandfathered power plants
and factories would eventually be brought up to modern emission
control standards as the plants were modernized and expanded.
The North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association and Environmental
Defense and Carolinas Clean Air Coalition are working on this
campaign with the Canary Coalition.
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