NEWS OF THE WEEK
CLEAN AIR ACT: House quickly passes overhaul bill With the hard, dirty compromises reached behind closed doors, the House leadership brought to the floor a bill that easily garnered over whelming support for a massive overhaul of existing clean air regula tions. The bill the House approved by a vote of 401 to 21 last Thursday now goes to conference to iron out differences between it and the Sen ate version approved this April. The House bill contains a provi sion allotting $250 million over five years to assist workers who lose their jobs as a direct result of the bill. This and other differences with the Senate version are expected to lead to a feisty conference. Despite difficulties, Congress this year is expected to approve the first clean air bill since 1977. This legisla tion for the first time will impose controls to curb acid rain by requir ing electric utilities to cut sulfur di oxide emissions in half (based on 1980 levels) within 10 years. And by mandating the use of reformulated gasoline in the nation's nine smoggiest cities by 1992, it will, for the first time, attack the urban smog problem by targeting oil refiners. In the past, the problem's solution has been tight tailpipe standards im posed on the auto industry. Automakers are not exempt from the reach of the House bill, howev er. In a hard-fought compromise worked out between Rep. John D. Dingell (D.-Mich.), chairman of the Energy & Commerce Committee, and his long-time nemesis and key clean air advocate, Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D.-Calif.), automakers will have to supply California with cars capable of running on nongasoline fuels. From 1994 through 1997 some 750,000 cars powered by compressed natural gas or methanol will have to be produced. The Senate bill has no such provision, though the Admin 6
May 28, 1990 C&EN
istration initially said f that it supported such a |" program. g The House, with no ο d e b a t e , a d o p t e d lan guage on air toxics con trol similar to that in the Senate bill. Both would r e q u i r e any major source emitting one or more of 190 listed toxic air pollutants to install m a x i m u m achievable control technology ( M A C T ) w i t h i n 10 years. Dingell (above),, Waxman The two bills differ, forge compromise for bill however, on residual risk—that risk remain ing after MACT is installed. The work coal miners, had been offered Senate would impose second-tier by Sen. Robert C. Byrd (D.-W.Va.). It standards on problem facilities, re was defeated by one vote. quiring them to reduce the risk of The White House has threatened cancer to nearby residents to less to veto the conference bill if it con than one in 10,000. Facilities not tains a workers assistance provision. able to comply would be forced to It believes such a package would shut down. create o p e n - e n d e d liability that The House bill defers the issue of would rapidly exceed the $250 mil residual risk for 10 years after revi lion cap offered by Wise. On the whole, the House bill is sion of the Clean Air Act, and then has Congress act or not act based on less costly than the Senate version, an Environmental Protection Agen and generally is more favored by cy study. If Congress does not legis the Bush Administration, industry, late stricter standards at this point, labor, and environmentalists. The EPA could then issue rules that low House avoided the contentious de er remaining emissions to a level bates played out on the Senate floor that provides an "ample margin of for six weeks by resolving most of safety," the language in the 1977 the difficult issues before they reached the House floor. The com clean air law. The workers assistance package, promises were made possible by offered by Rep. Bob Wise (D.-W.Va.) Dingell's commitment to move a bill and approved 274 to 146 by the through the House this year. After House, would provide up to six eight years of blocking such legisla months of additional unemploy tion, he was politically prodded to ment insurance benefits and up to move on clean air by President two years of retraining assistance to Bush's support for such a bill and by any workers in any part of the coun Senate action in April. Dingell saw try that lose their jobs as a result of the writing in the sand and made the bill. A slightly more costly pro his tactical retreat. Lois Ember vision, but one targeted for out-of-
