News Briefs with the Canadians for EPA, said the United States will not pledge any reductions that go beyond current law. During the February meeting, the two countries will discuss emissions reporting, data sharing, and other nonregulatory issues, said Bauchman. Others are more optimistic. Even with the NO x SIP call stayed by the court, the United States might be able to achieve as much as 50% of the NO x reductions called for by that rule, predicted Wooley. The governments of Georgia, Wisconsin, and Illinois, as well as the head of the Tennessee Valley Authority, are moving forward to implement the NO-,. standard, Wooley said. And the governors of New York and Massachusetts have announced they will impose deeper NO x cuts on their in-state sources in order to reduce transboundary emissions into Canada, said Wooley. EPA has also granted requests, under Section 126 of the Clean Air Act, by a number of New England states that require reductions by specific sources in downwind states to help the northern states comply with the current NO x standard, said EPA's Rosemary Wolfe, an environmental protection specialist who has worked on preliminary issues leading to the U.S.Canadian talks. "I think EPA has a very good chance of getting NO x reductions" even as the new standard moves its way through the courts, said Wooley. —CATHERINE M. COONEY
Did you know? Radioactive waste: Current disposal in the United States of phosphogypsum, a naturally radioactive waste byproduct, amounts to 33 million tons annually. Source: FS
