Air

A House Energy & Commerce panel is advancing legislation requiring EPA to implement a 15-year phasedown of hydrofluorocarbons (HFC), chemicals that act as potent greenhouse gases, though partisan clashes over the measure are highlighting the difficulties of approving even modest GHG reduction mandates in Congress.

Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE), the top Democrat on the Senate Environment & Public Works (EPW) Committee, is pressing EPA to release an economic analysis he says shows billions of dollars in consumer benefits from bipartisan legislation to establish a 15-year phasedown of the potent greenhouse gas hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs).

Democratic lawmakers, former EPA officials, a large coalition of environmental groups and states are urging the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) to drop its plan to scale back how federal agencies implement the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), renewing a series of sharp critiques in formal comments on the policy.

Utilities, manufacturers and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce are fighting New York’s legal bid to force direct EPA regulation of hundreds of upwind air pollution sources that hinder downwind states’ attainment of federal air standards, with the opponents saying the effort unlawfully tries to create a regional interstate emissions program.