California leaders voice EPA frustrations

Noaki Schwartz, Associated Press Yahoo News 10 Jan 08;

A panel of outraged state and environmental leaders met Thursday to examine why the federal government won't let California and 16 other states regulate emissions from cars, trucks and SUVs.

The denial was the first time the Environmental Protection Agency had refused California a waiver under the Clean Air Act since Congress gave the state the right to such waivers in 1967. In response, California sued the federal government.

"I think it is fair to say that in the intervening ... years, no administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency has issued a decision which more flagrantly violated the clear language and intent of the Clean Air Act, or more fundamentally threatened the American people," Carl Pope, the executive director of the Sierra Club, told the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works at a field briefing.

EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson last month rejected the state's arguments that it faced unique threats from climate change. The federal government has a national plan to raise fuel economy standards that would be more effective than a patchwork of state regulations, Johnson said then.

The EPA's denial angered members of Congress, including Sen. Barbara Boxer and Rep. Henry Waxman, California Democrats who lead the committees that oversee the EPA.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, also a California Democrat, called on the agency's inspector general to investigate allegations that Johnson acted against recommendations from his technical and legal staff in denying the waiver.

The EPA said it would turn over all documents about its decision, but Boxer's committee was unable to get the paperwork in time for Thursday's hearing.

"Where's the work? Where's the beef behind this decision?" Boxer asked as she waved an empty cardboard box with the label "EPA Documents."

Before her was an empty chair reserved for Johnson, who did not attend. EPA spokesman Jonathan Shradar said Johnson had a busy schedule and was preparing to address the waiver issue before a full hearing of Boxer's committee in Washington on Jan. 24.

On either side of that chair sat Pope; Edmund G. Brown Jr., California's attorney general; Mary Nichols, the state Air Resources Board chairwoman; and Fran Pavley, Natural Resources Defense Council senior climate adviser.

California officials have argued that their aggressive law would require the auto industry to cut emissions by a third in new vehicles by 2016, while boosting efficiency to about 36.8 miles per gallon.

An analysis released by state air regulators showed their 2004 tailpipe regulation would be faster and tougher than the federal fuel economy rules.

Twelve other states — Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington — have adopted California's emissions standards, and others have said they plan to do so. Those states, along with Arizona, Delaware and Illinois, said Wednesday that they plan to intervene in support of California.

The EPA's Dec. 19 decision was a victory for automakers, which argued that they would be forced to reduce their selection of vehicles and raise prices in states that adopted California's standards.

Brown railed against the EPA and the Bush administration, calling the refusal a "backroom deal" with automakers.

"Sooner or later we're going to uncover real corruption," he said.

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Associated Press writer Erica Werner in Washington contributed to this report.