Clean Air Act

TI earns recognition for Clean Air Technology

DALLAS, July 2, 2008 -- Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) was among 11 winners named to receive the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's eighth annual Clean Air Excellence Awards for outstanding accomplishments in improving air quality and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The awards were presented recently at a ceremony in Washington, D.C.

There are four categories of awards: clean air technology, community action, education/outreach, and regulatory policy innovations. TI and Matros Technologies Inc, (MT) were recognized for innovative clean air technology they developed jointly, which improves abatement of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in semiconductor manufacturing.    » read more »

Additional 40 tons of pollution cuts move plan across goal line

Dallas, Texas, July 1, 2008 -- EPA gathered local and state partners to announce its proposed approval of the Dallas-Fort Worth clean air plan today. Also, EPA announced that the area achieved the previous 1-hour ozone standard through the success of earlier plans.

Under the proposed plan, ozone forming pollutants will be reduced by 88 tons per day – about 40 tons more than the plan had first proposed.

Texas Commission on Environmental Quality Chairman Buddy Garcia and Regional Administrator Richard Greene joined with community leaders and businesses within the nine county non-attainment area to strengthen the original plan.    » read more »

Boston, Mass., June 23, 2008 -- The pharmaceutical company Pfizer Inc. has agreed to pay a $975,000 civil penalty to resolve alleged violations of the Clean Air Act at its former manufacturing plant in Groton, Conn., the Justice Department and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today. Today’s settlement is the first of its type in federal court under regulations that are designed to control the emissions of hazardous air pollutants from pharmaceutical manufacturing operations.    » read more »

Millions Living Near Freeways Currently Face Illegal Pollution Levels

LOS ANGELES -- May 29, 2008 – A federally approved air pollution plan for the Los Angeles region should be strengthened because it does not adequately protect people near freeways from diesel truck pollution, according to a lawsuit filed today by NRDC and a coalition of environmental and health groups.

LA freeways: Photo by kalavinka (CC)    » read more »

New Jersey Joins Multi-State Challenge to EPA Ozone Standards; Federal Lawsuit Alleges Violation of the Clean Air Act

May 28, 2008 -- TRENTON - New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram announced today that New Jersey has joined with 13 other states in challenging revised, ground-level ozone standards set by the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as weak and inadequate to protect the public health and welfare.

Industrial wasteland, New Jersey: Photo by Ari Moore (CC)    » read more »

Illinois Joins Other States to Petition EPA to Adopt More Stringent Standards To Better Protect Public Health

May 28, 2008 -- Chicago - Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, 13 other states, the District of Columbia and New York City have filed a petition with the federal appeals court in Washington, D.C. seeking review of a final rule issued March 27, 2008, in which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) adopted the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for ozone.    » read more »

Funds Will Go Toward Clean Air, Green Energy, and Other Projects Throughout New York

NEW YORK, NY (April 8, 2008) – New York Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo today announced he has secured $9.5 million for the State of New York as a result of a federal Clean Air Act settlement. The funds, which will be used to fight air pollution throughout the state, come from a settlement that Attorney General Cuomo and others reached with American Electric Power (AEP), the nation’s largest power company. The total funds represent the largest payment for environmental projects ever received from a New York State settlement under the Clean Air Act.    » read more »

Dallas, Texas, March 14, 2008 -- Today the Port of Houston is the site of a national announcement of new tough emissions standards for locomotive and marine diesel engines. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Stephen L. Johnson signed the Locomotive and Marine Diesel Engines Rule that will slash diesel emissions helping Americans to breathe cleaner air.    » read more »

EPA Clears the Air

Washington, D.C., March 14, 2008 -- New tough emissions standards will slash pollution from locomotive and marine diesel engines by up to 90 percent, helping Americans to breathe cleaner air as soon as this year.    » read more »

Washington, D.C., March 14, 2008 -- This week, EPA met its requirements under the Clean Air Act and signed the most stringent 8-hour standard ever for ozone, revising the standards for the first time in more than a decade. The agency based the changes on the full breadth of the most recent scientific evidence about the effects of ozone, the primary component of smog.    » read more »

Washington, DC (March 12, 2008). Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced a critical tightening of the health-based National Ambient Air Quality Standard for ozone. We wish we could be happier about this decision, but we cannot. The standard announced today, although an improvement, falls far short of the requirements of the Clean Air Act.    » read more »

December 18, 2007 -- TRENTON, NJ -- New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram announced today that New Jersey has filed a lawsuit against Reliant Energy Mid-Atlantic Power Holdings, current owner of a coal-fired power plant located in Pennsylvania, alleging that Reliant has violated the federal Clean Air Act by modifying and operating the plant without required pollution control equipment and construction permits. The lawsuit also names three past owners of the plant as defendants, including Sithe Energies, Inc., Metropolitan Edison Co. and GPU, Inc.    » read more »

HICAGO, Nov. 30, 2007 - U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 5 today notified BP Products North America Inc. of alleged violations of multiple Clean Air Act requirements at its Whiting, Ind., refinery.

EPA alleged that the BP Whiting refinery, located at 2815 Indianapolis Blvd:

* failed to obtain a permit when it made major modifications to its fluidized catalytic cracking unit. The unpermitted modification caused significant increases of nitrogen oxide (NOx), sulfur dioxide (SO2), particulate matter (PM10), and carbon monoxide (CO) emissions.    » read more »

Chicago, Ill., Nov. 9, 2007 -- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 5 today notified Dow Chemical Co. that it has found potential clean-air and hazardous waste violations at the company's Midland, Mich., facility.

EPA issued a finding of violation under the Clean Air Act and a notice of violation under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. It also issued requests for information under both acts.    » read more »

Washington, D.C.. Nov. 1, 2007 -- A key document in EPA's review of national air quality standards for lead recommends the agency strengthen the current lead standards to better protect children. The "Final Staff Paper" does not change current air quality standards. It does, however, contain EPA staff recommendations for the administrator to consider in upcoming decisions about revising the national air quality standards for lead.    » read more »