Post by
no1coalking on Jan 25, 2008 5:41pm
Congress Wants A Cleaner Supply of Energy:
CLIMATE: Feinstein demands EPA complete review of greenhouse gas emissions (01/25/2008)
Katherine Boyle, E&ENews PM reporter
A California lawmaker who wields control over U.S. EPA's budget today called for the agency to complete its Supreme Court-mandated review of the public health threat posed by greenhouse gas emissions.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D), chairwoman of the Senate Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee, wrote a letter to EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson urging him to set a timeline to respond to the Supreme Court decision in Massachusetts v. EPA.
That ruling required the agency to review the impact of GHGs on public health and to develop ways to regulate them if necessary. Feinstein requested "detailed" updates on the funds and staff time EPA has used to explore both issues.
"I trust that you will be prepared to discuss this matter at the upcoming budget meeting in the Subcommittee on Interior, Environment and Related Agencies," she wrote. Feinstein is expected to hold the subcommittee hearing on EPA's budget soon.
In December 2007, EPA forwarded its finding that GHGs endanger public health to the White House Office of Management and Budget. Feinstein asked Johnson for deadlines on when EPA intends to issue or deny the endangerment finding now at OMB for review, when a draft of any necessary GHG regulations would be published and when those regulations might be finalized.
"It concerns me that the Environmental Protection Agency, after spending a great deal of resources appropriated by the Congress on this effort, has no timeline for responding to the Supreme Court's remand," she said.
EPA could not be reached for comment.
Feinstein's push for EPA review of GHGs comes in the wake of the agency's decision not to allow California to