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Senate bill to speed up California emissions law |
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A U.S. Senate panel has passed a bill to force the Environmental Protection Agency to grant a waiver to California by end-September latest. If passed by all political bodies, the bill could open the door for California to enforce stricter vehicle emission limits.
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2007-08-02
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The "California Waiver Decision Deadline Bill", approved by the Senate’s Environment Committee on 31 July, would require a decision from the EPA on California’s vehicle emissions law by 30 September latest. If passed by the whole Senate and the House of Representatives, it would put a final deadline to a long process, starting with California's request back in December 2005.
The deadline set by the Senate bill is equal to that announced by California's Governor Schwarzenegger who threatened to sue the EPA if it wouldn’t act by 1 October. Besides California, 12 other states are currently waiting for the EPA decision to enforce strict greenhouse gas (GHG) emission laws by 2009.
Strong public support for California's emissions law
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Last week, EPA’s Administrator Stephen Johnson announced to postpone the decision to December 2007 to review all public comments received. So far, 60,000 public comments has been sent to the EPA, of which 54,000 were in favour of granting California the waiver.
Senator Barbara Boxer, a co-sponsor of the Senate bill, emphasized that its approval "sends a signal that EPA should stop stalling and act now." Recently, she had expressed "doubt about this administration’s seriousness about getting on with the crucial business of combating global warming."
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Federal regulation could threaten California rules
Supporters of the waiver bill are concerned that the EPA will deny California the waiver because of pending federal regulations. Based on an executive order by President Bush, the EPA and other agencies are currently drafting federal rules for vehicle GHG emissions to be submitted by end-2008. A referral to upcoming federal rules could put California's landmark law at a risk.
Background
In December 2005, California asked the EPA for a waiver under the Clean Air Act to set stricter vehicle emission rules than the federal government. If granted the waiver, California and 12 joining states could enforce greenhouse gas emission standards by 2009 that would cut car emissions by 25% by 2020.
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More information:
› Press release Senate Environment Committee, 31 July
› See related article: "Dispute over California's emissions rule", 6 June
› See related article: "California to sue EPA over emissions law ", 26 April
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