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Administrator Whitman Testifies on Clear Skies Before
Senate Subcommittee
“There is no better time for Congress to be considering multi-pollutant
legislation. President Bush has indicated that Clear Skies is his top
environmental priority,” Administrator Whitman told the Clean Air Subcommittee
of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. “Congress needs
to act now so that we do not lose a decade’s worth of health and environmental
benefits from reducing fine PM pollution, smog, acid deposition, nitrogen
deposition, and regional haze.”
More information . . .
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Clear Skies would set strict, mandatory emissions caps on three of the
most harmful air pollutants from power generators -- sulfur dioxide (SO2),
nitrogen oxides (NOx), and mercury. President Bush first announced the
Clear Skies Act on February 14, 2002. Clear Skies legislation was first
introduced in both Houses of Congress in July 2002. The program was reintroduced
in the US House of Representatives (HR 999) and the US Senate (S. 485)
as the Clear Skies Act of 2003 on February 27, 2003.
Clear Skies would modify the emission reductions and timetables announced
by the President to cut power plant emissions of these pollutants by 70
percent, eliminating 35 million more tons of these pollutants in the next
decade than the current Clean Air Act.
Analytical data generated by state-of-the-art EPA computer modeling shows
that nationwide reductions of these three harmful pollutants would have
striking results: Every part of the country where power plants contribute
significantly to air pollution, most notably, the Northeast, Southeast,
and Midwest, would see vast improvements in air quality. Many cities and
towns would meet air quality standards for the first time in years.
Related Information
- November 1, 2001 Testimony of Jeff Holmstead, Assistant
Administrator, US EPA, before the Senate Environment and Public Works
Committee on S. 556, the Clean Power Act of 2001 (PDF 337K)
- Transmittal Letter to House Speaker Dennis
Hastert (PDF 177K)
- Transmittal Letter to Vice President Richard
Cheney (PDF 175K)
- S.
2815, the Clear Skies Act of 2002, introduced by Senator Smith July 29,
2002
- S HR 5266, the Clear
Skies Act of 2002, introduced by Representatives Tauzin and Barton on
July 26, 2002 (PDF 198K)
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