EPA to Review Powerplant Clean Air Rules.

Controversial new federal clean air rules that would make it easier for certain utilities and petroleum companies and other industries in the U.S. to upgrade plants without installing pricey pollution controls are going under the microscope again as of August 4, 2003. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it will take another look at six elements of the New Source Review program that the agency issued on December 31, 2003, in what it said was their final form. The review is considered a win for environmentalists and the nine state attorneys general who filed a lawsuit to block these new rules. EPA will take comments for 30 days and has slated a public hearing in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. The U.S. Senate Democrats may try to amend a pending energy bill to block EPA from enforcing these new rules until a study is completed to evaluate whether the changes would weaken clean air programs.