[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 106 (Monday, July 26, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9215-S9216]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            MAYOR'S PETITION ON THE NOX SIP CALL

  Mr. VOINOVICH. Mr. President, last year, EPA finalized the 
NOX SIP call, forcing 22 states to submit plans to meet 
mandated reductions of nitrogen oxide (NOX) emissions. Our 
nation's mayors are concerned that the SIP call will have adverse 
effects on brownfields redevelopment and economic growth.
  Earlier this year, the National Conference of Black Mayors and the 
U.S. Conference of Mayors held their annual conferences. Over 100 
mayors from around the country signed a petition calling on the U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency to provide utility energy providers 
with maximum flexibility and the leadtime necessary to avoid higher 
energy costs to municipalities and local communities, including 
industrial and residential consumers.
  The mayors are asking U.S. EPA to reconsider how the deadlines set in 
the NOX SIP call could affect electricity reliability in 
urban and rural areas. In essence our mayor's are saying that any new 
programs to control NOX emission must be weighed against 
potential economic adverse implications.
  Mr. President, the U.S. Court of Appeals issued a stay of EPA's 
NOX SIP call pending a decision on the lawsuit brought by 
states. Nonetheless, the Mayors' petition represents a commonsense plea 
to EPA that, should the agency move forward to implement NOX 
reductions, that it do so in a way that allows for compliance in a 
cost-effective manner that does not adversely impact economic growth or 
significantly increase utility prices to consumers.
  I ask unanimous consent that the petition be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                                PETITION

              EPA Ozone Transport NOX SIP Call

       As part of its Ozone Transport initiative, the 
     Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has finalized a 
     rulemaking forcing States to submit Implementation Plans 
     (SIPs) to meet mandated reductions of oxides of nitrogen 
     (NOX) emissions in the Agency's effort to control 
     inter-state ozone transport impacts. The rule focuses on 22 
     mid-eastern States, with the likelihood that EPA will expand 
     the application of the rule to several additional States.
       Several States have joined in litigation challenging the 
     EPA rule on grounds that it is contrary to congressional 
     intent, an abuse of Agency discretion and disregards 
     traditional Federal/State relationships. EPA has even taken 
     the unprecedented step of threatening to impose its own 
     Federal Implementation Plan (FIP) in the absence of 
     acceptable State action. Several additional States are 
     considering whether to file an amicus brief in support of the 
     Complaint. The U.S. Court of Appeals recently stayed EPA's 
     NOX SIP Call pending appeal of the Court's 
     decision setting aside EPA's new Ozone and Particulate Matter 
     standards.
       One element of the rule would force local utilities to 
     control NOX emissions at levels unprecedented to 
     date. The reductions are of a magnitude that will require 
     capital intensive technology with likely significant pass-
     through costs to energy consumers. The unavoidable 
     consequence will be higher energy costs to municipalities and 
     local communities, including industrial and residential 
     consumers alike. As rural and urban communities seek 
     investment to spur economic growth, the shadow of higher 
     energy costs could have significant adverse effects on 
     Brownfields redevelopment and rural/urban revitalization 
     generally.
       The EPA compliance deadline are so stringent that electric 
     utilities could be forced to shut down generating plants to 
     install the necessary control equipment within a very short 
     time. This could result in a temporary disruption of 
     electricity supply.
       Significant NOX emissions reductions will 
     continue to be realized under existing mobile and stationary 
     control programs as the Clean Air Act continues to be 
     implemented thus minimizing the need, if any, for such 
     potentially disruptive requirements as called for in the EPA 
     NOX rule. This is especially true for local areas 
     in the mid-east that are dealing effectively with ozone 
     compliance challenges. Any new control programs, before being 
     implemented, must be weighed against the potential adverse 
     implications for local rural and urban communities.
       Accordingly, by our signatures below, we collectively call 
     on EPA to reconsider the NOX rule in light of 
     these concerns. In light of the Court's stay of the 
     NOX SIP Call, at a minimum, we urge EPA to provide 
     maximum flexibility to and address lead-time needs of utility 
     energy providers so as to minimize potential adverse economic 
     consequences to local rural and urban communities. Further, 
     we call on EPA to restore balance and cooperation between 
     states and EPA so that States can comply with the rule while 
     protecting their rights to determine the best methods of 
     doing so.
       Finally, we direct that copies of this Petition be provided 
     to the President, the Vice President, Members of Congress, 
     Governors and other local officials as are appropriate.
       Alabama: Moses, Walter S. Hill.
       Arkansas: North Little Rock, Patrick H. Hayes; Marianna, 
     Robert Taylor; Sunset, James Wilburn.
       California: Alameda, Ralph J. Appezzato; Fairfield, George 
     Pettygrove; Fresno, Jim Patterson; Inglewood, Rosevelt F. 
     Dorn; Modesto, Richard A. Lang; Turlock, Dr. Curt Andre; 
     Westminster, Frank G. Fry.
       Florida: Eatonville, Anthony Grant; Gretna, Anthony Baker; 
     North Lauderdale, Jack Brady; South Bay, Clarence Anthony; 
     Tamarac, Joe Schreiber; Titusville, Larry D. Bartley.
       Georgia: Augusta, Bob Young; Dawson, Robert Albritten; East 
     Point, Patsy Jo Hiliard; Savannah, Floyd Adams, Jr.; Stone 
     Mountain, Chuck Burris.
       Guam: Santa Nita, Joe C. Wesky; Yigo, Robert S. Lizama.
       Illinois: Brooklyn, Ruby Cook; Carol Stream, Ross Ferraro; 
     Centreville, Riley L. Owens III; Dekalb, Bessie Chronopoulos; 
     East St. Louis, Gordon Bush; Evanston, Lorraine H. Morton; 
     Glendale Heights, J. Ben Fajardo; Lincolnwood, Madeleine 
     Grant; Robbins, Irene H. Brodie; Rockford, Charles E. Box; 
     Sun River Terrace, Casey Wade, Jr.
       Indiana: Carmel, Jim Brainard; Fort Wayne, Paul Helmke.
       Louisiana: Boyce, Julius Patrick, Jr.; Chataignier, Herman 
     Malveaux; Cullen,

[[Page S9216]]

     Bobby R. Washington; Jeanerette, James Alexander, Sr.; 
     Napoleonville, Darrell Jupiter, Sr.; New Orleans, Marc 
     Morial; St. Gabriel, George L. Grace; White Castle, Maurice 
     Brown.
       Maine: Lewiston, Kaileigh A. Tara.
       Maryland: Seat Pleasant, Eugene F. Kennedy.
       Massachusetts: Leominster, Dean J. Mazzarella; Taunton, 
     Robert G. Nunes.
       Michigan: Detroit, Dennis Archer; Garden City, James L. 
     Barker; Inkster, Edward Bevins; Muskegon Heights, Robert 
     Warren; Taylor, Gregory E. Pitoniak.
       Minnesota: Rochester, Charles J. Canfield; Saint Paul, Nori 
     Coleman.
       Mississippi: Fayette, Roger W. King; Glendora, Johnny 
     Thomas; Laurel, Susan Boone Vincent; Marks, Dwight F. 
     Barfield; Pace, Robert Le Flore; Shelby, Erick Holmes; 
     Tutwiler, Robert Grayson; Winstonville, Milton Tutwiler.
       Missouri: Kinloch, Bernard L. Turner, Sr.
       Nebraska: Omaha, Hal Daub.
       New Jersey: Chesilhurst, Arland Poindexter; Hope, Timothy 
     C. McDonough; Newark, Sharpe James; Orange, Muis Herchet.
       New York: Hempstead, James A Garner; Rochester, William A. 
     Johnson, Jr.; White Plains, Joseph Delfino.
       North Carolina: Charlotte, Pat McCrory; Durham, Nicholas J. 
     Tennyson; Greenevers, Alfred Dixon.
       North Dakota: Fargo, Bruce W. Furness.
       Ohio: Columbus, Greg Lashutka; Lyndhurst, Leonard M. 
     Creary; Middleburg Heights, Gary W. Starr.
       Oklahoma: Muskogee, Jim Bushnell; Oklahoma City, Kirk D. 
     Humphrey; Tatums, Cecil Jones.
       Oregon: Tualatin, Lou Ogden.
       Rhode Island: Providence, V.A. Cianci, Jr.
       South Carolina: Andrews, Lovith Anderson, Sr.; Greenwood, 
     Floyd Nicholson.
       Tennessee: Germantown, Sharon Goldsworthy; Knoxville, 
     Victor Ashe.
       Texas: Ames, John White; Arlington, Elzie Odom; Beaumont, 
     David Moore; Bedford, Richard D. Hurt; Euless, Mary Lib 
     Salem; Hurst, Bill Souder; Hutchens, Mary Washington; 
     Kendleton, Carolyn Jones; Kyle, James Adkins; North Richland 
     Hills, Charles Scoma; Port Arthur, Oscar G. Ortiz; 
     Waxahachee, James Beatty.
       Virginia: Portsmouth, Dr. James W. Holley III.

                          ____________________