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NEW EPA DATA SHOW DRAMATIC AIR QUALITY IMPROVEMENTS FROM CLEAR SKIES INITIATIVE

Release Date: 07/01/2002
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Environmental News

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today released new information demonstrating the dramatic clean air benefits of President Bush’s Clear Skies initiative. Clear Skies will require America’s power plants to reduce air pollution by an average of 70 percent. The new analytical data released today show what effect that nationwide reduction will have on air quality, water quality, and public health in each region of the country. The results are striking: Every part of the country where power plants contribute significantly to air pollution –most notably, the Northeast, Southeast, and Midwest–will see vast improvements in air quality. Many cities and towns will meet air quality standards for the first time in years.

EPA Administrator Christie Whitman announced the availability of the new data during a visit to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park with U.S. Senator Bill Frist (R Tennessee). On Feb. 14 of this year President Bush announced the ambitious Clear Skies initiative, which sets strict, mandatory emissions caps for three of the most harmful air pollutants -- sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), and mercury. Clear Skies will eliminate 35 million more tons of these pollutants in the next decade than the current Clean Air Act. EPA used sophisticated computer modeling techniques to specifically identify improvements in local and regional air and water quality that will occur as a result of the stringent caps imposed by the President's plan.

"This information now clearly demonstrates the magnitude of the health and environmental benefits the President's Clear Skies proposal will deliver. Clear Skies will enable most of the country to meet national air quality standards. The new data show that we can improve the quality of the air we breathe and achieve these results faster, at less cost to consumers, and in a way that makes sense for the environment, for industry, and for the health of the American people," said EPA Administrator Christie Whitman.

NOx and SO2 contribute to death and serious respiratory illnesses due to the fine particles and ground-level ozone (urban smog) that they create. They also cause acid rain and nitrogen deposition, which kill fish and damage forests. Mercury can have neurological effects on humans including impaired motor and cognitive skills, particularly in young children. Mercury is also suspected to cause cardiac, respiratory and immune system impairment. Humans are affected primarily by eating contaminated fish.

Some key findings of the state of the art EPA computer modeling are that Clear Skies will achieve the following results:

o Most of the country will meet national clean air standards for fine particle and ground-level ozone (smog), a dramatic improvement in the nation's air quality.

o By 2010, early reductions in air pollution under Clear Skies would result in 6,400 fewer premature deaths nationwide, and over $40 billion in annual health benefits, above and beyond the benefits of full implementation of the current Clean Air Act.

o By 2020, Clear Skies would deliver $96 billion per year in human health and visibility benefits, including 12,000 avoided premature deaths. This $96 billion annual benefit greatly outweighs the $6.5 billion annual cost of the program.

o Additional human health benefits in 2020 include 10,500 fewer hospitalizations or emergency rooms visits per year and 13.5 million fewer days when Americans suffer from minor respiratory symptoms per year, including days out of work, missed classroom days, restricted activity days and days with asthma attacks.

o Clear Skies will virtually eliminate the most severe impacts of acid rain in the Northeast. Currently, nearly a quarter of all lakes in the Adirondack Mountains suffer significant effects from acid rain; Clear Skies will reduce acid rain so dramatically that only three percent of all Adirondack lakes will remain affected. Clear Skies will also improve the health of nitrogen sensitive forests and coastal ecosystems throughout the East, and particularly in the Northeast.

o Clear Skies will reduce the risk of toxic effects such as neurological damage due to mercury exposure, particularly to young children.

o Compared to the most stringent regulations allowed under current law, the President's proposal will reduce SO2 emissions by at least an additional 25 million tons over the next decade, NOx emissions by at least an additional 10 million tons over the next decade, and mercury emissions by at least an additional 20 tons over the next six years from power plants.

o Clear Skies will make great strides towards solving the persistent environmental problems of visibility impairment and ozone in national parks and cities around the country.

o In order to meet these stringent emissions caps, most major coal-fired electricity generation will have to install state of the art pollution control technologies.

o Regulatory certainty is provided for new and existing plants to allow for cost efficient planning and compliance, while providing environmental certainty for the American public.

o While it will not adversely impact electricity prices, Clear Skies will enhance American energy security by enabling the continued use of diverse fuels in generating electric power.

o Clear Skies will ensure that environmental goals are achieved and sustained over the long term even while energy use increases.

Today’s release of information marks the culmination of months of rigorous modeling and thorough analysis. EPA has completed state of the art modeling of emissions, air quality, deposition and water quality based on the latest available data to project the effects of Clear Skies as accurately as possible. Significantly, this information is available at a regional level as well as nationally, enabling a more clear assessment of the benefits of Clear Skies to human health and the environment in different parts of the country. EPA expects to release additional information, including information on mercury deposition, in the near future.

The Clear Skies initiative will be the most significant improvement to the Clean Air Act since 1990, dramatically reducing and capping emissions of NOx, SO2, and mercury from power generators. The emission reductions will be achieved through a cap and trade program that will establish permanent, federally enforceable emission limits (or "caps") for each pollutant, and allow sources to transfer authorized emissions limits among themselves (or "trade") to achieve the required reductions at the lowest possible costs. This approach has proven extremely successful in the Acid Rain Program which has reduced acid rain-causing emissions by six million tons since 1990 at much lower cost than anticipated.

The Clear Skies initiative builds upon other important provisions of the existing Clean Air Act, including those that protect public health by ensuring that local air quality standards are maintained. The National Ambient Air Quality Standards require State and Federal action to protect citizens from potential localized health problems (so-called "hot spots”). In the few areas of the country where reducing power plant emissions alone will not enable counties to meet national air quality standards, state and federal agencies will work together to reduce air pollution from other sources until air quality standards are met. The Clear Skies Initiative draws from the lessons learned from the 1990 Clean Air Act's Acid Rain Program to bring cleaner, healthier air to all Americans at an affordable price.

Additional information, including region specific health and environmental benefits, can be found on EPA's web site at: www.epa.gov/clearskies.

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