No Panacea

There is a stench of smog and it’s coming from Washington. California wants to push tougher emissions standards and is entitled under a certain provisions of the US Clean Air Act, noted below. The EPA however is not approving a special waiver that would set the wheels in motion. Our esteemed California governor is prepared to sue the EPA of this dispute.

Part A, section 116, of the US Clean Air Act states California is entitled:

” Sec. 116. Except as otherwise provided in sections 119 (c), (e), and (f)(as in effect before the date of the enactment of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1977), 209, 211(c)(4), and 233 (preempting certain State regulation of moving sources) nothing in this Act shall preclude or deny the right of any State or political subdivision thereof to adopt or enforce (1) any standard or limitation respecting emissions of air pollutants or (2) any requirement respecting control or abatement of air pollution; except that if an emission standard or limitation is in effect under an applicable implementation plan or under section 111 or 112, such State or political subdivision may not adopt or enforce any emission standard or limitation which is less stringent than the standard or limitation under such plan or section.
[42 U.S.C. 7416]

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 25th, 2007 at 8:23 pm and is filed under Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.