EPA Moves Quickly on Pesticide Drift

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced last Wednesday that it had issued new proposed guidance on pesticide labeling to reduce off-target spray and dust drift. The guidance, issued under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act, (FIFRA), 7 USC §136 et seq, will direct manufacturers how to provide clear guidance to users to cut down on over-spray and drift on labels included on their pesticides. (You can read a brief overview of EPA's authority over the content of pesticide labels here.) The guidance is, however, non-binding. See, e.g., General Electric v. EPA, 290 F.3d 377 (D.C. Cir. 2002) (explaining when guidance is merely hortatory, and when it has the force of law).

At the same time, it announced that it would be seeking comments on a petition to protect children in areas adjacent to farms and other pesticide application sites from pesticide drift.

Earthjustice, which filed a petition on the issue in October (2009!) was quite excited to see EPA move so quickly. In this press release last week, they stated: "This new administration has . . . committed itself to quickly bring this issue before the public -- a welcome move in the right direction. We hope this momentum continues and that on-the-ground safety standards for children advance before another growing season begins." (The original petition can be viewed here.)

Friends of the Earth Breaks with Mainstream Environmentalists in Decrying Kerry-Boxer

At least one group stands up and says the Emperor has no clothes.

As described in yesterday's post on NGO reaction to the passage of the Kerry-Boxer climate change bill out of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, reaction from NRDC, Sierra Club, and Earthjustice to the action was uniformly positive. NRDC and Sierra Club even seemed excited about the version of the bill that Senator Kerry is negotiating on the side with Senator Lindsay Graham (R, SC)--even though the latter publicly stated that his solutions for climate change depend on "clean coal," nuclear power and offshore drilling.

Friends of the Earth is not so excited. They issued a statement yesterday decrying Kerry-Boxer as too weak, and sounding the alarm about whatever Kerry, Graham and Lieberman are cooking up. In other words, they are saying publicly what staffers in most of the major environmental groups are probably saying privately.

EPA Agrees to Finally Regulate Emissions from PVC Plants under Settlement with Sierra Club

Environmentalists get timeframe for second set of MACT regulations in two weeks

Earthjustice, Sierra Club, and a coalition of gulf coast community groups announced a settlement today with the EPA in which the agency promised that it will issue regulations governing emissions from PVC manufacturing facilities by 2011. The groups' press release can be read here, and Houston Chronicle coverage of the settlement here. This is the second commitment by EPA in two weeks to issue long-delayed regulations for a source category under the hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) provisions of the Clean Air Act (CAA).

Earthjustice Petitions EPA to Revoke BACT Permit for Failure to Cover GHGs

Earthjustice announced on Tuesday that it filed a petition with EPA on behalf of National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA), Sierra Club, and Northwest Environmental Defense Center, challenging PSD and MACT permits granted to the TransAlta Coal-Fired Power Plant in Centralia, Washington, for failure to adequately control for NOx, mercury, and CO2.

In a joint press release, the groups announced that they had filed the petition for EPA review of the permit, granted by the Southwest Washington Clean Air Agency.

Environmentalists React to EPW Action

Although the fate of the Kerry-Boxer climate bill has been made more uncertain by the apparent defection of one of its main sponsors, environmentalists reacted with approval to its passage this morning by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. NRDC crafted this message for its President, Frances Beinecke:

Chairman Boxer and her colleagues took an important step forward with today's action. They have worked under difficult circumstances to craft S. 1733 and sought to have full consideration of this important legislation in the Environment and Public Works Committee.

We welcome the announcement yesterday by Senators Kerry, Graham and Lieberman that they are committed to working together to combine the best of S. 1733 with additional provisions to produce a bi-partisan bill that the Senate will pass.

The Sierra Club put this similar message together for its executive director, Carl Pope:

The Sierra Club is pleased that Chairwoman Boxer and the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee reported out the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act today. . . . We are distressed that the Republican Senators on the committee were unwilling to even sit down and discuss this important plan for less pollution, more jobs and greater security. Polluters like Oil and Coal are spending tens of millions of dollars to stand in the way of progress. It appears that the Senators who boycotted these meetings have sided with those special interests. Fortunately a bipartisan group of Senators led by John Kerry and Lindsey Graham are working together to find constructive ways to keep this effort moving forward. We look forward to working with that group to finish a bill that will build our clean energy economy. . .

So a little less politic re the GOP boycott in Boxer's committee, but perhaps purposefully obtuse about the emphasis on "clean coal" and provisions for offshore drilling that Graham seeks to include in any bill.

EarthJustice did not join the others in applauding the Kerry-Graham-Lieberman effort. Instead, in this careful message crafted for its president Trip Van Oppen, it (1) concentrates on the symbolism of having a climate bill move forward in the Senate, (2) applauds the fact that Kerry-Boxer does not preempt Clean Air Act applicability to GHG emissions, and (3) signals disapproval (perhaps?) of further incursions by special interests:

Momentum is building toward a transformational shift to a clean energy economy that doesn't rely on burning fossil fuels that are primarily responsible for global warming. . . . We applaud the Environment and Public Works Committee and chairman Boxer for approving legislation that builds upon the Clean Air Act, which has a proven track record of reducing pollution from the dirtiest sources. The Clean Air Act has successfully protected the public and the environment from mercury poisoning and acid rain, and is currently poised to reduce climate pollution from mobile sources that account for up to four percent of U.S. emissions. Coal companies and other special interests are attempting to derail or delay this legislation -- and keep us hooked on fossil fuels as our main source of energy. We are encouraged to see those who are interested in making the U.S. a clean energy leader prevail.

Let's hope that the off-the-record negotiations Kerry, Lieberman, and Graham are undertaking don't result in something drastically different than this vision. Because the last thing we can afford is a climate bill in name only.

Suit Filed to Jumpstart ESA Listing for American Pika

Earthjustice attorneys again trying to use (California) ESA to regulate global warming

Earthjustice and the Center for Biological Diversity announced yesterday that they have filed a lawsuit in California state court against the California Fish and Game Commission, for its refusal to list the American Pika (which I have a soft spot for, because it is a lagomorph) under the California Endangered Species Act. The groups' theory is that the pika is threatened by the effects of global warming in California. The Commission rejected their petition once, and they succeeded in getting the decision remanded for reconsideration. This appeal is the groups' second.

[Ed's note: The animal pictured here is a lagomorph, but not a pika.]