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Markey: New Bush Power Plant Rule Latest Loophole in Last Minute Rulemakings

FOR IMMEDIATE RELASE

Contact: Select Committee, 202-225-4081

WASHINGTON (January 12, 2009) – Today the Bush administration’s Environmental Protection Agency released a new power plant pollution rule under the New Source Review program which could prove to be yet another in a long line of loopholes given to energy industries. This new revision of the NSR program, which regulates whether power plants should be required to install new pollution controls when they upgrade their facilities, changes EPA's aggregation policy – aggregating emissions from multiple projects when considering whether the changes should trigger NSR action.

Below is the statement of Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Chair of the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming and the Energy and Environment Subcommittee, which has jurisdiction over the Clean Air Act:

“With eight days to go before leaving office, the Bush administration today finalized yet another midnight rulemaking that will harm public health and our planet. By allowing industrial facilities to artificially avoid triggering New Source Review requirements for pollution controls, the Bush administration has today created a loophole the size of a smokestack.”

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The House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming was formed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to increase the visibility and priority given to America's oil dependence and global warming challenges. It is chaired by Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-MA) and will actively explore the solutions, science and progress on these pressing issues during the 110th Congress.

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