EPA to Drop Investigations into Power Plants

EPA announced in early November that it will drop investigations into 50 power plants accused of violating the Clean Air Act. Under the new policy, EPA will pursue only those investigations in which the plants are accused of violating new, more lenient standards set to take effect in December (see EBN Vol. 12, No. 10). The change could also undermine inquiries involving another 50 plants. The attorneys general of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut have already pledged to pick up where the Bush administration has left off: they plan to open a new round of litigation against the plants. Limited budgets will limit their campaign, however: “We have to focus on the worst of the worst,” said New Jersey Attorney General Peter C. Harvey.