http://www.gallupindependent.com/2009/03March/033009agsairdesertrock.html AGs air Desert Rock permit concerns
Copyright © 2009
Gallup Independent
By Kathy Helms
Diné Bureau
WINDOW ROCK — The attorneys general of New York, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, Oregon and Vermont have jointly submitted comments to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency voicing concerns regarding the proposed issuance of an air quality permit for construction of the Desert Rock power plant.
The attorneys general said they believe EPA’s Region 9 cannot properly rely on a memo from former EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson, issued about a month before the Bush administration left office, as the basis for refusing to impose the “best available control technology” requirement for carbon dioxide.
“Rushed through without an opportunity for public comment, the Johnson memo was issued in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act,” they said.
Johnson issued the memo Dec. 18, saying that carbon dioxide is not a pollutant “subject to regulation” under the Clean Air Act. The attorneys general said the legal interpretation of “subject to regulation” in the Johnson memo is inconsistent with the act.
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