RESOLUTION 28-8
RESOLUTION CONCERNING EQUITABLE AIR
POLLUTION
CONTROL STRATEGIES
WHEREAS, the U.S. EPA has
recently made significant changes to the rules governing New
Source Review (“NSR”) under the Clean Air Act; and
WHEREAS, these changes abandon the fundamental
principle that new sources of air pollution must be required to
minimize their emissions using the best control technologies
available, and that existing sources that undergo significant
expansion or upgrade should be held to same standards; i.e. the
new rules allow operators to make significant investments in
expansions and facility upgrades without having to install new
pollution control equipment; and
WHEREAS, the NSR rules constitute a critical
strategy to reduce, not only emissions of pollutants, but also the
transport of pollutants over long distances; and
WHEREAS, the New England States and Eastern
Canadian Provinces are experiencing significant detrimental
effects on public health, the environment and their economies from
the transport of pollutants to their region, to the point that
their attainment of national, health-based, air quality standards
is in jeopardy and their industries face disproportionate costs
associated with additional pollution controls that they will be
required to install if upwind emissions are not addressed
aggressively; and
WHEREAS, the New England States and Eastern
Canadian Provinces understand that reform of the NSR program is
warranted and is designed to alleviate the financial demands of
unnecessary transaction costs, but believe that such reform should
not come at the expense of environmental quality or economic
equity in their region;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT the
Conference of New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers
finds that the new NSR rules adopted by the U.S. EPA do not
provide adequate protection for the public health of the citizens
of the New England States and Eastern Canadian Provinces, and
impose unfair economic conditions on their businesses; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT the Conference of
New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers call on the
governments to establish air pollution control strategies which
require all sources to utilize or upgrade to the appropriate
pollution control technologies;
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT the Conference of
New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers call upon the
U.S. EPA to reconsider its revisions and recommit to protecting
the public health of all citizens, and uphold the spirit and the
letter of the Clean Air Agreement between Canada and the United
States in 1990.
Adopted at the 28th Annual
Conference of New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers,
September 7-9, 2003.
_________________________________________
John G. Rowland
Governor of Connecticut
Co-chair |
_________________________________________
Bernard Lord
Premier of New Brunswick
Co-chair |
