Senate Democrats oppose nomination of EPA official
Date: 24-Aug-01
Country: USA
New Jersey Democrats Robert G. Torricelli and Jon Corzine said they will "vigorously oppose" the nomination of Donald Schregardus as EPA chief enforcement official.
The pair join Democratic allies Charles Schumer of New York and Barbara Boxer of California, who pledged similar actiearly this week. Schregardus' record as former head of the Ohio EPA has fallen under scrutiny by the senators, who criticized his pro-industry acts as head of the state agency.
Schregardus "has shown that he is unwilling to curb the polluters in Ohio, so I find it unacceptable that he would be charged with this duty for the entire United States," Torricelli said in a release.
The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee approved the nomination on Aug. 1 despite objection from four committee Democrats. Schregardus also served in the federal EPA under former president George Bush.
The senators said the move was precipitated by their concerns that the Bush administration intends to call off the ongoing U.S. Department of Justice case against eight power plant operators in the South, Northeast and Midwest.
DOJ STILL PURSUING CASE
DOJ said Wednesday that the lawsuits are still active. "Active would be the way to describe them today," a DOJ spokeswoman told Reuters. "We have eight active litigations that fall under (New Source Review) provisions of the Clean Air Act. They are ... being actively litigated."
The lawsuits were pressed by the Clinton-era EPA against utilities by the DOJ, and lawmakers are concerned that the action could be scuppered as part of the Bush administration's review of the Clean Air Act called for by its energy plan.
The lawsuits are against the following utilities: FirstEnergy Corp. , Duke Energy Corp. , Southern Indiana & Gas Electric Co., Illinois Power, Cinergy Corp. , American Electric Power Co. Inc. and two units of Southern Co. .
The case against AEP is now in litigation, and the Cinergy case has been suspended with settlement talks underway.
CAN STATES GO IT ALONE?
Schumer warned that individual states like New York and New Jersey and do not have the legal or financial muscle to carry through on the lawsuits without federal backing. "Many of the cases would be dropped because the states do not have legal standing to pursue them independently," he said in a release.
At least one state, New York, has pledged to pursue the cases without federal aid.
"The attorney general (of New York) is committed to pursuing these cases with or without the federal government because of the impact these power plants have on New York," Peter Lehner, chief of the state's environmental protection bureau, told Reuters.
The DOJ has fielded 20 lawyers to pursue the cases - most of which are in the discovery stage. But with a staff of eight in the New York office "a federal government pullout will certainly make this case harder for us," Lehner said.
Uncertainty over the direction of DOJ cases has made polluting companies less eager to reach settlement, he said.
SENATORS BESMIRCH NOMINEE'S RECORD
Schumer raised concerns about Schregardus' stance on the DOJ lawsuits, saying he "vigorously opposed" them as head of the Ohio EPA, the state that contains some of the plants named in the DOJ lawsuit.
He also pointed out that Schregardus favored a 1996 law that granted prosecutional immunity to utilities that voluntarily report environmental violations.
In a White House letter signed by the New Jersey senators Wednesday, the pair point out that Schregardus opposed NSR filings against Midwest power plants, disregarded federal nitrogen oxide emission limit rules, and was censured by a U.S. Department of Labor administrative law judge for improper retaliation against a whistle-blower.
There is no love lost for Schregardus by environmental groups. "'In the land of angels we need no laws' - that is his fundamental belief and it is completely detached from reality," said John Stanton, vice president of
