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Senator Chap Petersen recently wrote on his blog, Ox Road South, about an amendment that he fought to include on House Bill 1300. Sen. Petersen claims that his amendment is a "Rare Enviro Victory." From our perspective, it was in no way a victory.
HB 1300 (and its Senate counterpart SB 128) would restrict the Air Pollution Control Board from prohibiting power plants within non-attainment areas from trading pollution credits. Currently, the Air Board is able to restrict trading and force plants to reduce NOx and SO2 emissions that lead to ozone pollution. Sen. Petersen's amendment was intended to "carve out" areas that are already in non-attainment so that the Air Board can still restrict trading in those areas.
Here are the problems with this approach, which have been shared repeatedly with the State Senate and the House of Delegates:
While Northern Virginia is currently the only area that is in non-attainment, under new EPA standards expected to be released in March 2011, the air quality in Hampton Roads, Richmond and other areas will be designated as non-attainment, meaning that the air in those regions does not meet levels that are "requisite to protect public health" (Clean Air Act, Section 109(b)(1)).
The "carve-out" may not even have the intended effect in Northern Virginia because the new EPA designations (which will include a new stricter standard for Northern Virginia) are just that... NEW designations. It could be argued that the new designation for NoVa won't be carved out because it became effective after January 1, 2010.
Prohibiting the Air Board from restricting trading means they will be limited in their ability to go after the largest and dirtiest polluters in non-attainment areas and will be forced instead to regulate small businesses and others who emit much smaller amounts of pollution. This will cause a huge financial burden on everyone from drycleaners to every individual citizen who owns a lawnmower or car, while power plants are able to continue polluting at high levels.
It makes more sense to preserve the Air Board's ability to restrict trading so that they can have access to this tool that will help them most efficiently reduce pollution in the dirtiest parts of the state, helping improve economic development opportunities and public health.
While Sen. Petersen intentions may have been laudable, the outcome of his amendment is bad for the environment in Hampton Roads, Richmond, Northern Virginia and the rest of the Commonwealth of Virginia.
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Senator Chap Petersen recently wrote on his blog, 
