North Dakota Legislature approves resolution supporting state's regional haze plan
The resolution said the work of developing and implementing a regional haze plan should be left in the state's hands as Congress had originally intended.
Basin Electric Power Cooperative
- November 18, 2011
On Nov. 7, the North Dakota Legislature began a five-day special session to take care of state issues. Included among them the Legislature approved a resolution critical of the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) attempt to override part of the North Dakota Department of Health's authority over regional haze.
In short, the resolution said the work of developing and implementing a regional haze plan should be left in the state's hands as Congress had originally intended.
North Dakota's plan takes into account the various technology options available to lignite-based power plants. EPA's preferred solution, Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) technology, is not proven on boilers using North Dakota's lignite coal.
The resolution was introduced by Reps. Jim Kasper, Jeff Delzer, Dwight Wrangham, and Sens. Dwight Cook and Dick Dever. It was approved by the Delayed Bills Committee before full legislative approval.
The resolution is written as follows.
A concurrent resolution urging the United States Environmental Protection Agency to approve North Dakota's plan for addressing regional haze and urging Congress to clearly delegate responsibility for the regulation of regional haze and minor source air permitting to the states.
WHEREAS, in Section 101 of the Clean Air Act, Congress determined that preventing and controlling air pollution "is the primary responsibility of States and local governments" and the Act is designed to prevent the federal government from substituting its inflexible judgment for a state's superior knowledge of local conditions and needs; and
WHEREAS, in American Corn Growers Association v. EPA, 291 F.3d 1, 2 (D.C. Cir. 2002), the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit held that the Clean Air Act "calls for states to play the lead role in designing and implementing regional haze programs"; and
WHEREAS, the North Dakota State Department of Health developed a reasonable plan for addressing regional haze and this state's air is among the nation's cleanest in the nation with the 2010 American Lung Association ranking Mercer County, home to several coal-based power plants, as one of the 25 cleanest counties in the United States and ranking Billings County, home to Theodore Roosevelt National Park and significant oil and gas development, as the third cleanest; and
WHEREAS, the United States Environmental Protection Agency has noticed its intention in the Federal Register to disapprove a portion of this state's plan for addressing regional haze and impose a federal plan in its place that mandates an inappropriate technology, selective catalytic reduction, that is not proven on boilers using this state's high-sodium lignite and which when tested through a pilot study, the technology failed after two months; and
WHEREAS, when one compares the United States Environmental Protection Agency's plan to this state's plan there is no significant improvement in visibility under the United States Environmental Protection Agency's plan, so much so that the visibility improvements the United States Environmental Protection Agency claims would result from its plan are not even humanly perceptible; and
WHEREAS, the North Dakota State Department of Health found that international and out-of-state sources are the most significant cause of impaired visibility in the state's national parks and wilderness areas, and that even if every coal plant and oil drilling rig in the state were shut down, the Environmental Protection Agency's visibility goals could not be met because the problem is caused by sources outside this state; and
WHEREAS, this state has crafted an implementation plan that takes into account the various technology options available to oil and gas operators to reduce emissions of volatile organic compounds; and
WHEREAS, this state's natural gas gathering and processing industry has committed more than $3 billion to build infrastructure that will capture and market flared gas; and
WHEREAS, the United States Environmental Protection Agency is ignoring this state's authority and local knowledge and the Environmental Protection Agency's proposed action would unnecessarily jeopardize this state's sovereignty and economic well-being;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF NORTH DAKOTA, THE SENATE CONCURRING THEREIN:
That the Sixty-second Legislative Assembly urges the United States Environmental Protection Agency to approve North Dakota's plan for addressing regional haze and urges Congress to clearly delegate responsibility for the regulation of regional haze and minor source air permitting to the states; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Secretary of State forward copies of this resolution to the administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and to each member of the North Dakota Congressional Delegation.
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