By Sarah Chang, USCM intern
July 30, 2007

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Stephen L. Johnson, on July 26, testified before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works to address the agency’s response to California’s request to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles.

Johnson’s testimony reviewed the EPA’s process and progress in making the decision about whether to grant a waiver from the Clean Air Act regulations. Under the federal Clean Air Act, California is the only state that may initiate plans to regulate motor vehicle emissions beyond the scope of the federal law. Other states may follow suit once California receives a waiver from the EPA. Twelve other states have indicated that they intend to implement rules similar to those of California in their efforts to regulate greenhouse gases, the primary cause of global warming.

Committee Chairwoman Senator Barbara Boxer (CA) said that the EPA has “dragged its feet” on the decision, which was originally requested in December, 2005. In early April of this year, the Supreme Court ruled in Massachusetts v. EPA that greenhouse gases are “air pollutants” under the Clean Air Act, which the EPA should be compelled to enforce. Later that month, Boxer urged Johnson to act quickly on California’s waiver request for stringent greenhouse gas standards that would result in the reduction of global warming pollution from passenger vehicles.

In his testimony, Johnson stated that the EPA intends to issue a final rule on the waiver by the end of this year. The EPA held public hearings in Washington (DC) on May 22, as well as in Sacramento (CA) on May 30. An unprecedented abundance of 60,000 public comments has required legal and technical examination, and Johnson reestablished the commitment to California Governor Arnold Schwarzeneggar, by written correspondence, in issuing a final decision of the requested waiver by the end of this year. Schwarzeneggar has promised to sue the EPA if it does not answer the waiver petition by October 22 of this year; the 12 other states with pending greenhouse gas rules have pledged to join California in any legal action against the environmental agency.

Boxer stated that she believed the Administration had already decided not to grant the waiver. She concluded the hearing with repeated pressure for Johnson to go back and read the charge of the EPA under the Clean Air Act: “to protect public health and welfare.”