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Thursday, November 25, 2010

Environment - "Overhaul of fuzzy pollution rules stalls"

That would be the development of antidegradation rules. The ILB has had a number of entries on this issue, including this one from Jan. 4, 2008, which includes these quotes from a NWI Times story:

Indiana's lack of an effective antidegradation policy was pointed out last month by Indiana University professor James Barnes in a report on IDEM's controversial wastewater permit for BP.

The report concluded the permit complied with state and federal rules, but it said Indiana's lack of clear antidegradation regulations prevented IDEM from getting complete information from BP. It also hindered the state agency's ability to defend the permit. * * *

[IDEM Commissioner Tom] Easterly is now hopeful an antidegradation regulation can be in place by the end of this year. The usual process takes 18 months.

Today Gitte Laasby has this lengthy story in the Gary Post-Tribune. Some quotes:
Three years after the firestorm over BP Whiting's wastewater permit, Indiana is still issuing permits under the same fuzzy rules that led to the controversy.

At the heart of the outrage over the BP refinery being allowed to increase its pollution to Lake Michigan were Indiana's unclear water pollution rules.

The state started revising them in early 2008, but nearly three years later, the overhaul is stalled. Permits -- including a wastewater permit for U.S. Steel Midwest in Portage -- are still being issued under the old rule. State officials say new rules won't be ready until next year.

Critics say the standstill leaves industry and the public in limbo about when it's OK to increase pollution to Lake Michigan and other waters, and opens the possibility for lawsuits.

Even those strongly dedicated to the process are throwing in the towel. Among them is one of Indiana's most respected veteran environmentalists, Miller resident Lee Botts. She sent a letter to the governor's office announcing she's resigning effective Dec. 1 from the board that's responsible for approving the new rules. She served on the board since 2006.

"I cited my frustration with the failure of (the Indiana Department of Environmental Management) to deal with that issue as a reason for my withdrawal" from the Water Pollution Control Board, said Botts, who is considered a moderate environmentalist. "I have had no reply from the governor's office."

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels commissioned the report by Indiana University professor Jim Barnes. He recommended a revision of the so-called antidegradation rules in a December 2007 report, saying they were a major cause of the BP firestorm.

The rules determine under what circumstances, and by how much, polluters can increase pollution to Lake Michigan and other waters. The rules are intended to prevent new and increased pollution that would degrade water quality unless the increase is necessary to accommodate important social and economic benefits.

"They do have rules for the Great Lakes, but they just didn't spell out with any level of specificity what (polluters) need to do. So the way it is now, most of the state has no rules and the Great Lakes basin has rules but they're rules that have already been found by Barnes to be inadequate," said environmental attorney Albert Ettinger. "The idea was they'd write rules that would cover the whole state." * * *

Frustration mounted at the end of January after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency sent a letter to IDEM saying EPA would not approve the rules as drafted because they don't live up to federal standards -- an argument environmentalists had also made. In some circumstances, the revamped rules would allow up to 21/2 times more pollution than is acceptable under federal law, EPA said.

"It seems that IDEM is frozen in its tracks in the rulemaking for antidegradation ever since EPA criticized the draft rule. So I don't think we understand completely how Indiana is handling the antidegradation analysis here under the old rules" for permits like U.S. Steel Midwest, said Lyman Welch, water program manager for the Alliance for the Great Lakes. "It's sad that Indiana has not addressed the concerns that EPA has raised and moved forward on putting a new draft rule out there."

Posted by Marcia Oddi on November 25, 2010 12:35 PM
Posted to Environment