The Energy Initiative – A New Coalition to Develop National Energy Policy Recommendations

A first of its kind coalition of energy consumers, corporations and major energy producers will develop recommendations for America’s energy challenges, and educate the public about energy policies.  The Energy Initiative, created by former U.S. Senator John Breaux of Louisiana and former Long Beach California Mayor, Beverly O’Neil takes the view that a lack of understanding of basic energy facts has blocked success in forming a much needed National Energy Policy.  Breaux and O’Neil serve as co-chairs of the Energy Initiative.

The Energy Initiative intends to unite various groups and organizations that individually have attempted to formulate ideas for an energy policy, and engage both producers of energy and consumers of energy in a dialogue about what's needed to meet America’s energy demands in the 21st century.

Energy Initiative represents nine energy producing trade associations and 22 energy consuming associations in three broad categories: Stationary Energy Sources, Transportation Energy, and Conservation, Efficiency and Environmental Protection.  Energy Initiative’s goal is to produce worthwhile recommendations for a National Energy Policy and to deliver its recommendations to the Bush administration and the 110th Congress by mid-2007.

EPA Scientists Recommend Tightening Ozone Standards

EPA’s scientific advisors have unanimously stated that the nation’s current ozone standard must be stronger.   The Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) is chartered under the Clean Air Act to advise the EPA Administrator on the official limits of six criteria pollutants that make up the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS).  One of the criteria pollutants - ground level ozone - is the principal component of smog.

In their review of scientific research on the health effects of ozone, the 23-member panel reported to EPA the following unanimous recommendations in their final staff paper.

• The current standard fails to protect public health from the harmful effects of ozone, the nation’s most widespread outdoor air pollutant.

• EPA should set the 8-hour ozone standard much lower than the current 0.080 parts per million (ppm).  EPA’s 8-hour standard should be lowered to the range of 0.060 to 0.070 parts per million (ppm) in order to protect public health.
• EPA should eliminate the “rounding” loophole that weakens the current standard and leaves millions of Americans unprotected.

CASAC stated, "We recognized that our recommendation of lowering of the current primary ozone standard would likely result in a large portion of the U.S. being in non-attainment."  The committee went on to point out that its primary concern is fulfilling the Clean Air Act’s (CAA) statutory mandate to recommend air quality standards that protect public health.

EPA will propose action to revise or retain the current ozone standards by June 20, 2007 and will take final action by March 12, 2008.

New Clean Air Rules For Texas

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) has published a pending proposal to revise the State Implementation Plan (SIP) for emission limits and controls targeting ground level ozone in the Dallas/Fort Worth and Houston/Galveston/Brazoria areas. 

In Dallas/Ft. Worth the proposed rules are projected to bring the area into attainment of the new 8-hour federal ozone standard by the 2010 deadline.  The new rules will require further emissions reductions from cement kilns and electric generating units as well as further controls on compressor engines in 39 east Texas counties.

The plan predicts the Houston/Galveston/Brazoria (HGB) area will achieve attainment between 2009 and 2018.  New rules for HGB will include new controls on emissions from marine and storage tanks and new requirements for marine fuel. 

The SIP must be filed with the EPA by June 15, 2007.

Union Pacific Railroad Begins Year-Long Test of Diesel Oxidation Catalyst in Los Angeles

Union Pacific railroad has begun a one-year test of a diesel oxidation catalyst (DOC) on a diesel electric long-haul locomotive operating in the Los Angeles area.  The test is part of the locomotive PM control technologies testing program UP announced last year.

The EMD SD60M locomotive was subjected to EPA locomotive standards testing before and after the DOC was installed, using standard EPA locomotive certification fuel and ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel that UP is now using for intrastate locomotives in California.

During this initial test, the 17-year-old locomotive met the EPA Tier 2 (2005) new locomotive requirements for PM emissions. The test results were:

• Using ULSD fuel without the DOC reduced PM emissions by 4% compared to the use of standard EPA diesel fuel.
• Using ULSD fuel with the DOC reduced PM emissions by approximately 50%, hydrocarbons by 38% and CO by 82%.
  

The DOC was installed on an EMD SD60M locomotive powered by an EMD 16-710-G3A two-stroke, turbocharged, aftercooled V16 diesel engine rated at 2850 kW.   The DOC system is designed and manufactured by MIRATECH Corporation.

Testing was conducted at the Southwest Research Institute. The results will be presented at the ASME meeting in Pueblo, CO in March.

Most of project funding was provided by the National Vehicle Fuels and Emissions Laboratory (NVFEL) of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).