I am honored to serve again as Chair of the Air Quality Committee, which now has over 600 members, and look to the upcoming year which will be another important one for air quality issues. Also, I am pleased to announce our 2008-2009 Vice Chairs who will also be serving you this year:

• Newsletters:
  • Kathryn Ballow Thomson, Sidley Austin, LLP
• Membership:
  • Philip Karmel, Bryan Cave, LLP
• Programs:
  • David M. Friedland, Beveridge & Diamond, PC
  • Howard J. Hoffman, US Environmental Protection Agency
  • Roger Martella, Sidley Austin, LLP
  • Matthew A. Paque, Tronox, LLC
  • N. Jonathan Peress, Downs Rachlin Martin PLLC
  • Mary Ellen Ternes, McAfee & Taft
• Public Service:
  • Phil Bower/Jennifer Buzecky, Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek, SC
• Public Service/Climate Challenge:
  • Daniel Eisenberg, Beveridge & Diamond, PC
• Technology:
  • Roy S. Belden, GE Energy Financial Services
• The Year in Review:
  • Jonathan S. Martel, Arnold & Porter, LLP
• Publications:
  • Sherry Bursey, Anadarko Petroleum Corporation

During this coming year, we will work together as a team to provide you with timely and relevant information on air quality-related issues at the regional and federal levels. We will do this by providing direct notices via our List Serve email, our quarterly newsletter, the Year in Review, quick teleconferences, our website, as well as through panels at the Keystone Conference in March and at the Fall Meeting next September. We will be focusing this year on climate change, new source review, enforcement, ozone, mercury and other air quality issues. We invite you to become more involved with the Committee by sending us information from your state or region that would be of interest to others (which we can in turn provide to others through the List Serve) or by writing articles for the newsletter (or even the Section's Trends newsletter or the Section's quarterly magazine - Natural Resources & Environment). You can also participate by sending us suggestions on speakers and topics for quick teleconferences, the Keystone Conference, or the Fall Meeting. I encourage you to try to attend one of the Section meetings to meet other air quality practitioners and participate in our committee dinners and roundtable discussions. If your firm/organization is not currently participating in the ABA-EPA Climate Challenge, please consider making that a priority this year and join hundreds of others who are helping reduce our environmental impacts. If you have suggestions for the Committee, especially regarding ways that we can better serve you and your practice, please contact me.

Angela Morrison Uhland
auhland@hgslaw.com

EPA issues Proposed Endangerment Finding for Greenhouse Gases under the Clean Air Act
On April 17, 2009, the EPA formally proposed to make a finding that carbon dioxide and five other heat-trapping gases emitted by motor vehicles cause or contribute to air pollution which may reasonably be anticipated to endanger public health or welfare. Once published in the Federal Register, the proposed endangerment finding will trigger a 60-day public comment period before EPA can issue a final finding. A pdf of the proposal is attached. More information is available at the following link: http://epa.gov/climatechange/endangerment.html#warming

EPA GHG endangerment proposal pe-pub.pdf

EPA Proposes First National Reporting on Greenhouse Gas Emissions
On March 10, 2009, EPA proposed a comprehensive national system for reporting emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases produced by major sources in the United States. The new reporting rule would apply to suppliers of fossil fuel and industrial chemicals, manufacturers of motor vehicles and engines, and large direct emitters of greenhouse gases with emissions equal to or greater than a threshold of 25,000 metric tons per year. Approximately 13,000 facilities, accounting for about 85 percent to 90 percent of greenhouse gases emitted in the United States, would be covered under the proposal. The rule was published in the Federal Register on April 10, 2009, and the comment period expires on June 9, 2009. Pdfs of the proposed rule and preamble to the proposed rule are attached. More information on the proposed rule is available at the following link: http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/ghgrulemaking.html

GHG Reporting Proposed Rule.pdf | GHG Reporting Proposed Rule - Preamble.pdf

Clean Air Interstate Rule Reinstated
On December 23, 2008, the DC Circuit reinstated the CAIR Rule and remanded the rule back to EPA for further rulemaking to address the defects identified in the court's July 11, 2008 decision.

EPA Final Rule on New Source Review Aggregation
O n January 12, 2009, EPA issued a final rule addressing aggregation for purposes of the federal New Source Review (NSR) program. Aggregation groups together multiple, related physical or operational changes into a single project for evaluating requirements under the NSR program.

EPA Memorandum on the Deseret Decision
On December 18, 2008, EPA issued an interpretative memo describing what air pollutants are subject to the federal Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) program as "regulated NSR pollutants." In the memorandum, EPA Administrator Johnson interprets the phrase "regulated NSR pollutants" to exclude pollutants for which EPA regulations only require monitoring or reporting and not actual control of emissions.

EAB's Deseret Power decision
In a November 13, 2008 decision in In the Matter of Deseret Power Electric Cooperative, EAB App. No. PSD 07-03, the EPA Environmental Appeals Board (EAB) remanded a Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) permit for the Deseret project back to EPA Region VIII for a determination of whether Best Available Control Technology (BACT) is required to limit the proposed coal-fired power plant's CO2 emissions. The EAB held that held that agency has the discretion to determine which pollutants are "subject to regulation" under the Clean Air Act, and the PSD permit was remanded to the region to develop a record for its decision.

The Air Quality Committee provides a valuable forum and practical resources for lawyers interested in air-related issues. Committee members range from experienced practitioners to those who deal with air quality issues on only an occasional basis. The Committee provides information to its members through the programs it presents and its contributions to the various ABA publications. The Air Quality Committee assists its members with:

1. keeping up to date on new developments, through extensive communications such as newsletters, satellite conferences and seminars;
2. exchanging ideas and Best Practices with other practitioners around the country; and
3. maintaining involvement with the environmental lawyer community by contributing to various ABA SEER publications and participating in SEER events.

We have one of the largest sections in the Year in Review, which covers new laws, regulations and recent cases affecting air quality, and we publish a quarterly newsletter with articles and items of interest. While most of our work is done by our excellent and hardworking Vice-Chairs, we are always looking for members interested in getting involved in committee activities.

To become a member of the Air Quality Committee please complete the on-line Committee Preference Form.

Chair:
Angela Morrison Uhland

Vice Chairs:
Committee Newsletters
Kathryn Ballow Thomson

Membership
Philip Karmel

Programs
David M. Friedland

Howard J. Hoffman

Roger Martella

Matthew A. Paque

N. Jonathan Peress

Mary Ellen Ternes

Public Service
Phillip Bower

Jennifer Buzecky

Public Service/Climate Challenge
Daniel Eisenberg

Technology
Roy S. Belden

The Year in Review
Jonathan S. Martel

Additional (Publications)
Sherry Bursey

Air Quality Committee
Public Service Projects