Pollution rules meant for big companies, says EPA Chief Lisa Jackson

Agency head refutes S.C. concerns that state's small businesses will be targeted


U.S. Environmental Protection Agency chief Lisa P. Jackson dismissed state concerns Sunday that new federal climate rules will hamstring South Carolina's small business community with red tape and expensive requirements.

In an exclusive interview with The State newspaper, Jackson said her agency will focus the nation's first greenhouse gas regulations on large industries that produce about 80 percent of the pollution linked to global warming. She labeled as unfounded reports in South Carolina that the rules would apply to businesses like restaurants and apartment complexes.

"Not while I'm head of the EPA," Jackson said before an environmental justice conference in Columbia. "I don't know where that comes from, except that people are rightly afraid of stuff they don't understand."

But Jackson said "it doesn't make sense" that the EPA would place the burden on small businesses.

"You go after the big folks. You don't start with the little ones," she said. "It wouldn't be in anybody's interests."

Jackson was responding to criticism last month from Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and regulators from the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control. Both favor a new law passed by Congress to control greenhouse gases, instead of looming EPA regulations.

During a meeting with business leaders March 29, Graham and DHEC officials said the regulations could extend to small businesses, such as restaurants, apartment buildings, family farms - and possibly large homes or churches. Under questioning by Graham, DHEC air bureau chief Myra Reece said some small business owners are "going to wake up and you're going to find yourself regulated."

Reece said Sunday the jury is still out on how the rules will apply. The EPA is expected to formally decide in the next month which industries will be affected. The new rules would require pollution control devices to curb greenhouse gas releases, a requirement that could cost industries millions of dollars.

"We're waiting to see what's in the final rule," Reece said. "Even then, I guess there's going to be a lot of litigation, and the courts will ultimately decide what happens."

Jackson and House Majority Whip James Clyburn, D-S.C., are to meet with Chamber of Commerce officials in Columbia this morning. They expect to discuss the greenhouse gas rules with business officials, Clyburn said.

The EPA rules have been contentious nationally because they will, for the first time, control carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming.

Rising earth temperatures, fueled by industrialization since the late 1800s, are contributing to rising sea levels and an array of other environmental problems, many scientists agree. Sea level rise is an important issue in South Carolina, where the state's heavily developed beachfront is a cornerstone of a multi-billion dollar tourism industry.

The EPA rules will extend to both vehicles, as well as so-called "stationary sources," or industries that create global warming pollution. The regulations result from a 2007 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that the EPA has authority to regulate and control greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide.

S.C. Attorney General Henry McMaster has joined at least eight other states in legal action that could stop the new greenhouse gas rules. McMaster has said the rules would cost South Carolina jobs - a point Jackson disagreed with Sunday.

McMaster, DHEC and Graham say that instead of trying to control greenhouse gases through EPA regulations, Congress should pass a law that controls the pollution while providing flexibility to businesses. Graham and Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass, and Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., are expected to propose a comprehensive climate and energy bill this month.

Jackson said Sunday that she and President Barack Obama also favor a bill over regulation through the EPA, agreeing that it would provide more flexibility. Still, the prospects of Congress acting anytime soon are uncertain.

"It's always best to have the input of Congress on these kinds of things," Clyburn said. "But if people are going to filibuster everything we do, then let's go the regulation route."

Jackson said the rules won't apply to large industries until next year at the earliest, but even then, they would only kick in only when a big company wanted to build a new plant or make a major expansion. Some 300 to 400 large industries would be affected initially, she said. Those include power plants, paper mills and other industrial facilities.

Jackson's visit to South Carolina was part of an environmental justice tour the EPA and the Congressional Black Caucus launched earlier this year. Jackson, the first African American to head the EPA, said there's little doubt that black and disadvantaged neighborhoods have suffered from pollution that other communities have not faced. She said the EPA is working to change that.

During the town hall meeting Sunday, which drew about 200 people at Allen University, Jackson heard concerns of pollution in poor and African-American neighborhoods across South Carolina.

Jackson and DHEC officials pledged to investigate questions from one local resident about an industry near Allen University and Benedict College that was said to be making people sick.

After environmentalist Susan Corbett complained about DHEC approving permits for a battery recycling plant in eastern South Carolina, Jackson said the state agency has a hard job and is trying to help the public, as the EPA does. But Jackson said the EPA is available when people are concerned with state-level efforts to protect the environment.

"We're supposed to stand up and say 'Hey, we'll review it,'" Jackson said, adding that all states should have equal environmental protection. "It cannot be easier to pollute in one state versus another."

Today, Jackson will visit a North Charleston elementary school that lies within an aging industrial complex. The EPA has tested to see if toxic chemicals from nearby industries have made air quality unsafe for school children at Chicora Elementary. She also will visit the Savannah River Site near Aiken today. Earlier Sunday, Jackson toured several communities in Spartanburg County where residents say they have suffered from industrial pollution.
Reach Fretwell at (803) 771-8537.