May 25, 2012:

State and regional air-quality regulators have appealed a court order compelling them to enforce rules limiting greenhouse gas emissions at oil refineries. The state Department of Ecology, the Northwest Clean Air Agency and the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency filed the appeal last month in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Under a December 2011 ruling in U.S. District Court, these agencies have 26 months to come up with "reasonably available control technologies" to be installed at refineries, to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide, methane and other gases known to warm the atmosphere and contribute to climate change. The agencies have admitted in court filings they have not been applying this standard, known as "RACT," which is part of state law. They argue the law does not apply to greenhouse gases, and in any case this approach to curbing these gases is a waste of money.

The court order also could become redundant, officials from the Northwest Clean Air Agency said, because the Environmental Protection Agency is expected to develop its own rules for refinery emissions. The state's five refineries, including BP Cherry Point and ConocoPhillips near Ferndale, are responsible for 5 to 8 percent of the state's greenhouse gas emissions, according to the lawsuit filed in March 2011 by Washington Environmental Council and Sierra Club. The changes proposed by the conservation groups and ordered in December by federal judge Marsha Pechman would yield too little benefit for the cost, a statement from the Clean Air Agency said.

The agency "supports the environmental group's goal of reducing these emissions," the Tuesday, May 22, statement said. However, the ruling would "come at a high cost and divert limited resources from other projects of potentially greater benefit."  The state and the regional air-quality agencies are leaders in greenhouse gas regulations, said Mark Buford, assistance director for the Northwest Clean Air Agency. Among other projects, the state co-chairs a committee working on energy-efficiency benchmarks for refineries in the U.S. and Canada, with the Clean Air Agency providing technical expertise, Buford said.  "There are many efforts under way, and having to set them aside for RACT is disheartening," Buford said. The agencies' legal argument against the ruling is that greenhouse gases aren't in a class of air pollutants that must meet a federal air-quality standard. State law only applies to these six "criteria pollutants," the appellants argued in court filings.

Judge Pechman disagreed, explaining in her order that the state law is meant for all air contaminants. She cited a 2009 executive order from Gov. Chris Gregoire declaring greenhouse gases to be air contaminants. Janette Brimmer, a lawyer with the environmental firm Earthjustice who represents the conservation groups, said the appeal was "hugely disappointing," given that the groups are only asking for "efficiency measures" at the refineries. A state official said that's not as easy as it sounds. "Minimal reductions of greenhouse gas emissions from the refineries ... could cost hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars," said Seth Preston, communications manager for Ecology. Even with the appeal, the Northwest Clean Air Agency is working to meet the federal judge's requirements, Buford said. "We have begun in earnest the work of developing the ordered RACT standard," he said.

By The News Tribune