Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Lawsuits filed by the Clinton administration alleging clean air violations at 51 power plants were reasonable and will move forward, the Justice Department said Tuesday.
The government’s case against the power companies still could be undercut, however, if the Bush administration decides, as it is considering, to relax environmental regulations that are at the heart of the enforcement actions.
The lawsuits are against Alabama Power Co., Cincinnati Gas &Electric Co., Georgia Power Co., Illinois Power Co., Ohio Edison Co., Pennsylvania Power Co., and Southern Indiana Gas and Electric Co., among others.
The lawsuits contend the power companies, when making operational or equipment changes to boost electricity production, failed to install required pollution controls required by the Clean Air Act.
The power plants argue that the EPA interpreted the regulation too narrowly and included a broad range of maintenance equipment and minor hardware changes as requiring pollution control improvements.
While not addressing specifically the merits of the cases, the Justice Department review concluded that the EPA was justified in bringing the actions under the Clean Air Act and acted within its legal authority.
"The ongoing prosecutions will proceed," the department said Tuesday.
Environmentalists reacted cautiously. They noted that the Bush administration is debating separately whether to relax EPA regulations the Clinton administration used as justification for the lawsuits.
"The crucial, and as yet unanswered, question is whether the administration will bow to industry pressure to gut the law that underlies these enforcement actions," said John Walke of the Natural Resources Defense Council, a major environmental advocacy group.
But New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, who has promised a court fight if the EPA regulations are relaxed, called the Justice Department position a "shot in the arm" to prosecuting the existing cases.
"They are reaffirming the legitimacy of the pending lawsuits," said Spitzer in an interview. "By saying this interpretation is correct, it would be difficult for them to back away" from the regulation.
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