NYT/Reuters: States Undercharge Polluters up to $50 Million: Report

[DeepModem Mom]

States Undercharge Polluters: Report
By REUTERS
Published: March 7, 2007

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - States from Alabama to Wyoming collected such low fees from major polluters that they may have shortchanged efforts to fight air pollution by up to $50 million, an environmental group reported on Wednesday.

Those states either charged emissions fees lower than the minimum federal government standard or put a limit on how much each polluter was compelled to pay in those fees, according to the nonprofit Environmental Integrity Project.

``Only the polluters come out ahead of the game under an arrangement where states let them off the hook rather than doing what they are supposed to under federal law,'' the group's Eric Schaeffer said at a telephone news briefing.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency requires states to pay nearly $40 for each ton of emissions of the most noxious air pollutants, including sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and smog-forming volatile organic compounds.

Businesses that emit those compounds include power plants, refineries, cement kilns, incinerators and chemical plants. States are responsible for collecting those fees and bear most of the burden of monitoring emissions, inspecting and enforcing the law....

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/news/news-pollution-usa.html

[Erika]

1. Republicans don't care about the environment

Period.