Agency Sends Ozone Proposal to White House

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has sent proposed language for revision of the national ambient air quality standard for ozone to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review. 

EPA is under a court order to propose the revision by June 30, and then to finalize a new ozone standard by March 12, 2008.  Although the proposed level will not be revealed until the OMB review is complete, EPA staff has suggested setting the standard at a level between 0.060 parts per million (ppm) and the current standard of 0.08 ppm.

EPA has studied the impacts of the following hypothetical levels: 0.064, 0.070, and 0.074 ppm.  EPA is likely to express the new standard in three-digit terms to prevent rounding down.  States currently are allowed to claim compliance with levels below 0.085.

Contact Tom Carter.

President Announces International Climate Change Framework

President Bush yesterday announced the United States will work with other nations to establish a new framework on greenhouse gas emissions—one which would succeed the Kyoto Protocol when that agreement expires in 2012.

Bush plans to urge other leaders of industrialized nations to participate in the initiative when he meets with them as part of the Group of Eight (or G-8) summit next week in Germany. Under this proposal, the President will call on the 15 largest energy-consuming nations to commit to a common goal for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

European leaders welcomed Bush's announcement, which urged the adoption of a "long-term global goal" to slash the heat-trapping emissions linked to climate change.

The United Nations' top climate official, Yvo de Boer, also endorsed the U.S. proposal as a key step headed into this December's summit on global warming in Bali, Indonesia. There, the U.N. official said, he wants the 189 countries that have ratified the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change--as well as the United States—to launch negotiations on a treaty that can be ready when the Kyoto Protocol ends in 2012.

Council for Environmental Quality Chairman Jim Connaughton told reporters that Bush's agenda for the upcoming G8 meeting (and beyond) involves both long-term voluntary targets and allowing participating countries to set their own mid-term goals. Connaughton did not budge when asked if Bush has reversed his position in opposition to a mandatory limit on U.S. heat-trapping emissions.

"It does you no good to cap your emissions here if it's going to lead to an increase in emissions someplace else," Connaughton said.

The Bush strategy for climate change includes a greater focus on adaptation, Connaughton said, noting the United States also wants to pump up investment in clean energy projects through international development banks.

Bush also will push through the World Trade Organization's upcoming Doha negotiations for the elimination of tariff barriers for sharing environmental technology, including anti-pollution controls for coal-fired power plants.

Contact Andy O'Hare or Deidra Ciriello.

Minimum Wage Hike Becomes Law

Congress last week approved a bill that will increase earnings for minimum wage workers from $5.15 to $7.25 an hour over the next two years.  The wage hike was attached to the emergency spending bill for the Iraq war which was signed by President Bush last Friday.

Democrats contend the measures will lift the incomes of about 13 million workers who will get their first raise, to $5.85 an hour, 60 days after enactment. A year later, the minimum wage will rise to $6.55 an hour, after which it will hit $7.25 a year later.

Republican leaders argued that the wage hike would only be palatable if it was accompanied by significant tax cuts for small businesses.

The two chambers struck a compromise last month that includes tax breaks worth $4.8 billion over 10 years, more than the House wanted but much less than the Senate had sought. More than half that amount—nearly $2.6 billion—will pay for an extension and expansion of a tax-credit program for employers who hire former welfare recipients, at-risk youths, and other targeted groups.

The measure also extends a law that allows small business to quickly deduct $112,000 for equipment purchases and raises the deduction amount to $125,000. It also allows married couples who operate unincorporated businesses to file as sole proprietorships, simplifying their tax returns, and it offers tax incentives for rebuilding areas of the Gulf Coast damaged by Hurricane Katrina.

To pay for those provisions, the legislation will raise about $4.4 billion in new revenue over 10 years, mainly through stepped-up enforcement and collection of overdue income taxes. The measure also closes a loophole that permits some taxpayers to shelter income by shifting it to their children.

Contact Robert Sullivan.

Questions about this newsletter? For more information or to unsubscribe, send an e-mail to info@washingtonbriefing.com.