State reactions to Title IV of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments
The Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 represents a bold step in application of environmental regulation. By setting up a national free market in sulfur dioxide emission allowances, Congress has adopted the position that environmental protection and good economics are not necessarily in opposition. In fact, by carefully crafting legislation these two goals may work in aide of each other. Title IV is intended to achieve a significant reduction in the incidence of acid rain at minimal cost for the nation as a whole. On the other hand, states have traditionally had the greater responsibility for direct regulation of electric utility operations. A national free market in pollution is not welcomed by many state regulatory agencies. Some states are concerned about losing in-state markets for coal; others are unwilling to {open_quotes}import{close_quotes} pollution through the purchase of allowances. A number of states have reacted by passing regulations which limit utilities` choices in developing compliance plans. The Illinois Coal Act, for example, specifically requires two of the largest Illinois coal-fired power plants to install scrubbers and prohibits any plant from reducing its use of Illinois-mined coal by more than 10 percent per year. In December of 1993 the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois ruled, in the case of Alliance for Clean Coal v. Craig, that the Illinois Coal Act violates the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution and permanently enjoined the Illinois Commerce Commission from enforcing it. The state appealed that decision but in January of 1995 the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit upheld the District Court`s opinion. This paper will show that the argument that should be of particular interest from an economics perspective. Finally, the paper will attempt to draw conclusions regarding how state regulators may legitimately integrate the trading of emission allowances into their current regulatory schemes.
- Research Organization:
- National Association of Environmental Professionals, Washington, DC (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 126012
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9506115-; TRN: 95:006735-0107
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 20. National Association of Environmental Professionals annual conference and exposition: environmental challenges - the next twenty years, Washington, DC (United States), 10-13 Jun 1995; Other Information: PBD: 1995; Related Information: Is Part Of Environmental challenges: The next 20 years. Proceedings; PB: 932 p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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