The Bush Administration's air pollution plan called the "Clear Skies Initiative," would:
-Automatically postpone deadlines for meeting public health standards for smog (ozone) and fine particle soot (PM 2.5) until 2015. (Existing law would require health standards to be met by 2009 or earlier.)
-Exempt affected smokestack plants from new source review requirements, meaning that existing plants could legally increase their pollution. These plants would also avoid the current requirements to use the cleanest possible technology (the "lowest achievable emission rate") and to offset any increased pollution in areas with unhealthful air. Similar loopholes would also be granted to refineries, chemical plants, paper mills, cement plants and other smokestack factories, as well as certain sulfur dioxide or nitrogen oxide emitting industries.
-Eliminate current mercury pollution standards for electric power plants.
-Eliminate the current requirement that requires cleanup of existing and new sources of pollution that threaten national parks.
-Gut interstate pollution protections (Section 126) by prohibiting any downwind state from bringing an action to force cleanup in upwind states' interstate cleanup before 2012
-Make it impossible to shut down a plant that violates the law.
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