The U.S. EPA and the Energy Department are engaged in fierce infighting over the White House’s proposed revisions to the Clean Air Act, according to internal EPA documents obtained by the New York Times. The battle pits EPA Administrator Christie Whitman and her agency against Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham and high-powered energy lobbyists, who say the Clean Air Act’s new source review regulations cost industry billions of dollars by requiring factory owners to install state-of-the-art pollution controls when upgrading their facilities. The rules apply to more than 17,000 power plants, refineries, pulp and paper mills, smelters, and steel mills. Normally, the EPA would review and approve changes to the rules, but the Bush administration asked the Energy Department to participate in the review. The EPA seems unhappy about that request, and noted in the documents obtained by the Times that Energy Department proposals would “vitiate” clean air policy.
