EPA ready to document Calif. decision

Ruling halted law on greenhouse gas

December 28, 2007|H. Josef Hebert, Associated Press

WASHINGTON - The Environmental Protection Agency yesterday signaled that it is prepared to comply with a congressional request for all documents, including communications with the White House, concerning its decision to block California from imposing limits on greenhouse gases.

The EPA's general counsel directed agency employees in a memo to preserve and produce all documents related to the decision including any opposing views and communications between senior EPA officials and the White House, including Vice President Dick Cheney's office.

The documents should include "any records presenting options, recommendations, pros and cons, legal issues or risks, [or] political implications," said the all-hands memo from EPA General Counsel Roger Martella Jr.

The memo was in response to the congressional inquiries, said EPA spokeswoman Jennifer Wood.

EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson last week rejected California's request to implement regulations on tailpipe emissions of greenhouses gases, principally carbon dioxide. As many as 16 states were free to do likewise if California received approval from the federal EPA.

The California rules essentially required automakers to improve vehicle fuel efficiency, because by burning less fuel, vehicles would emit less carbon dioxide, the leading greenhouse gas. Johnson maintained that the new federal 35-mile-per-gallon auto fuel economy requirement - signed into law by President Bush only hours before Johnson made his announcement - achieves what California wants to accomplish.

California officials have vigorously disagreed, saying the state requirements would be more stringent than what Congress approved as part of an energy bill. Some EPA employees, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the issue's sensitivity, have said EPA staff clearly advised Johnson that a waiver rejection likely would not stand up in court.