James M. Jeffords: “In January 2003, the Senate approved a very similar amendment by Senator Inhofe to the Fiscal Year 2003 consolidated…”

“In January 2003, the Senate approved a very similar amendment by Senator Inhofe to the Fiscal Year 2003 consolidated appropriations bill. That amendment initiated a study at the National Academy of Sciences to look at the effects of the EPA's first set of New Source Review rules, published on December 31, 2002, on emissions, human health, pollution control technology, and energy efficiency. That amendment provided that the National Academy will submit an interim report to Congress no later than March 3, 2004, approximately 1 year after passage. In September 2003, the EPA provided an oral authorization to the academy to begin work. Unfortunately, the agency has still not provided the contract papers necessary for the project to start. I do not know what the holdup might be. However, that study, if it ever gets funded by EPA, would not review the effects of the second set of NSR rules on routine equipment replacement which were published on October 27, 2003. It should and, since EPA has not yet funded the study and it has not started, there is still plenty of time to revise the mission statement and do the work. I am advised by academy staff that this expansion would entail minimal additional cost to EPA. As I have noted, my amendment simply extends the NAS study to cover the effects of the second set of rules looking at the same criteria and extends the interim report deadline by 10 months to January 1, 2005.”