Giving industry a cleaner bill

The EPA is not just active in making our air cleaner. In an exclusive interview, EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson discusses its involvement in the hurricane disaster and its other work in the oil and gas industry.

President Bush’s call for less dependency on foreign oil has given the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) just the boost it needs to push through programs for alternative, cleaner fuels. The recently proposed Renewable Fuels Standard Program, for example, envisions annual cuts up to 3.9 billion gallons in petroleum use and 14 million tons in greenhouse gas emissions by doubling the use of renewable fuels such as ethanol and biodiesel.

But the EPA is not just active in making our air cleaner, it was also involved in the clean-up operations after hurricane’s Katrina and Rita battered the Gulf Coast. Right up until August, it was collecting and analyzing samples at various sites within Louisiana to assess the final damage and possible health risks oil spills caused to the local area. It is also responsible for the Oil Program for preventing, preparing for and responding to oil spills that occur in and around inland waters of the United States.

In an exclusive interview, Oil & Gas editor Louise Druce caught up with EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson to find out more about its work.

LD. The EPA is promoting energy that is reliable, secure, and clean. What are the main programs/activities you are currently involved in to realize this goal in the oil and gas sector?

SL. EPA is meeting President Bush’s call to get our nation off the treadmill of foreign oil dependency by advancing the technologies that are good for the environment, good for our economy and good for our energy security.

EPA's clean diesel program uses a "systems approach," in which cleaner fuels help enable cleaner engine technologies. As of June 1, 2006 refiners and importers must ensure that the sulfur content of at least 80 percent of the volume of the highway diesel fuel they produce drops from the current level of 500ppm to 15ppm. Lowering the sulfur content will enable advanced pollution-control technology to be effective on the 2007 trucks and buses.

These technologies will reduce 2.6 million tons of smog-causing nitrogen oxide emissions will be reduced each year. Soot or particulate matter will be reduced by 110,000 tons a year. An estimated 8,300 premature deaths, 5500 cases of chronic bronchitis and 17,600 cases of acute bronchitis in children will also be prevented annually.

LD. What do you feel are still the major challenges to achieving this in terms of both government policy and industry attitudes?

SJ. Since our founding 35 years ago, EPA has led the nation-wide effort to clean-up and protect the environment, for today and for the future. And these successes are all around us. Air pollution has decreased over 50 percent. Lakes in the North East are recovering. Views are improved throughout our national parks. People are living healthier lives.

Over our 35 years of environmental progress, industry has responded positively to EPA policies that provided incentives to clean up faster. Innovative policies, like the cap-and-trade system in the Acid Rain program, helped EPA deliver environmental results quicker, cheaper, and more effectively than anyone had predicted. Their successes formed the framework for EPA’s suite of clean air rules that tackle mercury, soot and smog.

Businesses, that once believed they had to choose between a healthy environment and a healthy economy, have taken note. Today, a growing number of companies are finding that their customers have high expectations for how products or services they purchase affect the environment. EPA is working hand-in-hand with many businesses to reduce their environmental impacts – in cost-effective ways. Leading companies are proving, that doing what’s good for the environment, is also good for business.

LD. Hurricane’s Rita and Katrina severely disrupted crude oil facilities in the Gulf region. How did the EPA help with the clean-up operation and what repercussions are still being felt?

SJ. EPA and the other first responder agencies responded quickly and decisively to help their fellow citizens in the Gulf States during last year’s natural disaster. To allow greater flexibility for the fuel distribution system, EPA granted fuel waivers that addressed the impacts of the disaster on supplies and minimized the potential for supply disruption.

Additionally, EPA was on the scene responding and providing our state and local partners with high-quality sound scientific analyses of air, water and soil samples from the affected region. EPA has performed thousands of extensive environmental sampling and re-sampling, quickly shared our information, and then executed the appropriate next steps.

LD. How have the lessons learnt from the disaster been turned into positive action to improve emergency response and to secure facilities should a similar disaster happen in the future?

SJ. EPA is committed to protecting public health and the environment and our response to last year’s hurricanes helped streamline EPA’s role in responding to a natural disaster emergency. The sampling effort in the Gulf is the largest in EPA’s history in responding a natural disaster. From day one, EPA was on the scene, responding and providing our state and local partners with high-quality sound scientific analyses of air, water and soil samples from the affected region.

LD. How do you see the EPA developing over the next few years and where will you be concentrating your efforts to help improve the oil and gas industry in regards to the environment?

SJ. President Bush has charged EPA with accelerating the pace of environmental protection while maintain our nation’s economic competitiveness- I am committed to meeting this challenge. For example, the Bush Administration’s Clean Air Interstate Rule and Clean Air Nonroad Diesel Rule will significantly reduce NOx emissions both nationally and in the Eastern US. The Clean Air Interstate Rule will reduce NOx emissions in the Eastern US by over 60 percent and prevent an estimated 17,000 premature deaths annually. The Clean Air Nonroad Diesel rule will reduce nationwide NOx emissions by more than 90 percent and prevent more than 6000 children's asthma-related emergency room visits annually.