Act now on emissions, senators tell EPA head

WASHINGTON -- Although pressed by Senate Democrats yesterday, the Bush administration's top environmental official would not say when he would respond to a Supreme Court ruling that allows the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate carbon dioxide emissions from cars and trucks.

Several members of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee questioned whether EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson was dragging his feet in following an April 2 high court decision that found the EPA can set standards for vehicle exhaust under the Clean Air Act -- if Johnson found the emissions endangered public health. Massachusetts was the lead plaintiff in the case.

Johnson did announce he was opening a period of public comment on California's request for permission to limit emissions from vehicles -- a request first made 16 months ago. The comment period, which will include a hearing in Washington next month, ends June 15. Massachusetts and nine other states have also asked for permission.

But Johnson declined to give a timetable on when he would decide on giving states the right to control such emissions. "I'm not going to be forced into making a snap decision," he told reporters.

Senator Barbara Boxer , the California Democrat and committee chairwoman, told Johnson that he had been "hiding behind a bogus legal action" before the high court ruled. Now, she said, "there is no excuse for delay."

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse , a Rhode Island Democrat and former state attorney general, urged Johnson to move quickly and asked him about his top priorities for the agency. Johnson named clean water, climate change, and cleaning hazardous waste sites.

"Global warming is no greater an issue than infrastructure with water or cleaning up hazardous waste?" Whitehouse asked.

Johnson said he couldn't put all his agency's resources into one issue, neglecting others.

"You astonish me," Whitehouse said sharply.

Joining the criticism was Senator Frank R. Lautenberg , a New Jersey Democrat. "Why has it been so difficult to convince you that your agency should protect the environment?" the senator asked.

During about an hour of testimony in the packed hearing room, Johnson repeatedly said the issues were complex and he needed time to make thoughtful decisions. "We will move expeditiously, but we are going to be moving responsibly," he said.

In last month's 5-to-4 decision, the Supreme Court did not require the EPA administrator to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles. Instead, the court asked for Johnson to determine whether the gases were harmful to humans. If so, the agency should regulate the gases under the federal Clean Air Act; if not, Johnson should explain why.

The Bush administration has acknowledged that humans contribute to global warming, but it has resisted mandatory rules to curb such emissions because of fears that such regulations would hurt the economy and send jobs to countries without such standards.

Johnson said yesterday that the court ruling, while limited to car and truck emissions, raised questions about whether other polluting gases -- such as those from power plants -- should be controlled under the Clean Air Act.

Several Republican senators agreed that the agency should look carefully at all issues.

"I do not envy you, Mr. Administrator," Senator James M. Inhofe of Oklahoma, a climate change skeptic. ". . . You as a scientist are aware how politicized the science of climate change has become. Our understanding of climate is now in its infancy."

But earlier this year, the United States, along with most of the nations of the world, signed a scientific document that found there was greater than a 90 percent certainty that the recent increases in emissions from carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases contributed to rising temperatures.

Two former EPA administrators, William K. Reilly and Carol M. Browner , both testified yesterday that the agency should move forward in regulating carbon dioxide emissions from automobiles.

Reilly said it was just as important for Congress to act on a wide range of global warming bills.

John Donnelly can be reached at donnelly@globe.com.