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17 EPA J. 54 (1991)
Pizza at Midnight

handle is hein.journals/epajrnl17 and id is 54 raw text is: Viewpoints: Pizza at Midnight by Rob Brenner and John Beale emission limits were placed on every utility boiler. Many senators argued that the system wasn't equitable, that it didn't take into account their particular circumstances. This put us in the unenviable position of responding to unit-specific concerns, and we were faced with literally dozens of requests to make adjustments during and after negotiations with the Administration. As part of the negotiations, we provided extra bonus allowances for those utilities that used technology during the first phase of the reduction. The bonus allowances would provide additional job-protection incentives for high-sulfur coal miners. But this led western senators to argue that their low-sulfur utilities were not adequately compensated for past efforts. Working with these senators, I helped draft a compromise that provided second-phase bonus allowances to these clean states as well. After a weekend of frantic legislative drafting, I, Senator Dole, and others introduced an amendment on March 5, 1990. That began a month-long effort on the Senate floor to reconcile concerns about allocation of acid rain allowances, toxics and smog controls, limits on ozone-depleting chemicals, and municipal incinerator controls. Finally, on April 3, the Senate overwhelmingly passed clean air legislation by a vote of 89 to 11. Never in my experience had the Senate remained on one issue for so long, and never had so many senators focused on such technical legislation. After this victory, we waited almost three months for the House to act, so we could begin a conference to reconcile differences between House and Senate bills. The conferees reached agreement in principle on October 22, and the Senate passed the conference report on October 27. On November 15, President Bush signed the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments into law. There were many happy but tired faces at the ceremony. 0 t was well after midnight during the third week of Clean Air Act negotiations between key senators and the Administration. The negotiators were trying to resolve one of the more formidable issues: Should automakers be required to cut emissions of new cars once in the mid-1990s and then meet a second round of even tighter standards after the year 2000 (so-called Tier II controls)? The potential compromise laid on the table was a Staffers from many offices worked 60- to 80-hour work weeks for long periods of time .... Tier II trigger. The additional controls would be required only if a significant number of cities were not meeting the health standards and were likely to need the emission reductions provided by additional vehicle controls. The problem was determining what constitutes a significant number of cities and how far out of attainment they would need to be to justify imposing expensive controls on new cars. As the meeting was breaking up, Senator Mitchell pulled aside some of the EPA staff. He said he did not think an agreement could be reached unless some data could be provided indicating the frequency of violations in nonattainment areas. Senator Mitchell wanted the information by 9 o'clock the next morning (which meant that the White House would want to see it before then). Although the task required pulling some analysts out of bed and some early-morning computer runs, the data were provided the next morning. And although several more hours of discussion were needed, agreement was reached: Tier II controls would be imposed if more than 11 cities (Brenner is Director of EPA's Office of Policy Analysis and Review (OPAR). Beale is Deputy Director of OPAR.) remained out of attainment in the year 2001. In this case, and in countless similar cases over a two-year period, agreement was possible only because EPA staff were able to provide the authoritative information, virtually (and often literally) overnight. Beyond the unprecedented demands for accuracy and speed, the highly contested political situation surrounding the clean air debate added an unaccustomed dimension to an already difficult task. Our challenge was to provide technical assistance and policy insights to the White House, Congress, and senior EPA officials without becoming targets in what was an often savage political crossfire. Although most of the public attention focused on the 101st Congress, intensive EPA involvement began two years earlier, in 1987, at the start of the previous Congress. At that time, EPA established the Clean Air Work Group, composed of staff from numerous EPA offices and outside the Agency. Air, Policy, Congressional Liaison, Public Affairs, Water, OPPE (Office of Policy, Planning, and Evaluation), ORD (Office of Research and Development), OARM (Office of Administration and Resources Management), OSWER (Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response), Enforcement, General Counsel, and Administrator's offices, as well as the Department of Justice: All contributed staff and resources to the effort. The work group's first task was to develop analyses, briefing papers, and policy options to encourage thoughtful deliberations. But the previous year's bruising battle between EPA and Congress over Superfund reauthorization made another task equally important: Rebuilding severely strained working relationships with Congress. After a year of internal and external discussions and debates, the Agency produced three innovative proposals: more realistic deadlines with interim progress requirements to address the problem of nonattainment of the national air quality standards; an air toxics control program featuring a technology-based approach backed up EPA JOURNAL

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