[JURIST] Leading Friday's environmental law news, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) [official website] has released an analysis [EPA press release] comparing a number of different proposed legislative and regulatory initiatives aimed at reducing air pollution from coal fired power plants. The analysis [text], presented by EPA administrator Steve Johnson before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, concluded that the Clear Skies [PDF text, EPA backgrounder] proposal promoted by President Bush was superior to current law and other alternative proposals. The New York Times has more.

In other environmental law news…

• The California Air Resources Board [official website] announced Thursday that it was reversing a decision, made last week, that would have imposed new smog emission standards on new buses beginning in 2007. The Board's action will now delay implementation of the standard until 2010. The Los Angeles Times has more.
• The Massachusetts Joint Committee on the Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture [official website] has released a bill [text] that will update the state's Toxic Use Reduction Act (TURA) [text, MA DEP backgrounder]. The changes will align state and federal toxic chemical reporting guidelines and create graduated fines and fees based on the toxicity of the chemicals being used. The Bolton Common has more.
• The Indonesian government established the National Commission on the Clean Development Mechanism [official website] Thursday to promote and regulate the transfer of air emission credits from private Indonesia companies to developed nations. Under the Kyoto Protocol [text], nations must reduce their pollution emissions, or if unable to do so, they can satisfy the requirement by paying for emissions reduction programs in other countries [UN backgrounder]. The new commission will work to coordinate the transactions between local private companies and the foreign governments. The Jakarta Post has more.