Pensions, Retirement and Old Age

Age Canada Old Pension An Ohio power plant violated federal law by failing to install equipment that would control pollution over the Northeast, a judge ruled Thursday.

Gordon Brown has renamed the DTI the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (DBERR) to reflect its focus on the reduction of red tape and a commitment to entrepreneurship. 2006 Older employees plan to keep on working Older employees are increasingly willing to work on past the traditional retirement age, according to a new survey. called 'baby boomers' have told Heydey, profit organisation set up by Age Concern, they want to work past the state pension age.

Funds Pension It was the first court verdict in support of a campaign to force Midwestern and Southern power plants to reduce airborne emissions that cause smog, acid rain, and other forms of pollution in New Jersey and neighboring states.

About six weeks ago, the Bush administration announced it is considering rolling back a key provision of the Clean Air Act, called the New Source Review. This law requires old power plants to meet modern pollution standards when they are upgraded. Never mind that such a rollback would allow old and dirty power plants to expand and pollute air and water all over the nation even more than they do now.

Hancock John Pension "This sets a huge precedent," said Kevin Auerbacher, deputy attorney general of New Jersey. "We have a number of similar cases pending, and are very pleased with what this establishes."

by Voanews President Bush has defended his new proposal to cut some retirement benefits as part of his reform of the U.S. pension program, Social Security. If you would like to receive late breaking news on issues covered by AXcess News then you need to subscribe.Print This Page April 30, 2005 (AXcess News) President Bush has defended his new proposal to cut some retirement benefits as part of his reform of the U.S. pension program, Social Security.

Pension Widow The ruling by U.S. District Judge Edmund Sargus in Columbus, Ohio, rejected an argument by FirstEnergy, operator of the coal-fired W.H. Sammis plant near Steubenville, that renovations there were simply routine maintenance. Instead, he said the upgrades were extensive and created higher emissions, making them subject to the Clean Air Act's mandate for additional pollution controls.

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Fund Pension New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, and the U.S. Justice Department had sued Ohio Edison Co., which is a subsidiary of FirstEnergy, to force the plant to comply with the law.

A modified test applies to workers who reach the full retirement age of 65 and 6 months in 2005. In the months before they reach full retirement age, these individuals may earn up to $31, 800 without having their benefits reduced. Once they reach full retirement age, benefits are no longer subject to any retirement test.

Investment Pension The Clean Air Act, passed in 1972, requires companies to obtain permits if plant modifications are extensive, then to install of state-of-the-art pollution control devices.

Canadian Pension Plan "We believed that we operated the Sammis plant in compliance with the Clean Air Act and were consistent with activities at coal-fired plants across the country," said Ellen Raines, a spokeswoman for FirstEnergy. "We would not have operated that plant otherwise or in any other way."

Department Pension Work Raines said company officials have not decided whether to appeal the decision.

Ibm Pension She added that the company - which also operates Jersey Central Power & Light, the state's second biggest utility after PSE&G - has spent more than $400 million on environmentally friendly improvements to the plant and has reduced emissions since 1970.

Benefit Corporation Guaranty "We have reduced SO2 [sulfur dioxide] emissions by 50 percent, and in 1990 NOx [oxides of nitrogen] was reduced by 44 percent," Raines said.

Calculator Pension Sulfur dioxide contributes to acid rain, and oxides of nitrogen contribute to formation of ozone.

Government Pension Both sides agreed the ruling does not end the case.

Pension Prague The remedy phase of the case is tentatively scheduled for the spring, said Jean Reilly, a deputy attorney general for New Jersey. Government attorneys said they will argue that the company should be forced to install pollution-control devices and to pay penalties.

Pension Retirement Without those devices, the Sammis plant emits about 145,000 tons of sulfur dioxide per year, about 58,000 tons more than all the sulfur dioxide emitted by all plants in Connecticut and New Jersey, Reilly said.

Ontario Pension Plan Teacher "This is huge," she said. "The court adopted the government's calculation and rejected outright the argument for routine maintenance."

Atlanta Attorney Pension The Bush administration has discussed easing enforcement of the Clean Air Act to allow old coal-fired power plants to modernize without meeting current pollution standards.

Benefit Canada Pension Plan FirstEnergy President Anthony Alexander was a member of the Bush administration's energy transition team. He also raised more than $100,000 for the president's campaign and gave $100,000 to the Bush-Cheney 2001 Presidential Inaugural Committee.

Pension Uk Auerbacher added that Thursday's ruling will help expedite a handful of other similar cases.

Benefit Pension "With this ruling, a lot of the issues in the other cases have been addressed," he said.

Pension State Nj Us Treasury A second case is proceeding in Indiana against Southern Indiana Gas & Electric, but the two sides are trying to negotiate a settlement.

Nj Pension A case against American Electric Power, based in Columbus, Ohio, and one of the nation's largest power generators, is expected to go before Sargus in January 2005.

Application Canada Pension The other utilities awaiting trial are Illinois Power Co., Duke Energy Corp., and Southern Co.

Alimentaire Pension Cinergy Corp., based in Cincinnati, agreed in 2000 to a $1.4 billion settlement that included an $8.5 million fine. Most of the money was to be spent on environmental improvements at its plants in Indiana and Ohio.

Benefit Defined Pension Plan A separate administrative action was taken against the government-owned Tennessee Valley Authority. Since then, TVA has countersued the Environmental Protection Agency after voluntarily adopting a $5 billion program to reduce nitrogen and sulfur emissions from its smokestacks by up to 85 percent from 1970s levels.

Canada Disability Pension FirstEnergy Corp. completed a $15.9 billion acquisition of Jersey Central - then known as GPU Inc. - in November 2001, creating a power company with 4.3 million customers from the Ohio-Indiana border to the New Jersey shore.

Crisis Finance Pension Pension Jersey Central has more than 1 million customers in the northwestern and central parts of the state.

Pension Second State Thursday's decision is the latest in a string of recent setbacks for FirstEnergy. Last month, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities ordered service upgrades and the appointment of a special master to oversee Jersey Central's operations after thousands of customers lost power along the Jersey shore during the Fourth of July weekend.

Fund Funds Hedge Pension Two weeks ago the BPU slashed $300 million from the company's request for a rate increase and penalized it $4 million for ongoing reliability problems.

Pension Service Staff Writer Kevin G. DeMarrais contributed to this article, which contains material from The Associated Press.

Division Nj Pension By Yung Kim
Bergen Record - 8/8/2003

Topic: Air Pollution

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