C&EN : : EPA Mercury Standard Hit
The Chemical and Engineering News, of all people, takes the EPA to task over their proposed loosening of mercury emissions regulation.
Coal-fired power plants emit 48 tons of mercury annually and are the largest U.S. source of anthropogenic mercury. Federal agencies estimate that 600,000 U.S. children born each year have learning deficits from mercury exposure.
Coal-fired power plants emit 48 tons of mercury annually and are the largest U.S. source of anthropogenic mercury. Federal agencies estimate that 600,000 U.S. children born each year have learning deficits from mercury exposure.
posted by Management at 6:38 PM
1 Comments:
EPA Mercury Standard Hit
Inspector general says agency violated Clean Air Act
JEFF JOHNSON AND CHERYL HOGUE
A proposed limit on mercury air emissions from power plants was determined incorrectly and is compromised because Environmental Protection Agency top managers failed to comply with the Clean Air Act, the agency's Office of Inspector General (OIG) says in a new report.
The independent OIG says senior EPA managers selected a standard that would result in a cap of 34 tons of annual mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants, then told EPA staff to develop regulations to support this figure.
The 34-ton figure, the report says, can be reached if utilities install pollution controls to meet emissions limits under a separate power-plant proposal to reduce nitrogen oxides and sulfur, the so-called Clear Skies initiative.
The Clean Air Act requires that emissions standards be based on “maximum achievable control technology” for each regulated pollutant, the report notes, and EPA was supposed to set the mercury standard based on how much is removed from smokestacks by the top 12% of the cleanest burning coal-fired power plants.
The report recommends that EPA reanalyze its data on the least polluting power plants before finalizing the rule, which is expected in March. EPA strongly disagrees and intends to move ahead and finalize the mercury regulation, it says in comments. Utility groups and some in Congress also criticize the report, saying the OIG lacks sufficient expertise and has become politicized.
States and environmental groups have said all along that the EPA proposal is flawed. They point to research showing that reductions twice those cited by the EPA proposal were obtainable by the top 12% of power plants.
Coal-fired power plants emit 48 tons of mercury annually and are the largest U.S. source of anthropogenic mercury. Federal agencies estimate that 600,000 U.S. children born each year have learning deficits from mercury exposure.
Post a Comment
<< Home