PLEASE RESERVE MONDAY
EVENING, SEPTEMBER 26TH FOR THE NEXT MEETING OF THE MONVALLEY CLEAN AIR
COALITION......
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In March, EPA extended the
deadline for mercury controls at power plants from 2008 to 2018, and they
relaxed the amount of control required. Earlier today the U.S. Senate
rejected the motion by Senator Leahy (D-VT) to reverse the March decision of
EPA. See the details in the article below. So friends, we are in for a
long battle over mercury control. [Scrubbers on the Ft. Martin plant will
help with mercury control, of course.]
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U.S.
Senate Upholds EPA's Power-Plant Mercury Reduction Rule
Sept. 13,
2005. (Bloomberg News Service) -- Christopher Martin in Chicago
The U.S. Senate voted today to uphold an
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule allowing creation of an
emissions-credits trading system to reduce mercury pollution from coal-fired
power plants.
A majority of fifty-one senators voted to
reject a resolution overturning the rule sponsored by Senator Patrick Leahy, a
Democrat from Vermont. The rule was adopted by the EPA as an alternative to a
proposal under the administration of former President Bill Clinton that would
have required plant operators to install controls to reduce mercury emissions.
The EPA in March set the first limits on
airborne mercury pollution from coal-fired plants, the largest man-made source
of the substance. The Bush administration wants to set up industry- supported
markets for mercury so that plant operators that don't meet emissions limits can
buy credits from those that upgrade their equipment, under a system known as
cap-and-trade.
Health and environmental groups including
the Natural Resources Defense Council Club and Physicians for Social
Responsibility joined 13 states in a lawsuit challenging the EPA's decision to
remove mercury from a list of toxic substances regulated by the Clean Air Act.
That finding would require the installation of equipment to limit emissions.
Cost of Controls
Power plant mercury emissions were added to
the list by former EPA Administrator Carol Browner in 2000, just before the end
of Clinton's second term. The EPA removed mercury from the list of toxics when
it published the rule in March.
Supporters of the cap-and-trade system say
the marketplace is the most efficient means to cut pollution. Forcing utilities
to upgrade power plants would cost as much as $358 billion over the next three
years, raising power prices and harming the economy, according to an estimate by
the Energy Department's Energy Information Administration, the supporters note.
Opponents of the rule say a cap-and-trade
market would lead to ``hot spots'' of contamination near power plants that don't
install controls. They want all power plants to install controls.
The EPA and the Food and Drug
Administration last year recommended that women who could become pregnant,
nursing mothers and young children avoid fish with high mercury levels. The
department and health groups have said that mercury can damage the nervous
systems of infants and children.