Agency Orders Power Plant Mercury Pollution Cut by Nearly 50 Percent

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The Bush administration on Tuesday ordered power plants to cut mercury pollution from U.S. smokestacks by nearly half within 15 years but left an out for the worst polluters.

WASHINGTON — The Bush administration on Tuesday ordered power plants to cut mercury pollution from U.S. smokestacks by nearly half within 15 years but left an out for the worst polluters.


The Environmental Protection Agency said the cuts would help protect pregnant women, women of childbearing age and young children from a toxic metal that causes nerve damage. Critics said the arrangement fell far short of what was needed, and they promised to fight it.


"The United States is the first nation to take a leadership role in addressing the problem of mercury from power plants," said Jeffrey Holmstead, EPA's top air pollution official.


The nation's 600 coal-burning power plants release 48 tons (43.54 metric tons) of mercury pollution a year. That is expected to decrease to 31.3 tons (28.39 metric tons)in 2010, 27.9 tons (25.31 metric tons) in 2015 and 24.3 tons (22.04 metric tons) in 2020.


Forty percent of mercury emissions come from power plants, but those emissions have never been regulated as a pollutant. EPA regulates mercury in water and from municipal waste and medical waste incinerators.


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EPA faced immediate political and legal opposition. Senators, environmentalists and public health advocates said EPA failed to do all the Clean Air Act requires.


They said EPA favored industry by setting a nationwide cap on allowable pollution and then allocating a specific amount to each state -- and, in a few cases, Indian tribes that own power plants. The states then set limits on specific plants. Those that exceed the limit could buy pollution "credits" from plants emitting less pollution than they're allowed.


The cap-and-trade approach kicks in at 2010. Until then, utilities don't have to do anything specifically to control mercury. Instead, they must follow another regulation to reduce two other pollutants -- which EPA says will also help control mercury.


Source: Associated Press