Nine States Sue EPA on Reversal of 2000 Decision on Mercury

Attorneys general from nine states filed suit Tuesday over a final rule by the Environmental Protection Agency reversing its 2000 decision to regulate coal- and oil-fired generation for hazardous air pollutants under section 112 of the Clean Air Act. Section 112 would require utilities to install “maximum achievable control” technology. EPA’s final rule, published in the Federal Register and effective Tuesday, removes coal and oil-fired utility units from the section 112 source list. In pursuing a mercury rule wrought by litigation, the agency concluded in December 2000 that it was “appropriate and necessary” to regulate fossil units under section 112 and a MACT standard. But in its final rule, EPA said the December 2000 finding “lacked foundation” and “recent information demonstrates that it is not appropriate or necessary to regulate coal- and oil-fired utility units under section 112.” EPA plans to regulate mercury emissions through a cap-and- trade mechanism under section 111 of the CAA rather than MACT.

This is just putting the reins on a country that manufactures too much too easily. It makes the rest of the world look sad.

Agreed. That is what most of the environmental crap is about, as well as OSHA. Some regulation is necessary but their intent is to be crippling. Add the help they get from their buds the labor unions and trial lawyers and it is a wonder we make anything. Even at that, we still make the rest of the world look sad.

"Attorneys general from nine states filed suit Tuesday..."

The effect of this that electricity will remain expensive and in short supply. The electric companies can't update or build new plants until this or that lawsuit over standards shakes out.

Lawsuits are the atomic weapon of the environmentalists who want the USA to regress to an 18th century lifestyle. Of course environmentalists see themselves as the elite who will live in posh manors while we peasants live in stick huts with dirt floors. Practice tipping your hat as it will be a required skill in the new world order.

MERCURY RULES ARE HAM-HANDED

Daily Policy Digest

ENVIRONMENT /

Last month, the Bush administration issued new rules on curbing mercury emissions from coal-burning plants, with the goal of cutting emissions in half by 2020 using a “cap- and-trade” approach. However, U.S. power plants already account for less than 1 percent of the world’s mercury budget. According to the U.S. House Committee on Resources: Industrial use of mercury dropped by 80 percent since 1970; mercury emissions from power plants dropped 38 percent between 1995 and 1999.

Since the 1970s, mercury levels in fish have either remained stable or declined, during a time when experts believed levels should have increased by up to 26 percent.

Peer-reviewed studies do not show a link between U.S. power plant emissions and the mercury content in fish; nor do studies support a link between regular fish consumption by pregnant women and harm to their unborn children.

The Environmental Protection Agency’s maximum lifetime safety standard of mercury is already the most restrictive in the world.

Steven Milloy of the Cato Institute notes that the national cap-and-trade approach would be more efficient than a cap-and-trade option for each individual power plant (favored by environmental groups), but it will cost $3 billion to $5 billion annually. Source: “Mercury in Perspective: Fact and Fiction About the Debate Over Mercury,” U.S. House Committee on Resources, and Steven Milloy, “Mercury Rises Over EPA Pollution Rules,” Fox News, March 15, 2005.

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