Laura Griffin

April 2, 2011

On March 16, 2011, EPA proposed the first national standard to reduce mercury and other toxic air pollution from coal- and oil-fired power plants. The proposed rule requires substantial reductions in emissions of 84 toxic pollutants by 2016.

Congress intended for EPA to create hazardous air pollutant emission standards for all sources when it passed the Clean Air Act (CAA) in 1970. By 1990, EPA had not yet set those standards, so Congress amended the Act and gave EPA explicit instructions to speed up the process. Ten years later, EPA added coal- and oil-fired power plants to the list of regulated sources, but did not set emission standards before reversing course and removing the power plants from the mandatory regulation list in 2005. The D.C. Circuit Court held that EPA violated the Clean Air Act by delisting the power plants and a subsequent lawsuit by several environmental and public health organizations resulted in a court order requiring EPA to issue a proposed rule to set hazardous air pollutant emission standards for power plants by March 16, 2011.

At the time of the 1990 amendments to the CAA, the medical waste incinerator, municipal waste combustor, and power plant industry sectors made up approximately two-thirds of total U.S. mercury emissions. The incinerators and combustors are subject to emissions standards and have reduced their mercury emissions by more than 95 percent. Because they have not been subject to such regulation, power plants are now the largest source of several harmful pollutants, responsible for 50 percent of mercury emissions, over 50 percent of acid gas emissions, and approximately 25 percent of toxic metal emissions in the United States. Coal-fired power plants are responsible for 99 percent of mercury emissions from the power sector.

The proposed toxics rule would reduce power plant emissions of heavy metals, including mercury, arsenic, chromium, and nickel, and acid gases, including hydrogen chloride and hydrogen fluoride. The plan would reduce mercury and acid gas emissions from the power sector by 91 percent. While all of these hazardous pollutants are known or suspected of causing cancer and other serious health effects, mercury has been the primary focus because of its devastating effects on human health. Mercury from power plants can damage a child's developing nervous system, reducing IQ and hampering the ability to learn.

EPA estimates the value of the air quality improvements to be $59 billion to $140 billion each year. The total national annual cost to implement the rule will be approximately $10.9 billion, but EPA estimates that the cost would add only $3 or $4 to the average homeowner's monthly electric bill. However, those costs are offset because for every dollar spent, Americans will get $5-13 in health benefits by preventing up to 17,000 premature deaths, 11,000 heart attacks, 120,000 asthma attacks, 12,200 hospital and emergency room visits, 4,500 cases of chronic bronchitis each year.

Once the rule is final, facilities will have up to four years to comply. The standards are based upon the lowest air pollution levels achieved by currently operating facilities. Currently, EPA estimates that 44 percent of all coal-fired plants do not have the emissions technology to meet the proposed standards. Any legal challenges to the rule will most likely come from the companies that have failed to voluntarily update their emissions technology in anticipation of a rule twenty years in the making.

Sources:

Gabriel Nelson, EPA Proposes Toxic Emissions Rules for Power Plants, N.Y. Times, March 16, 2011, http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2011/03/16/16greenwire-epa-proposes-toxic-emissions-rules-for-power-p-96066.html?partner=rss&emc=rss.

John M. Broder & John Collins Rudolf, EPA Proposes New Emission Standards for Power Plants, N.Y. Times, March 16, 2011, at A22.

U.S. Envtl. Protection Agency, Proposed Mercury and Air Toxics Standards Fact Sheet (2011), available at http://www.epa.gov/airquality/powerplanttoxics/pdfs/proposalfactsheet.pdf.

U.S. Envtl. Protection Agency, Power Plant Mercury and Air Toxics Standards Overview of Proposed Rule and Impacts (2011), available at http://www.epa.gov/airquality/powerplanttoxics/pdfs/overviewfactsheet.pdf.