Mercury regulations are coming: time to review your options

The EPA plans to issue a final power plant mercury emissions rule on March 15, 2005. The agency is proposing a cap-and-trade program with the first annual cap, in 2010, at a level that could provide co-benefits to utilities reducing other emissions under other regulations already in place. Opponents...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Power 2004-10, Vol.148 (8), p.26-29
Main Author: PELTIER, Robert
Format: Magazinearticle
Language:English
Subjects:
Air cleanliness
Air pollution
Applied sciences
Coal-fired power plants
Electricity distribution
Emissions control
Emissions trading
Energy
Energy. Thermal use of fuels
Environmental regulations
Exact sciences and technology
Hazardous air pollutants
Industrial plant emissions
Installations for energy generation and conversion: thermal and electrical energy
Mercury
Outdoor air quality
Power plants
Public health
Regulation
Regulatory agencies
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Summary:The EPA plans to issue a final power plant mercury emissions rule on March 15, 2005. The agency is proposing a cap-and-trade program with the first annual cap, in 2010, at a level that could provide co-benefits to utilities reducing other emissions under other regulations already in place. Opponents of cap-and-trade - who want coal-fired units to install maximum available control technology (MACT) to reduce their mercury emissions by 14 tons by 2007 - say the market-based approach would delay mercury reductions and that it fails to meet the Clean Air Act's requirements for generators to use MACT to control their emissions. For their part, state regulators say the EPA's path to regulation is too drawn out to protect public health and that reductions of 85% to 90% should be the target. States are beginning to develop stricter mercury emissions than those proposed by the EPA.
ISSN:0032-5929
1936-7791