U.S. environment agency affirms legal limits to mercury from power plants

[February 18, 2023]  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Friday reaffirmed the 2012 legal and scientific finding that regulating hazardous air toxics and mercury from power plants is necessary, a required step before it can strengthen those air regulations.

Signage is seen at the headquarters of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 10, 2021. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly

The final rule is one of several regulations the agency is expected to finalize or propose in the coming months as it rolls out regulations to clean up the power sector and force power plant operators to tighten pollution controls or shutter older, polluting plants.

EPA's move to deem the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) "appropriate and necessary" undoes a Trump administration rule that reversed the legal and scientific finding. It leaves the 2012 MATS rule intact but paves the way for the EPA to update and strengthen the power plant regulation this year.

The agency said it will determine whether more stringent protections are "feasible and warranted" in a later action.

“This finding ensures the continuation of these critical, life-saving protections while advancing President Biden’s commitment to making science-based decisions and protecting the health and wellbeing of all people and all communities,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan said in a statement.

Coal- and oil-burning power plants are among the largest sources of hazardous air pollution, including mercury, lead, arsenic, and acid gases, as well as major sources of benzene, formaldehyde, dioxins, and other organic hazardous air pollutants.

Environmental groups welcomed affirming the legal underpinnings of the MATS regulation but urged the EPA to "finish the job" by strengthening the 2012 rule.

"The EPA must prioritize our children and communities that face the greatest risk from these pollutants by strengthening the 2012 standards to ensure that coal plants are consistently using available cost-effective technologies to reduce toxic pollution," said Holly Bender, senior director of energy campaigns for the Sierra Club.

The EPA is due to unveil other rules on ozone, smog and greenhouse gas emissions from power plants this spring. The EPA is in the process of hiring more staff to implement programs the Inflation Reduction Act and infrastructure bills created.

(Reporting by Valerie Volcovici; Editing by Josie Kao)

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