The EPA Hazardous Air Pollutant Rule: 21 Years Later, a 21st Century Standard
| Pages | 44-45 |
Page 44 ❧ THE ENVIRONMENTAL FORUM Copyright © 2011, Environmental Law Institute®, Washington, D.C. www.eli.org.
Reprinted by permission from The Environmental Forum®, May/June 2011
THE FORUM
e EPA Hazardous Air Pollutant Rule:
21 Years Later, a 21st Century Standard
In 1990, when the Clean Air Act Amend-
ments were passed, Congress made provi-
sion for regulation of hazardous air pollut-
ants — and then the section of the statute
sat unimplemented. e Bush administra-
tion attempted to regulate mercury from power
plants using a cap and trade system before its
rule was overturned by the D.C. Circuit ap-
peals court. On March 16, the Environmental
Protection Agency proposed restrictions on air
toxics from new and existing generators that
burn coal and oil based on the best performing
plants in operation.
e Mercury and Air Toxics Standards will
regulate heavy metals such as lead, dioxins, and
acid gases that affect public health and childhood
development. According to EPA, the proposed
standards should reduce mercury emissions from
power plants burning coal and oil by 91 percent,
acid gas pollution by 91 percent, direct particu-
late matter emissions by 30 percent, and sulfur
dioxide emissions by 53 percent. e proposed
standards will yield benefits of $59 billion to
$140 billion annually, compared to annual com-
pliance costs of approximately $10.9 billion. e
new rule should save up to 17,000 lives a year,
EPA estimates.
e compliance costs imposed by the new
standards are not without controversy, coming
at a time when public expenditures are being
watched closely because of the poor economy
and mushrooming federal deficit, and EPA is
being subject to vast budget cutting and mis-
sion restrictions in the Congress. Is the agency
over reaching or are the benefits realizable and
the costs worthwhile?
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