After the Clean Air Mercury Eule: prospects for reducing mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants
- University of Colorado at Boulder, CO (United States)
Recent court decisions have affected the EPA's regulation of mercury emissions from coal burning, but some state laws are helping to clear the air. In 2005, the US EPA issued the Clean Air Mercury Rule (CAMR), setting performance standards for new coal-fired power plants and nominally capping mercury emissions form new and existing plants at 38 tons per year from 2010 to 2017 and 15 tpy in 2018 and thereafter; these down from 48.5 tpy in 1999. To implement the CAMR, 21 states with non-zero emissions adopted EPA's new source performance standards and cap and trade program with little or no modification. By December 2007, 23 other states had proposed or adopted more stringent requirements; 16 states prohibited or restricted interstate trading of mercury emissions. On February 2008, the US Court of Appeal for the District of Columbia Circuit unanimously vacated the CAMR. This article assesses the status of mercury emission control requirements for coal-fired power plants in the US in light of this decision, focusing on state actions and prospects for a new federal rule. 34 refs., 1 fig.
- OSTI ID:
- 21186962
- Journal Information:
- Environmental Science and Technology, Vol. 43, Issue 8; ISSN 0013-936X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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