Acid rain regs will be falling on utilities in '84, but not too hard
Regulations will probably call for sulfur dioxide scrubber retrofits on some older power plants in 1984, but because the action will likely be administrative under the Clean Air Act rather than new legislation, the rulings will be less harsh. A response to Canadian pressures was delayed when administration attention focused on military problems and rejected the first Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposals submitted by the new director as too costly. Failure to take action in 1984, however, will be politically damaging to the administration during an election year. A lack of scientific data hampers decision making, but EPA scientists predict there will be enough information by 1988 to accurately quantify acid-rain damage. EPA must decide which states to include in the regulations, how much to reduce sulfur dioxide emissions, and how to allocate quotas. Complicating the issue is the effect on the jobs of high-sulfur coal miners and the high capital costs of scrubbers. A low-cost retrofit may be possible with a furnace-injection technique now under study. 2 figures, 3 tables. (DCK)
- OSTI ID:
- 5149896
- Journal Information:
- Electr. Light Power; (United States), Vol. 63:1
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
How acid rain might dampen the utilities
H. R. 5970: a bill to amend the Clean Air Act to establish a program for the control of acid rain. House of Representatives, Ninety-Eighth Congress, Second Session, June 28, 1984
Related Subjects
01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS
29 ENERGY PLANNING
POLICY AND ECONOMY
ACID RAIN
POLLUTION CONTROL EQUIPMENT
POLLUTION REGULATIONS
FOSSIL-FUEL POWER PLANTS
SCRUBBERS
US EPA
ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES
ATMOSPHERIC PRECIPITATIONS
EQUIPMENT
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
POWER PLANTS
RAIN
REGULATIONS
THERMAL POWER PLANTS
US ORGANIZATIONS
500600* - Environment
Atmospheric- Regulations- (-1989)
010800 - Coal
Lignite
& Peat- Waste Management
200202 - Fossil-Fueled Power Plants- Waste Management- Noxious Gas & Particulate Emissions
290300 - Energy Planning & Policy- Environment
Health
& Safety
293000 - Energy Planning & Policy- Policy
Legislation
& Regulation