Growing Discontent With New Clean Air Mercury Rule

Debate over the EPA's new Clean Air Mercury Rule has grown quickly, and is quickly reaching the boiling point.

1 minute read

March 31, 2005, 5:00 AM PST

By Chris Steins @planetizen


"A growing number of states say they will probably file suit in federal court in coming weeks to overturn the mercury rule - in no small measure because of its outsized impact on other pollutants.

...At the heart of the debate over the new mercury rule is the rule's reversal of a 2000 EPA decision. Under the Clinton administration, the agency added electric utilities to a critical list of industries considered to be major sources of hazardous air pollutants such as lead and arsenic. The new mercury rule "de-lists" utilities. But in the eyes of many, that original listing still constitutes a legal requirement for power plants to eventually control these toxic emissions."

Thanks to Chris Steins

Thursday, March 31, 2005 in The Christian Science Monitor

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