Eleven States Oppose EPA Mercury Proposal

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> SSRI-Research

> Sun, 15 Aug 2004 17:15:32 -0400

> [sSRI-Research] ELEVEN STATES OPPOSE EPA

> MERCURY PROPOSAL

>

>

>

> Department of Law

> 120 Broadway

> New York, NY 10271

>

> For Immediate Release

>

> June 28, 2004

>

> ELEVEN STATES OPPOSE EPA MERCURY

> PROPOSAL

>

>

http://www.oag.state.ny.us/press/2004/jun/jun28b_04.html

>

>

> Attorneys General and Environmental

> Officials Urge Strict Standards for Power Plants

>

> Attorneys General and top environmental

> officials from eleven states joined today in

> formally opposing a U.S. Environmental Protection

> Agency proposal that would allow coal-fired power

> plants to escape Clean Air Act mandates that require

> them to reduce mercury emissions that threaten

> public health - particularly the health of children

> and pregnant women.

>

> The states filed joint comments in response to

> EPA's proposal that mercury emissions from

> coal-fired power plants be controlled under a

> trading scheme that would allow many plants to avoid

> installing pollution controls. The states criticize

> the proposal as illegal under the Clean Air Act and

> unsupported by scientific evidence. In particular,

> the states assert that the proposal would fail to

> address hot spots of local and regional mercury

> deposition around power plants that would not be

> required to install pollution controls. Through

> mercury deposition, mercury enters the food chain

> and ultimately is consumed by humans, resulting in

> neurological and other health effects.

>

> The comments outline the legal deficiencies of

> EPA's proposal and the devastating implications for

> young children, who can suffer permanent

> neurological damage as a result of mercury exposure,

> which frequently occurs in utero. Coal-fired power

> plants are the largest source of uncontrolled

> mercury emissions, generating 48 tons of mercury

> emissions per year nationwide.

>

> The comments were filed by the Attorneys

> General of New Jersey, California, Connecticut,

> Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York,

> Vermont and Wisconsin, as well as the Environment

> Secretary of New Mexico and Chief Counsel Mike

> Bedrin on behalf of the Pennsylvania Environmental

> Secretary. New Jersey coordinated the drafting of

> the coalition comments.

>

> New Jersey Attorney General Peter C. Harvey

> said: " Mercury has been linked to neurological

> disorders and is especially dangerous for young

> children and pregnant women. EPA's plan would allow

> power plants to choose to purchase emissions credits

> rather than reducing their own mercury emissions. An

> issue that is so critical to the health of our

> citizens in general and children in particular

> should not turn in each instance on the financial

> self-interest of the power company. "

>

> California Attorney General Bill Lockyer said:

> " Exposure to mercury can cause severe health damage,

> particularly to pregnant women and young children.

> If implemented, these rules will protect the profits

> of polluters at the expense of the environment,

> people and public health. "

>

> Connecticut Attorney General Richard

> Blumenthal said: " This action makes a mockery of

> environmental justice and the EPA's mandate to

> protect public health. The EPA's attempt to reverse

> its own mercury emission rules underscores how the

> power industry has hijacked the agency. "

>

> Maine Attorney General G. Steven Rowe said:

> " Mercury emissions from power plants to our south

> and west are a major source of deposition in Maine,

> and we desperately need strong federal regulation to

> address this problem. Despite the need for strict

> federal standards to protect public health and the

> environment, and the fact that such standards are

> legally required by the Clean Air Act, EPA fails to

> deliver in this proposal. "

>

> Massachusetts Attorney General Tom Reilly

> said: " EPA cannot be allowed to enact regulations

> that undermine the Clean Air Act and put the

> interest of power plant operators before the health

> of our citizens. Mercury is a highly toxic substance

> that poses a significant health threat to children

> and pregnant women --- We must do everything we can

> to hold the EPA accountable and demand federal

> policy that protects the public health and our

> environment now and for future generations. "

>

> New Hampshire Acting Attorney General Kelly A.

> Ayotte said: " Mercury emissions from coal-fired

> power plants are accumulating in New Hampshire's

> lakes and streams, forcing health advisories on fish

> consumption and threatening our children's health.

> EPA's proposed method for controlling these toxic

> emissions ignores clean air laws and can be

> characterized as 'too little, too late.' As chief

> legal enforcement officer for this state, I will not

> stand by while the federal government, once again,

> sidesteps the mandate for meaningful controls on

> toxic emissions from these power plants, most of

> which are located upwind from New Hampshire. "

>

> New Mexico Environment Secretary Ron Curry

> said: " As the only Rocky Mountain state involved in

> this coalition, I am proud that New Mexico is out in

> front on this vital public health issue. There are a

> number of problems I have with EPA's proposals. I

> don't think a cap-and-trade program is a good idea

> for a neurotoxin like mercury and I am very

> concerned about the impact such a program would have

> on the four corners region, where some large power

> plants are located. "

>

> New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer said:

> " Mercury is a potent toxin which can damage the

> nervous system, especially children's nervous

> systems which are still developing. The State of New

> York warns its residents not to eat fish from 40

> lakes in New York because the fish are contaminated

> with mercury. EPA's proposed mercury regulation is

> neither lawful nor strong enough to protect human

> health and the environment. "

>

> Pennsylvania Environmental Secretary Kathleen

> A. McGinty said: " EPA's failure to regulate mercury

> as a hazardous air pollutant poses significant

> public health risks for pregnant women, children,

> subsistence fishermen and recreational anglers who

> are especially susceptible to the dangers of

> exposure. In addition, because mercury is highly

> toxic, EPA's plan to use a 'cap and trade' program

> would compromise the integrity of trading and

> jeopardize its legitimate use as an effective tool

> to achieve cost-effective reductions in appropriate

> situations. Not only does this proposal ignore

> federal requirements and endanger public health, but

> it also prejudicially injures our Commonwealth's

> economy by favoring dirtier western coal over

> cleaner Pennsylvania coal. "

>

> Vermont Attorney General Bill Sorrell said:

> " If anyone has any doubts about the dangers posed by

> mercury in our environment, they need only consider

> the warnings posted by our health department or the

> fact that it is no longer safe to eat certain kinds

> of fish from several of our lakes and rivers. EPA is

> simply not taking this problem seriously enough. "

>

> Wisconsin Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager

> said: " The EPA's mercury rule is not only

> ineffectual and will perpetuate environmental harms

> and health risks to our children and citizens, it is

> illegal and just plain wrong. Wisconsin, as the

> other states we join today, should not tolerate this

> Administration's flouting of the law the Congress

> enacted to protect the public from the continued

> spewing of this hazardous material into our air and

> resources. "

>

> The 1990 Amendments to the Clean Air Act

> required EPA to study the health hazards posed by

> toxic substances being emitted from power plants.

> EPA conducted the mandated study through which the

> agency documented the severe health impacts posed by

> mercury and other toxic emissions from power plants.

> Based on these findings, EPA formally determined in

> December 2000 that it was " appropriate and

> necessary " to regulate such emissions as " hazardous

> air pollutants " (HAPs) under Section 112 of the Act.

>

> Having made that finding, EPA is required

> under the Clean Air Act to set appropriate

> plant-specific emission standards based on the

> " maximum achievable control technology " (MACT) for

> mercury and other HAPs emitted from power plants.

> EPA is required to adopt a MACT standard for

> existing sources that represents " the average

> emission limitation achieved by the best-performing

> 12 percent of the existing sources, " and for new

> sources, the MACT standard must be the " emission

> control that is achieved in practice by the

> best-controlled similar source. "

>

> EPA has proposed two distinct options for

> regulating mercury emissions from power plants. One

> is to set a plant-specific MACT standard. However,

> as discussed in the coalition comments, the

> particular standard that EPA proposed is " much too

> weak " and " at odds with " the Clean Air Act. The

> coalition notes that the standard proposed by EPA

> for bituminous coal is 17 times the actual emissions

> level already achieved by the best-performing 12

> percent of power plants using current technology.

>

> As its preferred alternative to that option,

> EPA has proposed an emissions " cap and trade " scheme

> that would allow power plants to elect, rather than

> reducing their own mercury emissions, to purchase

> emissions credits from other plants that reduce

> emissions below targeted levels.

>

> The coalition rejects EPA's argument that

> emissions trading in mercury is authorized by the

> Clean Air Act. The states assert that EPA has a

> clear statutory obligation to set a plant-specific

> MACT standard for mercury. In addition, the

> coalition criticizes EPA's proposal to establish a

> " safety valve " provision through which industry can

> obtain relief if the price of purchasing emissions

> credits exceeds a set threshold. As stated in the

> comments, " the Act requires EPA to 'protect public

> health with an ample margin of safety,' not to enact

> regulations that only serve to protect the economic

> interests of the power industry. "

>

> Mercury is a dangerous neurotoxin proven to

> cause a variety of developmental neurological

> abnormalities in babies and young children,

> including delayed developmental milestones, cerebral

> palsy, reduced neurological test scores and delays

> and deficits in learning abilities. Exposure to the

> most toxic form of mercury comes primarily from

> eating contaminated fish and shellfish. However,

> fish advisories, which have been adopted by EPA, are

> not an adequate substitute for appropriate

> regulation of mercury emissions under the Clean Air

> Act.

>

> The comments filed by the states can be found

> on the Web site of the New Jersey Attorney General

> at www.state.nj.us/lps, linked through this press

> release.

>