Strong Reasons To Use K-Fuel Technology:MERCURY: Group asks court to order case-by-case reviews of coal plant proposals (02/26/2008)
Katherine Boyle, Greenwire reporter
A coalition of advocacy groups are urging a federal court to force regulators to conduct case-by-case evaluations of proposed coal-burning power plants in the wake of a three-judge panel's rejection of Bush administration rules for curbing mercury emissions.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia was asked in a motion filed yesterday to ensure proposed plants are subject to emission controls equivalent to those required by the Clean Air Act's "maximum achievable control technology" (MACT) standard until U.S. EPA writes uniform guidelines.
A court panel ruled this month EPA violated the air pollution law by exempting mercury-emitting power plants from regulations governing hazardous emissions in favor of a more flexible cap-and-trade provision (E&ENews PM, Feb. 8).
The coalition of environmental, tribal and public-health groups argue the decision vacated an EPA rule that exempted oil- and coal-fired electric generating units from MACT standards.
"EPA is now well behind its statutory deadline for issuing protective MACT standards for this industry," the motion says, calling it "a public health imperative" for new plants to be subject to MACT standards.
The groups, including Environmental Defense and the Sierra Club, argue that the court should mandate MACT standards so states can employ them while evaluating plant permits.
The Sierra Club also has sent letters to regulators in three states urging them to have plant developers resubmit permit applications in light of the court decision. Decisions are pending on about 34 new plants, representing 22,000 megawatts of capacity, across the nation.
Dan Riedinger, spokesman for the Edison Electric Institute, an industry group, disputed the plaintiffs' claims.
"Right now there are, in essence, no federal mercury requirements in place," Riedinger said. "Whether or not EPA ultimately issues a [MACT requirement], the agency would still have to determine what" the technology is for utilities (E&ENews PM, Feb. 14).
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