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Fwd: EPA DECIDES MERCURY EMISSIONS FROM POWER PLANTS MUST BE...
> Interesting "fuel for the fire" for some of the ongoing
> discussions....jb
>
>!/EPA DECIDES MERCURY EMISSIONS FROM POWER PLANTS MUST BE.../SCROLL
>FOR RELEASE: THURSDAY, DEC. 14, 2000
>
>EPA DECIDES MERCURY EMISSIONS FROM
>POWER PLANTS MUST BE REDUCED
>
>
> To protect public health and the environment, EPA Administrator
> Carol M. Browner today announced that the
>Clinton Administration will require reductions, for the first time ever,
>of harmful mercury emissions from coal-
>fired power plants -- the largest source of such emissions in
>America. After extensive study, EPA determined
>mercury emissions from power plants pose significant hazards to public
>health and must be reduced. The agency will
>propose regulations by 2003 and issue final rules by 2004.
> "Mercury from power plants settles over waterways, polluting rivers
> and lakes, and contaminating fish.
>Exposure to mercury poses real risks to public health, especially to
>children and developing fetuses," Browner
>said. "The greatest source of mercury emissions is power plants, and they
>have never been required to control
>these emissions before now. Today's decision to address this problem
>marks a major step forward in the Clinton
>Administration's ongoing efforts to protect public health and the
>environment."
>
> Exposure to mercury has been associated with both neurological and
> developmental damage in humans. The
>developing fetus is the most sensitive to mercury's effects, which include
>damage to nervous system development.
>People are exposed to mercury primarily through eating fish that have been
>contaminated when mercury from power
>plants and other sources is deposited to water bodies. Once mercury
>enters water, biological processes can
>transform it into methylmercury, a highly toxic form of mercury that
>builds up in animal and human tissues. EPA
>recommends that subsistence fisherman, pregnant women, and others should
>always heed state fishing advisories.
>
> Under the Clean Air Act, EPA is required to study toxic air
> pollution from power plants in order to
>determine if additional regulations are necessary in order to protect
>public health. EPA reported its study to
>Congress in February 1998. That study concluded that of all toxic
>pollution examined, mercury posed the greatest
>concern to public health. An earlier study concluded that the largest
>source of human-made mercury pollution in
>America was coal-fired power plants.
>
> After completion of the study, the Clean Air Act required EPA to
> determine whether to proceed with the
>development of regulations. Today, EPA is announcing that it has
>affirmatively decided that mercury air emissions
>from power plants should be regulated, because mercury poses the greatest
>hazards to public health.
>
> EPA will propose regulations by December 2003 and will begin
> developing those regulations shortly.
>Industry, the public, and state, local and tribal governments will have an
>opportunity to participate in the
>process. Then, EPA will issue final regulations by December 2004.
>
> The Clinton Administration already has taken a number of aggressive
> actions to reduce mercury air
>pollution, including significantly reducing allowable emissions from
>municipal waste combustors, medical waste
>incinerators and hazardous waste combustors. When fully implemented in
>2005, the existing rules will reduce total
>human-caused mercury emissions by nearly 50 percent from 1990 levels
>nationwide.
>
> On November 11, 2000 President Clinton called for a dramatic new
> approach to reduce air pollution from
>America's power plants. The President highlighted the benefits of
>adopting a combined strategy to address all of
>the major pollutants emitted by power plants, including mercury, sulfur
>dioxide, nitrogen oxides and carbon
>dioxide. A comprehensive strategy that addresses all of these pollutants
>together will provide more certainty and
>flexibility to industry, making it the most cost-effective way to control
>the emissions that threaten public health
>and the environment. As the Clean Air Act requires, the regulatory
>process to control mercury will proceed under
>current law. However, at the same time, the Administration encourages the
>Executive Branch and the Congress to
>work toward legislating a comprehensive four pollutant approach, which
>will benefit the public health, the
>environment, and the economy.
>
> Today's decision will appear soon in the Federal Register, but is
> accessible immediately on EPA's mercury
>web site at: www.epa.gov/mercury Also, today EPA is posting, on its
>website, mercury emissions from every coal-
>fired power plant in the country. This is consistent with EPA's strong
>commitment to provide citizens with
>information about pollution in their communities.
Joel Baumbaugh (baumbaug@nosc.mil)
SSC-SD
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