EPA Would Set New Cap on Mercury (30% reduction postponed to 2010)

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGA3CF7ERND.html

EPA Would Set New Cap on Mercury Pollution Under Latest Proposal
By H. Josef Hebert
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - A Bush administration proposal to reduce mercury emissions would allow power plants to trade emission credits, prompting concerns among critics that it could create mercury "hot spots" still harmful to public health.

The draft proposal would differ radically from the one offered by the Clinton administration three years ago which would regulate mercury as a toxic substance through the use of "maximum achievable technology" at each of nearly 500 coal-fired power plants.

The latest EPA proposal would essentially cap mercury emissions from coal-burning power plants nationwide at 34 tons a year by 2010, a reduction of 30 percent from current levels, according to a copy of the document obtained by The Associated Press.
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Environmentalists and health advocates argue that the proposal to let companies trade emissions allowances might be desirable in dealing with certain types of pollution, such as smog-causing ozone or sulfur-producing acid rain, but it is not in the case of mercury.
William Becker, executive director of the association that represents state air pollution officials, said the latest proposal would delay mercury regulation three years until 2010, while the original one would have required pollution controls at plants by 2007. <snip>