EPA answers critics, plans review of proposed mercury emissions rules

WASHINGTON – The Environmental Protection Agency is calling for additional analysis as a result of criticism over its proposed regulations for mercury emissions.

The proposal, released last December, called for a 70 percent reduction in mercury emissions from power plants by 2018. However, some members of Congress, environmental and health activist groups have complained that the proposal was not strict enough and contained wording identical to suggestions from utility lobbyists. They also contend that EPA administrators told scientists not to research areas that would produce results counter to the wishes of industry representatives.

“It’s a serious violation of the way the agency is supposed to work,” said Rep. Tom Allen, D-Maine. “EPA officials told staff not to do the comparative analysis that is done routinely when considering new regulations. They basically shut down the scientific and technical experts and let industry write the rule.”

EPA spokeswoman Cynthia Bergman stressed that the proposal was open for public comment until April 30. The EPA will then review all comments and produce a final policy by December.

“We’re in the middle of the rulemaking process,” Bergman said. “The agency hasn’t finished its work. The administrator [Michael Leavitt] wants to make sure it is done right.”

Mercury emissions can poison water and fish, which in turn can poison humans. More than 60,000 children born each year may suffer learning disabilities because of mercury poisoning passed on by their mothers, according to Barbara Blakeney, president of the American Nurses Association. The EPA’s proposal reduces emissions from coal-fired power plants, the largest producer of mercury pollution. But not by enough, according to EPA critics.

Allen contends that the EPA’s data are inaccurate and overly optimistic.

“Reductions may be at 50 percent by 2018,” Allen said. “The EPA’s own database shows emissions will be at 70 percent maybe by 2025, if ever.”

But Allen’s scenario is only one of many the EPA is discussing, Bergman said.

“We have a model that doesn’t assume mercury control will get cheaper over time,” Bergman said. “We think it will. If it is cheaper, it will appeal to power plant operators.”

The lack of efficient technology to reduce mercury emissions is one of the driving forces behind the EPA’s current proposal. The Clinton administration, just before leaving office, called for a 90 percent reduction in mercury emissions by 2008. But Bergman said those rules were written under inaccurate assumptions about emissions control devices.

“A lot depends on technology – some control emissions better than others,” she said. “There’s no commercially available technology to control mercury.”