Obama considering tougher rules for power plants
April 27, 2009 ·
On Monday, the Environmental Protection Agency said it would reconsider three Bush administration rules that affect coal-fired power plants.
The rules involve air emissions from the plants under what’s called “new source review.” It’s the requirements the EPA places on new industrial facilities or power plants before they can release pollution into the air.
Bush made several changes to new source review that industry by and large welcomed.
Environmentalists say the Bush rules provided loopholes that allowed for more pollution, which the Obama administration is now closing.
The rules under review involve fugitive emissions – those not released through a stack, vent or other confined air stream; how polluters keep records on emissions; and air emissions associated with fine particle pollution.
The groups Earthjustice, The Sierra Club, and the Natural Resources Defense Council, Earthjustice asked the EPA to review the rules.
An EPA press release said “These reconsiderations are the most recent in a series of actions EPA has taken to ensure the NSR program protects clean air.”
The EPA expects soon to publish a notice of proposed rulemaking in the Federal Register requesting comment on certain aspects of each of these three rules.