EPA Proposes to Reduce Toxic Pollutants Discharged into Waterways by Power
Plants
In accordance with a consent
decree and in line with requirements under the Clean Water Act, the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed a range of options on May 4, 2013, to
help reduce dangerous pollutants, including mercury, arsenic, lead, and selenium
that are released into America’s waterways by coal ash, air pollution control
waste and other waste from steam electric power plants. Today’s proposal
includes a variety of options for whether and how these different waste streams
should be treated. EPA will take comment on all of these options, which it will
use to help inform the most appropriate final standard.
Steam electric power plants currently account for more than half of all toxic pollutants discharged into
streams, rivers and lakes from permitted industrial facilities in the United
States. High exposure to these types of pollutants has been linked to
neurological damage and cancer as well as damage to the circulatory system,
kidneys and liver. Toxic heavy metals do not break down in the environment and
can also contaminate sediment in waterways and impact aquatic life and wildlife,
including large-scale die-offs of fish.
The proposal updates standards that have been in place since 1982, incorporating technology
improvements in the steam electric power industry over the last three decades as
required by the Clean Water Act. The proposed national standards are based on
data collected from industry and provide flexibility in implementation through a
phased-in approach and use of technologies already installed at a number of
plants.
Under the proposed approach, new requirements for existing power plants
would be phased in between 2017 and 2022, and would leverage flexibilities as
necessary.
The four preferred options differ in the number of waste streams covered (such as
fly ash handling systems, treatment of air pollution control waste and bottom
ash), the size of the units controlled and the stringency of the treatment
controls to be imposed. EPA estimates that the regulations would reduce
pollutant discharges by 470 million to 2.62 billion pounds annually and reduce
water use by 50 billion to 103 billion gallons per year.
EPA also announced its intention to align this Clean Water Act rule with a related rule for coal combustion
residuals (CCRs, also known as “coal ash”) proposed in 2010 under the Resource
Conservation and Recovery Act. The two rules would apply to many of the same
facilities and would work together to reduce pollution associated with coal ash
and related wastes. EPA is seeking comment from industry and other stakeholders
to ensure that both final rules are aligned to reduce pollution efficiently and
minimize regulatory burdens.
There are approximately 1,200 steam electric power plants that generate electricity using nuclear fuel or fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas in the U.S. Approximately 500 of these power plants are coal fired
units which are the primary source of the pollutants being addressed by the
proposed regulation. Power plants that are smaller than 50 megawatts would not
be impacted by these new standards, and the majority of coal-fired power plants
would incur no costs under the proposed standards.
The public comment period on the
proposed rule will be open for 60 days after publication in the Federal
Register. The agency is under a consent decree to take final action by May 22,
2014. (EPA Press Release)
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