new rules, The

Power, Jun 1, 2005

This March, the U.S. EPA announced two additional air pollution rules that apply to coal-fired utility boilers: the Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR) and the Clean Air Mercury Rule (CAMR).

The intent of the CAIR is to reduce ground-level concentrations of criteria pollutants (PM2.5, ozone) to National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) levels under Title I of the Clean Air Act. This rule applies to states in which the EPA's atmospheric chemistry and transport models have demonstrated that NOx and SO2 emissions contribute to levels of ground-level ozone and PM2.5 that exceed the NAAQS.

For compliance, the EPA has directed states in the affected regions to cap their industrial emissions and revise their State Implementation Plans. The CAIR will set caps on NOx emissions for the entire year as well as for the ozone season, enabling NOx emissions credits to be traded.

As for the CAMR, the EPA estimates that U.S. power plants emit 48 tons of mercury annually. The new rule seeks to reduce these emissions to 38 tons per year by 2010 and to 15 tons per year starting in 2018. Like the CAIR, the CAMR establishes a cap-and-trade program to facilitate reaching its goals.