How are electric utility mercury emissions regulated by the federal government?
The CAA Amendments of 1990 authorize EPA to regulate mercury emissions and other air toxics from electric utilities if necessary to protect against specific threats to public health caused by these emissions. On December 14, 2000, EPA announced it would regulate mercury emissions from certain electric power plants. In its 2000 regulatory determination, EPA deemed it “appropriate and necessary” to control mercury emissions from coal- and oil-based utility generators, although it acknowledged “there is no quantification of how much of the methylmercury in fish consumed by the U.S. population is due to electric utility emissions.” On December 15, 2003, EPA issued proposed mercury rules for coal- and oil-based power plants. On March 15, 2005, EPA issued the final Clean Air Mercury Rule (CAMR). CAMR for coal-based plants; the rule took effect on July 18, 2005. CAMR utilizes a market-based cap-and-trade approach under section 111 of the CAA that requires emission reductions in two phases: a
