A key US environmental agency has unveiled the country’s first-ever national standards for mercury and other toxic air pollutants from power plants.
The sweeping regulations mandated by the Congress in 1990 and delayed by prolonged litigation, lobbying, and legislative battles — will require utilities to cut at least 90 per cent of their emissions of mercury.
The Environment Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that the new safeguards will prevent as many as 11,000 premature deaths and 4,700 heart attacks a year.
The standards will also help America’s children grow up healthier — preventing 130,000 cases of childhood asthma symptoms and about 6,300 fewer cases of acute bronchitis among children each year.
“By cutting emissions that are linked to developmental disorders and respiratory illnesses like asthma, these standards represent a major victory for clean air and public health — and especially for the health of our children,” said EPA Administrator, Lisa Jackson.
“With these standards that were two decades in the making, EPA is rounding out a year of incredible progress on clean air in America with another action that will benefit the American people for years to come,” Jackson said.
The US Commerce Secretary, Mr John Bryson, said these new standards have benefits that far exceed costs, and the flexibility built into their adoption will help guarantee that implementation will proceed in a thoughtful, common-sense way that limits negative impacts on businesses.
“Since toxic air pollution from power plants can make people sick and cut lives short, the new Mercury and Air Toxics Standards are a huge victory for public health,” said Mr Albert A. Rizzo, Managing Director, national volunteer chair of the American Lung Association, and pulmonary and critical care physician in Newark, Delaware.