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1 1 (May 19, 2020)

handle is hein.crs/govdamc0001 and id is 1 raw text is: FF. ' riE SE-.$ri ,q . i Updated May 19, 2020 EPA Reconsiders Benefits of Mercury and Air Toxics Limits In April 2020, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) concluded that limits on hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) from coal- and oil-fired power plants are not appropriate and necessary (A&N) under Clean Air Act (CAA) Section 112(n)(1) (Reconsideration of Supplemental Finding and Residual Risk and Technology Review, April 16, 2020). The 2020 A&N rule reversed prior A&N determinations, which led to the 2000 listing of coal- and oil-fired power plants as a major source of HAPs and the 2012 Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) limiting those HAPs. Notwithstanding the 2020 A&N rule, the 2012 MATS limits remain in effect for power plants because EPA determined that it could not meet the criteria under CAA 112(c)(9) to delist them. Furthermore, the A&N finding does not change the regulatory status of other pollution sources because CAA Section 112(n)(1) applies only to power plants. Some have raised questions about why EPA reversed the A&N finding and how it might affect regulated entities. For example, some power plant owners are concerned the A&N reversal may compromise their ability to recover from ratepayers the costs of installing MATS pollution controls. Others find this unlikely, but legal challenges to the 2020 A&N rule are expected. The 2020 A&N rule reveals a change in EPA's interpretation of a unique statutory provision Section 1 12(n)(1) which may nonetheless set a precedent for EPA's consideration of benefits under other CAA authorities. EPA stated that the 2020 A&N rule corrects errors in the agency's consideration of benefits in a prior A&N finding. In its determination for the 2020 A&N rule, EPA excluded from consideration any co-benefits to human health from reductions in pollutants not targeted by MATS. This In Focus discusses EPA's reconsideration of benefits and costs and potential issues for Congress. Section 112(c) delistings and legal issues are beyond this product's scope. Hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) are pollutants known or suspected to cause cancer or other serious health effects, such as reproductive problems or birth defects. Among the HAPs emitted by power plants, mercury has been of principal concern. Mercury, which occurs naturally in coal, travels through the air to water, where it is converted to methylmercury and moves up the food chain. Consumption of fish and shellfish contaminated with methylmercury is the primary source of human mercury exposure. Fetuses and children are particularly vulnerable to methylmercury exposure, which may impair neurological development. Methylmercury exposure at high levels may harm the brain, heart, kidneys, lungs, and immune system. CAA Section 112(n)(1) required EPA to study the hazards to public health reasonably anticipated to occur from HAPs emitted by power plants after imposition of other CAA requirements. It also required EPA to examine the health and environmental effects of mercury emissions from these sources, available control technologies and their costs, and whether regulation of power plant HAPs was appropriate and necessary (42 U.S.C. §7412(n)). In 2000, EPA determined that it was appropriate and necessary to regulate hazardous air pollutants from coal- and oil-fired power plants. This determination required EPA to take additional steps to regulate HAPs. EPA added coal- and oil-fired power plants to the Section 112 list of source categories in 2000. In 2005, EPA changed course. EPA withdrew the 2000 A&N finding and finalized a rule to remove coal- and oil- fired power plants from the Section 112 list. Instead, EPA promulgated a cap-and-trade program to limit power plant mercury emissions under Section 111. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit vacated these 2005 actions, however, and ruled that EPA unlawfully delisted coal- and oil-fired power plants from the Section 112 list because EPA failed to comply with the statutory delisting criteria. In 2012, EPA reaffirmed the 2000 A&N finding and promulgated the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards Rule. The rule, which remains in effect, established emissions standards to reduce mercury and acid gases from most existing coal- and oil-fired power plants. EPA's accompanying analysis, published in 2011, projected annual benefits between $37 billion and $90 billion in 2016. Nearly all of the monetized benefits were from the rule's particulate matter co-benefits. EPA monetized one of the expected mercury impacts intelligence quotient loss to children exposed to mercury from recreationally caught freshwater fish but could not monetize other mercury impacts. Such non-monetized impacts may include other neurologic effects (e.g., memory and behavior), cardiovascular effects, and effects on wildlife. EPA's regulatory impact analyses have historically reported difficulty in monetizing HAP reduction benefits but have also noted that the lack of monetized estimates does not mean the benefits lack value. Previous Administrations concluded that such benefits justify emission standards, albeit under different CAA authorities. For example, EPA's 2004 analysis of a rule to reduce power plant mercury emissions concluded that non-monetized benefits were large enough to justify substantial investment in emission reductions (Benefit Analysis for the Section 112 Utility Rule). K~:> p\w -- , gn'a', goo mppm qq\ a , q 'S I 11LIANJILiN,

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