II 110th CONGRESS 2d Session S. 2643 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES February 14, 2008 Mr. Carper (for himself, Ms. Collins, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Biden, Mr. Kerry, Mr. Menendez, Mr. Alexander, Mr. Lieberman, Mr. Lautenberg, and Mr. Gregg) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works A BILL To amend the Clean Air Act to require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to promulgate regulations to control hazardous air pollutant emissions from electric utility steam generating units.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Mercury Emissions Control Act.

2.

Findings and purposes

(a)

Findings

Congress finds that— (1)mercury pollution is a serious hazard to human health and the environment in the United States; (2)more than 45 percent of the industrial mercury emissions of the United States come from coal-fired power plants; (3)of the mercury deposited in the United States, 60 percent comes from United States sources; (4)human exposure to methylmercury, the most toxic form of mercury, comes almost exclusively from consuming fish and shellfish; (5)mercury released into the atmosphere is deposited into waterways, where the mercury collects in the tissue of fish as methylmercury at concentrations of up to 10,000,000 times that of the mercury concentration in the surrounding water; (6)each year, approximately 630,000 children are born having been exposed to dangerous levels of methylmercury in the womb, placing the children at risk of neurological problems, including poor performance on neurobehavioral tests, especially on tests of— (A)fine motor function; (B)attention; (C)language; (D)visual-spatial abilities; and (E)memory; (7)exposure of humans and animals of all ages to methylmercury adversely impacts the cardiovascular system, blood pressure regulation, and heart-rate variability, and contributes to heart disease; (8)the monetary benefit of reducing those health outcomes is estimated to be in the billions of dollars; (9)reducing coal-fired power plant mercury emissions by 90 percent is— (A)feasible by calendar year 2010 using current methods, such as activated carbon injection technology and fabric filters; and (B)projected to result in annual financial benefits of up to $5,200,000,000; (10)the addition of a scrubber can reduce mercury emissions by up to 98 percent from a bituminous coal-fired power plant; (11)activated carbon injection technology has been successfully used to control mercury emissions from municipal waste incinerators, leading to reductions from 45.2 tons in 1990 to 2.2 tons in 2000; (12)the capital cost of activated carbon injection equipment is minimal, at less than $3 per kilowatt; (13)the final rules of the Environmental Protection Agency entitled Revision of December 2000 Regulatory Finding on the Emissions of Hazardous Air Pollutants From Electric Utility Steam Generating Units and the Removal of Coal- and Oil-Fired Electric Utility Steam Generating Units from the Section 112(c) List (70 Fed. Reg. 15994 (March 29, 2005)) and Standards of Performance for New and Existing Stationary Sources: Electric Utility Steam Generating Units (70 Fed. Reg 28606) (May 18, 2005)) (commonly known as the Clean Air Mercury Rule), which were vacated by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, would have reduced mercury emissions by only 50 percent by 2020; (14)in enacting Public Law 101–549 (commonly known as the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990) (42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.), Congress included a list of 188 hazardous air pollutants, including mercury, to be regulated under section 112 of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7412); and (15)section 112 of that Act requires regulation of hazardous air pollutants using maximum achievable control technology. (b)

Purposes

The purposes of this Act are— (1)to require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to promulgate regulations to control hazardous air pollutant emissions from electric utility steam generating units; and (2)to ensure that those regulations accurately reflect the availability of highly effective controls.

3.

Emissions from electric utility steam generating units

Section 112(n)(1) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7412(n)(1)) is amended by adding at the end the following: (D)

Regulations

(i)

Proposal

Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of the Mercury Emissions Control Act, but in no case later than October 1, 2008, the Administrator shall propose regulations under subsection (d) to control the emission from new and existing electric utility steam generating units of hazardous air pollutants, including mercury pollutants. (ii)

Requirement

The regulations adopted from the proposed regulations under clause (i) shall require a reduction in emissions of mercury from new and existing electric utility steam generating units of not less than 90 percent. .