Members Of Congress Seek EPA Reversal Of Coal Regulations

Centre Daily Times

U.S. Representative Glenn ‘GT’ Thompson, R-Pennsylvania, has joined U.S. Sens. Bob Casey D-Pennsylvania, and Pat Toomey, R-Pennsylvania, in calling on the Environmental Protection Agency to create a separate subcategory for waste coal plants in new regulations that could otherwise cause them to close, according to a news release Wednesday.

The letter, which was sent this week to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, was signed by seven other Pennsylvania congressmen.

“We are writing in regard to the 14 coal-refuse-to-energy plants that are located in Pennsylvania and are affected by the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (“MATS rule”). These plants provide unique environmental benefits by using state-of-the-art circulating fluidized bed (“CFB”) technology to convert coal refuse into energy,” the letter states.

Pennsylvania’s 14 coal-refuse-to-energy plants are on track to meet the requirements for EPA’s new MATS rule, except for the hydrochloric acid (HCl) standard. The letter describes how the study conducted by EPA and used as the basis for the rule fails to consider the effects of the HCI standard on coal-refuse-to-energy plants.

Read more: http://www.centredaily.com/2012/10/17/3373025/delegates-call-on-epa-to-revise.html