EPA Reduces Smokestack Pollution, Protecting Americans from Soot and Smog
EPA News Release: (Region 3) EPA Reduces Smokestack Pollution, Protecting Americans’ Health from Soot and Smog
Building on the Obama Administration’s strong record of protecting the public’s
health through common-sense clean air standards – including proposed standards
to reduce emissions of mercury and other air toxics, as well as air quality
standards for sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide – the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) finalized additional Clean Air Act protections
that will slash hundreds of thousands of tons of smokestack emissions that
travel long distances through the air leading to soot and smog, threatening the
health of hundreds of millions of Americans living downwind. The Cross-State Air
Pollution Rule will protect communities that are home to 240 million Americans
from smog and soot pollution, preventing up to 34,000 premature deaths, 15,000
nonfatal heart attacks, 19,000 cases of acute bronchitis, 400,000 cases of
aggravated asthma, and 1.8 million sick days a year beginning in 2014 –
achieving up to $280 billion in annual health benefits. Twenty seven states in
the eastern half of the country will work with power plants to cut air pollution
under the rule, which leverages widely available, proven and cost-effective
control technologies. Ensuring flexibility, EPA will work with states to help
develop the most appropriate path forward to deliver significant reductions in
harmful emissions while minimizing costs for utilities and consumers.
“No
community should have to bear the burden of another community's polluters, or be
powerless to prevent air pollution that leads to asthma, heart attacks and other
harmful illnesses. These Clean Air Act safeguards will help protect the health
of millions of Americans and save lives by preventing smog and soot pollution
from traveling hundreds of miles and contaminating the air they breathe,” said
EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. “By maximizing flexibility and leveraging
existing technology, the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule will help ensure that
American families aren’t suffering the consequences of pollution generated far
from home, while allowing states to decide how best to decrease dangerous air
pollution in the most cost effective way.”
Carried long distances across
the country by wind and weather, power plant emissions of sulfur dioxide
(SO2) and nitrogen oxide (NOx) continually travel across
state lines. As the pollution is transported, it reacts in the atmosphere and
contributes to harmful levels of smog (ground-level ozone) and soot (fine
particles), which are scientifically linked to widespread illnesses and
premature deaths and prevent many cities and communities from enjoying healthy
air quality.
The
rule will improve air quality by cutting SO2 and NOx
emissions that contribute to pollution problems in other states. By 2014, the
rule and other state and EPA actions will reduce SO2 emissions by 73
percent from 2005 levels. NOx emissions will drop by 54 percent.
Following the Clean Air Act’s “Good Neighbor” mandate to limit interstate air
pollution, the rule will help states that are struggling to protect air quality
from pollution emitted outside their borders, and it uses an approach that can
be applied in the future to help areas continue to meet and maintain air quality
health standards.
The
Cross-State Air Pollution Rule replaces and strengthens the 2005 Clean Air
Interstate Rule (CAIR), which the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
ordered EPA to revise in 2008. The court allowed CAIR to remain in place
temporarily while EPA worked to finalize today’s replacement rule.
The
rule will protect over 240 million Americans living in the eastern half of the
country, resulting in up to $280 billion in annual benefits. The benefits far outweigh the $800 million
projected to be spent annually on this rule in 2014 and the roughly $1.6 billion
per year in capital investments already underway as a result of CAIR. EPA expects pollution reductions to occur
quickly without large expenditures by the power industry. Many power plants
covered by the rule have already made substantial investments in clean air
technologies to reduce SO2 and NOx emissions. The rule
will level the playing field for power plants that are already controlling these
emissions by requiring more facilities to do the same. In the states where
investments in control technology are required, health and environmental
benefits will be substantial.
The
rule will also help improve visibility in state and national parks while better
protecting sensitive ecosystems, including Appalachian streams, Adirondack
lakes, estuaries, coastal waters, and forests. In a supplemental rulemaking
based on further review and analysis of air quality information, EPA is also
proposing to require sources in Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Oklahoma, and
Wisconsin to reduce NOX emissions during the summertime ozone season.
The proposal would increase the total number of states covered by the rule from
27 to 28. Five of these six states are covered for other pollutants under the
rule. The proposal is open for public review and comment for 45 days after
publication in the Federal Register.