EDF, States, Public Health Associations, Power Companies Urge Court to Leave Life-Saving Mercury Standards in Place

NEWS RELEASE

The latest round of court battles over the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards for fossil fuel power plants began yesterday evening when EDF and many others filed a motion asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to leave the life-saving protections in place while the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) responds to a recent Supreme Court decision. These power plant smokestacks are our nation’s single largest source of mercury and other hazardous air pollutants.   

EDF joined a broad group of state and local governments, public health and medical associations including the American Academy of Pediatrics, and environmental groups in asking the court to keep the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards in place while EPA considers costs in its threshold assessment whether it is “necessary and appropriate” to regulate (EPA had considered costs in establishing the resulting emissions standards). 

Several major power companies also filed a motion yesterday supporting these clean air standards and documenting that actual compliance costs have been a fraction of those predicted.

“Vacating the Rule would be profoundly disruptive, creating and exacerbating significant hazards to public health and the environment and disrupting the administration of other vital air and water pollution control programs,” the group of states, medical associations and non-governmental organizations stated in our motion. 

The Mercury and Air Toxics Standards set the first-ever national limits on hazardous air pollutants from power plants, including mercury, arsenic, chromium, and hydrochloric acid gas. These pollutants are dangerous to human health even in small doses – mercury causes brain damage in children, metal toxics like chromium and nickel cause cancer, and acid gases cause respiratory problems. When fully implemented, the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards will prevent up to 11,000 deaths and tens of thousands of other serious health problems each year.

In June, a sharply divided Supreme Court remanded the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards case to the D.C. Circuit Court. The Supreme Court ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must consider the costs of regulation in making its threshold determination whether to regulate hazardous air pollution from power plants. The Supreme Court did not overturn the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards themselves, and these vital protections remain in effect today and continue to deliver clean air protections for our nation. EDF was a party to the case. 

The latest round of court battles revolves around whether the D.C. Circuit Court should keep the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards in place while EPA responds to the Supreme Court. EPA previously found that the public health benefits of the standards were valued up to $90 billion annually and far exceeded the compliance costs.

EDF and others argue strongly that vacating the standards would be harmful to public health and the environment. 

“EPA has ample information to swiftly address the Court’s ruling while ensuring that these vital clean air safeguards are carried out without delay,” said EDF Senior Attorney Graham McCahan. “We will keep diligently working to protect our communities and children from mercury and other toxic pollution in our air.”

EPA has informed the court that its analysis will be completed by April 2016.

More briefs are expected to be filed with the D.C. Circuit Court over the next two months on whether to keep the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards in place. There is no timetable for the court to rule, but a decision will likely come this winter.

You can find more about the history of the case and all the legal briefs on EDF’s website.