EPA’s newly proposed rollback of stricter power industry air toxics regulations could carry a ricochet effect: states having to toughen controls on other pollution sources to meet required air quality goals, according to an in-house analysis released this week.
Under the draft rule published Tuesday, the agency would scrap regulations updated last year primarily to tighten emission limits on mercury, arsenic and other hazardous metals from coal-fired power plants.
But as a side benefit, those regulations were also expected to cut concentrations of smog and soot in parts of the United States, possibly including some that were flunking ambient air quality standards for one or both of those pollutants, the regulatory impact analysis says.
“As these emissions reductions will not occur under this proposed repeal action, states may need to pursue emissions reductions from other sources to reach the standards, incurring costs for those sources,” the analysis says.
