MATS

New rules from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have several unintended consequences for the power sector, an expert said at a POWER magazine event on Dec. 7. Floyd Self, an attorney with Florida-based law firm Berger Singerman, said that the bevy of new EPA rules have helped forged mergers between electric and gas utilities and necessitated […]

The power sector should view the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) recent drive to tighten regulations on air and water emissions as an opportunity to improve its efficiency and environmental footprint rather than as an obstacle, said EPA General Counsel Avi S. Garbow at POWER magazine’s inaugural conference on legal issues in the generation industry. “We want […]

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Nov. 20 issued a supplemental finding that consideration of costs does not affect its previous conclusion that regulation of coal- and oil-fired power plants is “appropriate and necessary” under section 112 of the Clean Air Act. The finding was in response to a June decision by the U.S. Supreme […]

On June 29, much of the power sector rejoiced when the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) rule, finding that the EPA had

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will issue revised Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) and legally required cost-benefit analyses by April 15, 2016, court documents show. In an Aug. 10 motion filed with the D.C. Circuit for White Stallion Energy Center v. EPA (12-1100), the EPA said it intends to seek remand without vacatur (which […]

In a report released this week, M.J. Bradley & Associates found that in 2013 power plant SO2 emissions were 80% lower and NOx emissions were down 74% compared to releases in 1990—the year Congress passed major amendments to the Clean Air Act. The report, Benchmarking Air Emissions of the 100 Largest Electric Power Producers in […]

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Gina McCarthy remains firm in her resolve to create a landmark rule to reduce carbon emissions from power plants later this year. Speaking at the St. Regis Hotel in Washington, D.C., during an event sponsored by AREVA and hosted by The Christian Science Monitor, McCarthy said, “Last week’s ruling will […]

Voters in Colorado and stakeholders in Minnesota forced through unique managed generation transformation plans that paved the way for aggressive state renewable and clean energy standards—inadvertently pushing their utilities out in front of proposed and now actual federal policies. As the power industry struggles with rising costs of adaptation, many beleaguered executives are anxiously focusing […]

Of the three ways to comply with the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards for particulate matter (PM) measurement, using an optical PM continuous emissions monitoring system (CEMS) also delivers valuable side benefits, especially for units using wet flue gas desulfurization (FGD).  Editor’s Note: This issue was published before the June 29, 2015, ruling by the […]

In a 5–4 decision announced on June 29, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) rules limiting mercury and other hazardous air pollutants released from power plants. In April 2014, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit upheld the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS), ruling in a 2–1 decision […]