EPA Seeks Strict Limits on Producers of Power

WASHINGTON - -- The Environmental Protection Agency is seeking approval from the White House to place tight new restrictions on the amount of pollution from power plants, congressional and industry sources say.

The limits in the EPA's plan are so stringent that they rival those proposed in bills sponsored by congressional Democrats.

The power industry says the restrictions would threaten the nation's supply of electricity and drive up prices at a time of shortages and price spikes in some parts of the USA. In California, for example, consumers faced rolling blackouts and rate increases of up to 37% this spring.

"You are going to put a strain on the system, guaranteed," warns Quin Shea of the Edison Electric Institute, an industry group.

The EPA's plan would most affect coal-burning plants, which produce half of the USA's electricity.

The plan is under review by other federal agencies and the White House. What the proposal would reduce, by how much and when:

Sulfur dioxide, which causes acid rain and haze; 80% from today's levels by 2010.

Nitrogen oxides, which contribute to smog; 75% from today's levels by 2012.

Mercury, which can cause nervous-system damage in humans who eat contaminated fish; 80% from today's levels by 2012.

Plants that generate electricity have to abide by a tangle of air-pollution rules, all calling for different cuts by different deadlines.

Last month, EPA chief Christie Whitman said she'd like to replace that system with simple nationwide caps on the amount of pollution that plants could emit.

Plants could meet those limits by switching to cleaner fuels, such as natural gas, installing emissions-scrubbing equipment or paying other plants to emit less.

Both industry and environmental groups support emissions caps, at least in theory. But environmentalists say the new proposal would cut less air pollution than the laws it is meant to replace.

The plan is likely to spur further confrontation between the EPA and a White House worried about energy shortages and prices. Whitman has championed other measures, such as cutting emissions linked to global warming, that the White House overruled.