EPA may file new coal plant lawsuits

WASHINGTON -- - The U.S. government is likely to file new lawsuits against coal-burning electric utilities that violate air pollution rules, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency said recently.

The agency in August 2003 proposed easing federal rules to make it easier for utilities to upgrade their facilities without violating the Clean Air Act. A federal court in December temporarily barred the agency from enacting the policy change because of a lawsuit by several Northeast states, including New York.

In the meantime, EPA Administrator Mike Leavitt told reporters recently that enforcement action will continue "on all filed cases and there will be new ones."

Emissions from coal-fired power plants and refineries can aggravate asthma, chronic bronchitis and pneumonia. The EPA and the Justice Department are still pursuing cases filed by the Clinton administration in 1999 against large U.S. utilities over past violations of the Clean Air Act.

The EPA still has active lawsuits against eight utilities -- including Southern Co. and American Electric Power Co. , the largest U.S. owner of coal-burning plants.

In addition, "there will be new cases brought" against utilities, Leavitt told reporters at an event hosted by the National Association of Manufacturers. He would not elaborate, and said he planned to meet with agency enforcement staff to discuss plans later this week.

"They're scouring the Earth to find a case or two that would violate the changed rules, and they're having trouble finding them," said Frank O'Donnell at the Clean Air Trust.

The EPA's proposed rules would allow companies to replace aging equipment with their "functional equivalent" without installing expensive pollution control equipment. They also would exempt replacement costs that are less than 20 percent of the value of the plant.

Leavitt said the next 15 years will be "the most productive period of air quality improvement" in U.S. history. He cited new rules that would require utilities to cut their emissions by 70 percent and spend $50 billion on new pollution-reduction equipment.