Move to block state mercury-emission rules falters

PENNSYLVANIA - An attempt by owners of power plants and coal mines to stop the state Department of Environmental Protection from implementing proposed mercury-emission rules appears dead for now.

Douglas Biden, president of the Electric Power Generation Association and chief spokesman for the coalition of interests opposing DEP on the mercury issue, said the Republican leadership in the state House chose not to move the bill. He attributed that to the unwillingness of the House to take up a controversial issue in an election year.

"I would say the chances for addressing this in the Legislature have dimmed somewhat," Biden said. "I can't fault the Legislature for not wanting to address this in an election year."

DEP hopes to have its mercury regulations approved by both the Environmental Quality Board and the Independent Regulatory Review Commission in time to meet a Nov. 17 federal deadline for either accepting the weaker U.S. Environmental Protection Agency mercury rules or having state-specific rules ready to go.

"It's a tight and challenging deadline," DEP spokesman Kurt Knaus said.

Biden said his coalition will concentrate on blocking the DEP rules in the regulatory review process. If that happens, the state would be forced to accept the weaker EPA regulations.

Senate Bill 1201 and a companion bill in the House, House Bill 2610, are bottled up in the House Environmental Resources Committee. House Speaker John Perzel and Majority Leader Sam Smith tried to bypass the committee by sending the bills directly to the Rules Committee, but sent it back to the Environmental Committee after a public outcry.

Both bills would allow a longer compliance period for reductions in mercury emissions from coal-burning power plants and allow interstate trading of mercury-emissions credits. DEP and environmental groups opposed credit trading, saying that could result in mercury "hot spots" around power plants that bought credits to avoid installing equipment to control mercury emissions.

Last-minute compromise efforts before Legislators went home for the summer recess failed.

The coalition of power plant and mine owners rejected a proposal by House Minority Whip Mike Veon, D-Beaver, to allow trading of mercury-emission credits within Pennsylvania after all power plants had met the DEP requirement for a 90 percent reduction of mercury emissions by 2015.

Supporters of the Rendell administration and DEP rejected a proposal from Biden's group to allow interstate credit trading once all power plants had been fitted with technology to control mercury emissions. Biden said he was told the governor would veto any bill that allowed interstate trading of credits.

Rep. William Adolph Jr., R-Delaware, chairman of the Environmental Committee, noted that the Legislature will not come back into session until mid-September. Adolph, who was upset by Perzel's Rules Committee gambit, said he plans to hold a committee hearing on mercury regulations in August.

"It will deal with the cost effectiveness of the plans, the effect on the environment and the effect on the cost of energy in future years," he said. "I don't believe there has been any analysis of that yet."