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US eases pollution rules

The US relaxed its clean air rules Wednesday, saying this would improve the US power supply, but opponents vowed legal action to block the move, saying it would lead to more air pollution.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a rule allowing some 17,000 coal-fired power plants, refineries and factories to modernize without having to install costly new pollution control equipment.

"This rule will result in safer, more efficient operation of these facilities and, in the case of power plants, more reliable operations that are environmentally sound and provide more affordable energy," EPA acting administrator Marianne Horinko said in a statement.

The measure exempts facilities from having to install pollution controls when replacing old equipment so long as the replacements' cost does not exceed one-fifth of what the EPA would consider the cost of a total "process unit" consisting of a boiler, turbine, generator and other equipment used to convert coal into electricity.

Lobbyists for utilities had long sought the changes, saying these would make it easier for companies to modernize the national electric grid.

The issue gained prominence after massive power failures swept the northeastern and midwestern US and parts of Canada earlier this month.

Industry groups welcomed Wednesday's rule.

"Americans deserve a reliable supply of electricity and continuing air quality improvements," Thomas Kuhn, president of the Edison Electric Institute, said in a statement. "These new regulations are vital to achieving these goals."

Kuhn's group claims to represent companies supplying electricity to nearly 70 percent of Americans.

But environmental and health advocates vowed to fight the measure, due to take effect in about 10 weeks, saying its results would include an upsurge in illnesses and ecological damage.

"You will see lawsuits within the next several weeks," said John Walke, clean air director at the Natural Resources Defense Council.

"We certainly will" sue to block and ultimately overturn the rule, he said, adding that other groups "will join a coalition lawsuit by public health organizations."

John Kirkwood, president of the American Lung Association, said his group would be among the plaintiffs.

"We will take legal action to challenge this decision," he said in a statement.

The EPA said that under the revisions announced Wednesday, companies will still be required to observe emissions limits laid out in existing pollution permits.

But Carl Pope, executive director of the environmental group Sierra Club, said dirtier air appeared inevitable under the new measure.

"Polluters can replace huge pieces of their factories without installing readily available modern technology to curb the soot and smog pollution that leaves our communities at risk to more asthma attacks, acid rain, and other toxic pollution," Pope said in a statement.
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