The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed regulations that would significantly cut emissions of mercury and other pollutants from boilers, process heaters and solid waste incinerators. The pollutants include several toxic compounds known or suspected to cause cancer or other serious health problems and environmental damage.
Large boilers and all incinerators would be required to meet emissions limits for mercury and other pollutants. Facilities with boilers would also be required to conduct energy audits to identify cost-effective ways of reducing fuel consumption and emissions. Those facilities with some of the smallest boilers would not have to meet these requirements, but would have to perform tune-ups every two years. Together these proposals would cut annual mercury emissions from about 200,000 industrial boilers process heaters and solid waste incinerators, reducing overall mercury emissions by more than 50%.
It is estimated that the proposed rules would yield more than five dollars in public health benefits for every dollar spent in installing and operating the pollution controls required. These benefits include preventing 2000–5200 premature deaths and about 36,000 asthma attacks each year.
'Strong cuts to mercury and other harmful emissions will have real benefits for our health and our environment, spur clean technology innovations and save American communities billions of dollars in avoided health costs,' said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. 'This is a cost-effective, commonsense way to protect our health and the health of our children, and get America moving into the clean economy of the future.'
Click here for more information on the proposals.
