EPA Mercury Rule is Changed Due to New Cost Benefit Analysis

Photo: LA Times

The Trump administration has been seeking over the last few years to undo or "rollback" any environmental regulation which was enacted during the Obama administration.  As I have previously mentioned, any change in management must be fought in the courtroom.  Simply because to change the law (in Congress), any new regulation must be better (safer) than the previous one.  Unless, of course, in a court of law, it can be shown that benefits to society are outweighed by the cost to society (cost burden).  That appears to be the case concerning mercury pollution in power plants.



Recently, the Trump administration won a court battle changing the calculation (parameters/conditions for the computation) which dictate the limit for mercury pollution as reported by Politico Agriculture:

MERCURY RULE WOBBLING: EPA released its final revisions to the Obama-era Mercury and Air Toxics Standard, and as expected, the revisions keep in place the pollution limits set in 2013, though the agency says its update of the cost-benefit analysis indicates the regulation should never have been enacted in the first place, Pro's Alex Guillén reports.

The move is one of the most significant regulation rollbacks yet issued by the Trump EPA, as it could make it more difficult to create future environmental regulations. The action cements a critical change to EPA's regulatory math that could limit the use of some public health benefits to justify environmental rules, as Alex reports.//

The fight comes down to co-benefits: The Obama EPA was only able to quantify a few million dollars' worth of direct benefits from mercury reductions when it first finalized the rule, which were dwarfed by the estimated $10 billion compliance cost. However, the Obama EPA counted tens of billions of dollars' worth of "co-benefits" from the rule's reduction in particulate matter pollution, which outweighed the costs.

The Trump EPA agreed to revisit the matter, and removed those co-benefits, which it said changed the balance and meant it was never "appropriate and necessary" to regulate mercury from power plants.

Thursday's rulemaking effectively creates a game of regulatory Jenga, public health advocates argue. The numeric limits on mercury pollution are still sitting atop the tower, but a coal company or other interested party could topple the whole thing with a legal argument that the standards are no longer justified. "This deeply irresponsible finding seeks to sabotage the rules by inviting court challenges from Wheeler's former clients and the Trump administration's current donors and allies," said Earthjustice attorney James Pew.

Administrator Andrew Wheeler on Thursday however waved off concerns from electric utilities that the agency's revisions could cost them billions of dollars, calling it an exaggeration, Alex reports. "I always find it interesting when some groups say, 'Oh this is going to create legal uncertainty because people are going to sue.' And they're going to sue. And they sue in every other instance," he added. "So I don't really buy that. I think our regulation is grounded in the science, is grounded in good cost-benefit analysis."

The move above by the Trump administration goes against the tide of change sweeping across the world right now.  Only the cabinet members and individual coal power plants believe that the ruling is good.  The remainder of power plant owners/operators is clear on where the future is taking the renewable energy sector.  And with the rise of renewable energy comes cleaner energy.  Including overhauling power plant technology, which is outdated and replacing that technology with new or better (cleaner) energy sources.  The future is here.  Our current President is out of touch with technology and the drive toward more modern (and cleaner) energy.  Join the bandwagon or be left behind.


Have a good weekend.