The US Environmental Protection Agency Tuesday said it will extend by 30 days the comment period for its proposed rule to reduce mercury and other toxic emissions from power plants, still plans issue a final rule in November.
The agency said it was acting in response to requests from members of Congress to allow more time for the public to respond to the national rule proposed in March. The comment was scheduled to close July 5.
"EPA will put these long-overdue standards in effect in November, as planned," EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said in a statement. "In our effort to be responsive to Congress and to build on the robust public comment process, we will extend the timeline for public input by 30 days, which will not impact the timeline for issuing the final standards."
Led by House Energy and Commerce Committee veteran John Dingell of Michigan, 27 Democratic members of the US House of Representatives earlier this month asked Jackson for a total of 120 days for public comment on the "very complex proposed rule."
The National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners in May also requested EPA consider an extra 60 days for public comment to allow state utility regulators time to analyze the proposal, conduct consultations and determine whether to comment.
The proposed rule would set national standards for the power plants to reduce emissions of mercury and toxic acid gases, known as hydrogen chloride or HC1, by 91%. Fossil-fuel power plants also must reduce their emissions of non-mercury metals, known as particulate matter or PM, by 55%.
By 2014, as proposed, EPA's mercury and air toxics rule would require utilities to install "maximum achievable control technology" on coal-fired power plants, convert units to a lower-emission fuel or close them. EPA said states may, on a case-by-case basis, give a year-long extension for utilities to meet the rule.
