Apr 08 2008
CAIRing about CAMR
Recently the Associated Press reported that the Bush administration appealed a court ruling on the clean air mercury rule (CAMR), a rule that established a market based cap and trade program mercury emissions similar to those in practice in sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxides.
In February, the US Court of Appeals District of Columbia Circuit ruled that the CAMR violates the Clean Air Act. Essentially, the ruling states that EPA cannot delist electric utility steam generating units (EGUs) from section 112 of the Clean Air Act (“CAA”), 42 U.S.C. § 7412 as they emit hazardous air pollutants (HAPs). As a result, cannot set performance based standards pursuant to section 111, 42 U.S.C. § 7411, which established the market based emission program under the CAMR.
The administration presently argues that the court misinterpreted the law and that forcing EPA to draft a new rule will delay mercury emission reductions. The Utility Air Regulatory Group, which served as intervenors in the initial case and represent a group of electric utilities have also filed for review.
While I recognize and applaud the benefit of market-based approaches for effectively reducing sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxides in the atmosphere, I’ve had mixed feelings on the inclusion of mercury with these contaminants due to its hazardous characteristics. Expanding market based approaches to hazardous compounds presents its own set of challenges, and it’s exciting to see how the judicial and executive branches wrestle with these issues.