More mercury?Regulation of air pollution has been a constant battleground since the Clean Air Act was passed in 1970, with environmentalists often fighting smokestack utilities (see "Blue Skies," cover story, November/December 1999). Now, imminent victory may turn into defeat as the Bush administration's Environmental Protection Agency Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), independent agency of the U.S. government, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1970 to reduce and control air and water pollution, noise pollution, and radiation and to ensure the safe handling and (EPA EPA eicosapentaenoic acid. EPA abbr. eicosapentaenoic acid EPA, n.pr See acid, eicosapentaenoic. EPA, n. ) proposes to weaken strong guidelines guidelines, n.pl a set of standards, criteria, or specifications to be used or followed in the performance of certain tasks. adopted under President Clinton Clinton. 1 Town (1990 pop. 12,767), Middlesex co., S Conn., on Long Island Sound; settled 1663, set off from Killingworth and inc. 1838. The school that later became Yale opened here in 1702. . "This looks like a Christmas present for industry," says Michael Bender of the Mercury Policy Project, whose group has researched the close connections between Bush funders and mercury-emitting industries. The Clinton rules could have cost coal-burning utilities $7 billion a year. The new proposal would allow for tradable permits of mercury emissions, similar to the permits currently allowed for sulfur-dioxide emissions. Michael O. Leavitt, the EPA's new administrator, claims this market-based system will lower mercury emissions, but critics say the credits will produce potentially dangerous hot spots hot spots acute moist dermatitis. of mercury contamination. CONTACT: Mercury Policy Project, (802)223-9000, www.mercurypolicy.org. |
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