Revision Comes After Supreme Court Finds Rule Improperly Written
On Friday in a blog post, the EPA’s director of the air pollution office, Janet McCabe, announced that the agency is proposing revisions to the Mercury and Air Toxics Standard. McCabe explained that “we are proposing to find that including a consideration of cost does not change the agency’s determination that it is appropriate to regulate air toxics, including mercury, from power plants.” Since MATS was first issued three years ago, mandating that power plants decease mercury and toxic air pollutant emission levels, “the vast majority of power plants” were able to make “the pollution reductions needed to meet their MATS requirements in April of this year and the rest will begin doing so in April of 2016,” McCabe pointed out. However, “in a narrow ruling the Supreme Court ruled that the EPA should have considered costs when determining whether to regulate toxic air emissions from the power sector.” McCabe said that after evaluating “several relevant cost metrics,” the agency still believes “it is appropriate to set standards for toxic air emissions from power plants.” The Hill reported that in its latest comments on the rule, “the EPA is seeking to administratively fix the problem by declaring that the regulation’s benefits are higher than its costs.”
What Happens Next
The Hill reported that the Supreme Court’s June decision “against the rule” didn’t overturn it, instead leaving the EPA to try “to solve the problem the court identified.” The Hill continued, “The EPA’s regulatory agenda anticipates making the proposed change final by May.”
What This Means For Small Businesses
Small businesses saw a victory in June in the Supreme Court’s 5-4 ruling that the EPA incorrectly went ahead with mandates on emissions without first considering the costs involved. However, the EPA is stubbornly pursuing its overreaching regulatory agenda, meaning that businesses will eventually see changes in emissions regulations once the new EPA proposal is finalized.
Additional Reading
Bloomberg BNA also reported on the EPA’s proposed changes to MATS.
Note: this article is intended to keep small business owners up on the latest news. It does not necessarily represent the policy stances of NFIB.
