EPA - Mercury Plan Protects Women & Children - By 2018, That Is

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WASHINGTON – "New controls for cutting mercury emissions from power plants will aim to protect children and pregnant women and create "a level playing field" for coal-producing regions, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency said Tuesday.

EPA Administrator Mike Leavitt said he briefed President Bush about the proposed mercury rule a couple of months ago, but he felt no pressure from the White House as he grappled with a decision during the "demanding time" of a presidential campaign. Whatever he decides will have a significant effect on the coal industry and such election battleground states as Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

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"It is a matter of real importance, and I intend to do it right," Leavitt told reporters. "The first principle is that the final rule will concentrate on the need to protect children and pregnant women."

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Leavitt said the next six months would be the decision phase, involving a complex and difficult set of choices, to craft the nation's first-ever rule to reduce mercury pollution from coal-burning power plants. The rule must be issued by March 15 under a court-approved agreement with the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group. The former Utah governor has been re-examining the agency's mercury plan since his appointment to the EPA last November. The plan envisions a 70 percent cut in mercury emissions from coal-burning power plants by 2018, from the current 48 tons a year to 15 tons."

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Link:www.signonsandiego.com/news/nation/20040810-1500-epa-mercury.html|Link]