Pennsylvania EQB Will Hold Hearing on Mercury Emissions

Members of the Pennsylvania Environmental Quality Board will consider a petition regarding the regulation of mercury emissions at its next meeting on Oct. 19. Citizens for Pennsylvania’s Future, along with other groups filed the petition last month, asking the state immediately to begin regulating toxic mercury emissions from the state’s power plants.

Under the EQB’s petition policy, the petitioner or designee will be given the opportunity to make a presentation before the board after which members will take action to either accept or reject the petition.

In filing the petition, PennFuture’s Director of Outreach Jan Jarrett said: “DEP Secretary Kathleen McGinty has correctly and forcefully criticized the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for refusing to regulate mercury as the serious health, environmental and economic problem it is. It is clear that the EPA isn’t budging on this, so Pennsylvania must take action, just as New Jersey, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Wisconsin are doing. It’s time for strong actions to match our strong words.”

On April 1, DEP Secretary Kathleen McGinty asked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to withdraw its proposed mercury emissions reduction rule, which backs away from minimum requirements in the federal Clean Air Act and slows down the timetable to achieve significant reductions of the pollutant that is highly toxic and linked to many health effects.

Pennsylvania joined nine other states—New Hampshire, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, New Mexico, New York, New Jersey and Vermont—in seeking the withdrawal.