The Hill News

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed two new air quality rules that pose substantial threats to both employment and the competitiveness of U.S. manufacturers.  The first is the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) that would cap key emissions crossing state lines and the second is the Utility Maximum Achievable Control Technology Rule (MACT) that would set absolute limits in mercury and other chemical emissions.  As designed, the Utility MACT would be the most expensive direct rule in EPA history.  Indeed, the EPA itself has estimated it would impose costs of about $11 billion a year on the U.S. economy, though third-party estimates of compliance costs are considerably higher.

For example, a recent analysis by National Economic Research Associates (NERA) finds that complying with the proposed standards would cost power companies close to $18 billion per year for the next 20 years.  Some coal-fired plants would be so expensive to re! trofit they would simply be shut down.  The NERA study also projects that about 48 gigawatts of coal generation would be retired over the next five years, representing a 13 percent decline. 

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