On March 28, 2013, EPA
issued updates to its existing pollution limits for new power plants under the
mercury and air toxics standards. Although this update will not affect existing
power plants, EPA estimates that the standards will prevent up to 11,000
premature deaths and 4,700 heart attacks annually. Additionally, this change in
regulation will prevent 130,000 cases of childhood asthma and result in 6,300
fewer cases of acute bronchitis in children each year.
According to EPA, these
emissions limits are achievable, and the agency will work to continuously
monitor pollution levels at power plants that open in the future. Already,
EPA’s mercury and air toxics standards have done a great deal to protect
families from power plant emissions, and they are the first national standards to
address power plant emissions of pollutants such as acid gas, arsenic, cyanide,
nickel and selenium.
Learn more about EPA’s
emissions limits for power plants here.
