Power plants face new rules

All power plants in North Carolina must install controls to reduce mercury by 2018 under new rules adopted Thursday by state environmental regulators.

Mercury, a toxic pollutant that contaminates fish and can damage children's nervous systems, enters the air when power plants burn coal. It falls to the ground, settles in rivers and collects in fish.

Last year, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency required utilities to cut 70 percent of mercury emissions by 2018 -- a rule that environmental groups say was too weak to protect public health. States had the option of taking the federal rule or adopting a more stringent one.

North Carolina went the more stringent route. It's rule, passed by the state Environmental Management Commission, a regulatory panel, requires all plants to install controls for mercury by 2018, with new plants installing the most up-to-date technology available.

"This rule marks an important and aggressive step forward in controlling mercury pollution in North Carolina and should stand among the strongest mercury regulations in the country," said John Suttles, an attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center.

The federal requirement forces power plants to cut mercury emissions in two stages: By 2010, output must drop by 21 percent; eight years later, plants must cut emissions by the full 70 percent.

"We're expecting greater than 70 percent reductions," said Tom Mather, a spokesman for the Division of Air Quality. "The fact that we are requiring reductions at every facility we believe will result in further reductions."

Utilities in North Carolina are expected to exceed the 2010 reduction requirements because of equipment being added to reduce other pollutants. By 2018, under the state rule, they must install controls that provide the maximum level of reductions at each plant that are technically and economically feasible.

"We're satisfied with this approach," said Tom Williams, a spokesman for Duke Energy. "We think it's reasonable, but challenging."