EPA’s final rule tightening effluent limitation guidelines (ELG) for coal-fired power plants sets a “zero discharge” limit on pollutants from three categories of wastewater, rather than the two it proposed, and adds numeric limits on arsenic and mercury groundwater releases -- both changes sought by environmentalists who said the proposal was too narrow.

EPA in just-finalized power plant greenhouse gas standards is offering a broad defense of its key finding that carbon capture and storage (CCS) is an “adequately demonstrated” technology that can serve as the basis for strict standards in the rule, outlining the agency’s stance in one of the most prominent issues that will be raised in litigation.