EPA MERCURY RULE FRUSTRATES STATE EFFORTS TO MEET WATER STANDARDS

The mercury reductions required under EPA's new rule creating a cap-and-trade approach for cutting mercury emissions from power plants will make it nearly impossible for states to achieve water quality standards for the toxin, state sources and environmentalists say. The rule, which requires a 70 percent cut in mercury emissions by 2018, falls short of the 90 percent reduction goal that critics have long said is needed in most states to meet their water quality requirements. "Unless EPA uses its...