CARPER EYES CHANGES TO MERCURY RULES IN REVISED POWER PLANT BILL

Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE) -- lead sponsor of an alternative to the administration's controversial Clear Skies multipollutant utility emissions legislation -- may relax near-term timetables for reducing mercury from individual power plants, while also considering new provisions strengthening mercury control levels the facilities must meet in later years, according to sources close to the issue. The possible changes follow utility industry objections to earlier versions of the legislation that limit mercury emissions trading as a way to comply with the...