Utilities Use EPA’s MATS Cost Plan To Pitch Softer Compliance Mandates

Electric utilities are using EPA’s proposed rollback of the finding underpinning the Obama-era mercury and air toxics standards for power plants (MATS) as a vehicle for pitching weaker compliance requirements, such as eased testing mandates, urging the agency in little-noticed comments to finalize the plan then launch a new rulemaking to ease those provisions. To date, environmentalists, states, lawmakers and utilities have sparred mostly over the agency’s proposal to undo the threshold “appropriate and necessary” finding underpinning MATS. But as...