Biden govt. sets tighter standards for soot pollution

Biden govt. sets tighter standards for soot pollution

Subject: Environment

Section: Pollution

Context:

• The Biden administration has introduced stricter standards for soot pollution, aiming to reduce emissions from various sources like tailpipes and smokestacks (a chimney or funnel for discharging smoke from a locomotive, ship, factory, etc.) to prevent thousands of premature deaths annually.

About the new EPA rules:

• The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) rule could mandate power plants to capture smokestack emissions, a technology not widely used in the US.
• The new EPA rule is seen as a significant health improvement measure by environmental and public health groups, but industry groups fear it could result in manufacturing job losses and potential shutdowns of power plants or refineries.
• The rule is expected to bring $46 billion in net health benefits by 2032, including the prevention of up to 800,000 asthma attacks and 4,500 premature deaths, benefiting children, the elderly, those with heart and lung conditions, and communities historically impacted by industrial pollution.
• The regulation lowers the allowable fine particle pollution levels to 9 micrograms per cubic meter of air from the previous 12 micrograms set under the Obama administration.
• This rule mandates states and counties to meet the new air quality standards to reduce pollution.
• The rule applies to both existing and future plants.
• By 2038, almost all coal plants and large gas-fired plants would need to significantly reduce or capture their emissions, with non-compliant plants facing retirement.
  • The US electricity mix includes about 20% coal and 40% natural gas, with the rest from nuclear and renewables. The power sector’s carbon emissions are currently at 1984 levels, despite a 73% increase in electricity use.
• The new EPA rule doesn’t mandate specific carbon capture equipment but sets carbon dioxide pollution caps that the industry must meet, possibly leading to more use of carbon capture technology.

Associated challenges:

• Administration officials dismissed concerns about the rule’s impact on industry, noting technological advancements have enabled compliance with past standards, and highlighting the decline in soot pollution over the last two decades despite economic growth.
• Industry groups and some officials argue the stricter standard could hinder permitting for new or expanded industrial plants and potentially push companies to relocate to countries with laxer air-quality standards, contradicting the administration’s economic and environmental objectives.

Source: TH