North Carolina seeks EPA action to clean up power plants across South, Midwest

Raleigh, NC - North Carolina invoked a rarely used section of the Clean Air Act today and filed a petition with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to compel the federal government to take action in 13 other states to clean up their dirty power plants, the leading source of air pollution that increasingly harms the public health and economy of the South. The move, led by Attorney General Roy Cooper and Governor Mike Easley, would reduce roughly half of the nation's total sulfur dioxide pollution.

Every year, some 8,000 people in the South die prematurely due to exposure to power plant pollution. According to EPA analysis, North Carolina's petition would eliminate 4.8 million tons of sulfur dioxide, or 75 percent, and 1.5 million tons of nitrogen oxides, or 69 percent, annually from coal-burning power plants operating in southern and midwestern states (see chart for state-by-state numbers).

Under the federal Clean Air Act, Section 126, a state that suffers from air pollution coming from other states can petition the EPA to force those upwind states to reduce emissions. In the late 1990s, the state of New York and several other states coordinated a series of such petitions to successfully target nitrogen oxides emissions from Midwestern plants that lead to severe ozone smog problems in the Northeast. North Carolina is acting alone, and is the first state to file in the South, one of the regions hardest hit by air pollution due largely to coal-burning power plants. The EPA has 60 days to respond to North Carolina's petition.

In 2002, North Carolina passed the Clean Smokestacks Act, which goes beyond federal requirements for reducing power plant pollution and is considered one of the strongest state air pollution control laws in the country. Nonetheless, North Carolina will not be able to meet federal clean air standards due in part to pollution crossing its borders from surrounding states, including Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, and Michigan.

"Faced with the reversals and rollbacks of air quality rules at the federal level, North Carolina chose to lead by example in passing its Clean Smokestacks legislation and encouraging upwind states to do the same," said SELC Deputy Director Jeff Gleason. "With upwind states slow to follow its example, North Carolina is again taking the lead to protect the health and well-being of its citizens, demanding that EPA force upwind states to reduce pollution. We applaud Attorney General Cooper and Governor Easley for their leadership on this important issue." SELC is a regional organization that has worked for almost two decades at the state and national level to clean up coal-fired power plants.

Gleason noted that North Carolina's action would actually benefit people living in the targeted states more than people in North Carolina. States would have to cut roughly three-quarters of their current sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions, resulting in significantly cleaner air in those states. "North Carolina's petition is a clear opportunity for the 13 targeted states to clean up their own smokestacks and protect the health of their citizens," he said.

Although the EPA is currently proposing a rule to reduce interstate air pollution throughout the East, the measure could take several years to pass, and doesn't require full reductions until 2015, Gleason said. Under Section 126, the 13 states targeted by North Carolina's petition would have three years to reduce power plant pollution. "We need more reductions, faster. It's not a question of money or technology - it's a matter of life and death."

Power plants are the single largest source of dirty air in the South, and the U.S. In addition to causing approximately 8,000 premature deaths in the South every year, power plant pollution triggers some 167,500 asthma attacks, and is responsible for almost 1.5 million work days lost annually due to asthma attacks and other respiratory problems resulting from this exposure. Health advisories are often issued in the two most-visited national parks in the country - the Shenandoah and Great Smoky Mountains - because the air is unhealthy to breathe.

EPA estimates that reducing power plant pollution in the East would yield $82.4 billion annually in health benefits, and an additional $1.4 billion every year in economic benefits from improved visibility in the two national parks and eight "Class I" wilderness areas in the Southern Appalachians, compared to an annual cost of $4 billion. Power plant pollution also takes a heavy toll on the region's agricultural sector, weakens forest ecosystems and contributes to the decline of water quality in trout streams and estuaries, including the Chesapeake Bay.