WASHINGTON — A federal court has ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to finally do what it was supposed to have done seven years ago — start slashing toxic emissions at power plants that burn coal or fuel oil.
The EPA, under the Clean Air Act, was to have issued rules aimed at cutting the plants’ air pollution by December 2002, but President George W. Bush asked Congress to end that requirement and then, after lawmakers said no, tried to convince the courts that the pollution controls weren’t needed.
That prompted a coalition of environmental and public-health groups to file a lawsuit against the EPA. It was that suit that led to yesterday’s ruling, which targets mercury pollution and soot, known to cause asthma, bronchitis and other heath problems, particularly in kids.
The EPA must issue the rules by Nov. 16, 2011.