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NEW EPA REPORT SHOWS DIRTIEST POWER PLANT BOILERS BETTERING ACID RAIN REDUCTION GOALS BY UP TO 35 PERCENT

Release Date: 06/20/97
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NEW EPA REPORT SHOWS  DIRTIEST POWER PLANT BOILERS
BETTERING ACID RAIN REDUCTION GOALS BY UP TO 35 PERCENT

Dave Ryan 202-260-2981

EPA today announced a new report showing that in 1996 utilities reduced
sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions from their largest and dirtiest electric
utility boilers by 35 percent beyond reductions required by the acid rain
provisions of the Clean Air Act.  The report also shows that utilities  
reduced nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions by an average of 18 percent beyond
the Act goal for 1996.  SO2 and NOx are the prime ingredients of acid rain,
as well as posing respiratory dangers to human health. Electric utilities
contribute over 65 percent of the nation’s SO2 emissions, and over 28 percent
of the NOx emissions.  The study also reveals that all affected boilers
are in 100 percent compliance with all SO2 and NOx requirements of the
acid rain provisions of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990. Additionally,
the report notes an increase in acid rain emission trading:  The volume of
allowances transferred (an allowance is equal to one ton of SO2) more than
doubled from 1.9 million in 1995 to 4.4 million in 1996; the price of an
allowance was in the $90 range at the end of 1996 (currently it stands in
the $90-100 range).  In contrast to the emission trading approach of the
SO2 program, the NOx requirements establish an emission rate limit for all
affected utility units. The 1990 Amendments established an overall program
to reduce sulfur dioxide emissions from power plants by 8.5 million tons from
1980 levels by 2010 (roughly a 50 percent cut).  To get this started, the Act
identified 263 utility boilers (the biggest and dirtiest in the U.S.)  
required to make substantial emission reductions between 1995 and 2000.  
The remaining 1500 boilers in the nation are required to begin reducing
emissions in 2000, in order to help meet the 2010 goal; however, boilers--
both utility and industrial-- may voluntarily enter the program early.  
The “1996 Compliance Report, Acid Rain Program,”(EPA 430-R-97-025,June 1997),
is available on the Web at https://www.epa.gov/acidrain/cmprpt96/cr1996.html
or call the Acid Rain Hotline at 202-233-9620.  For further technical
information, contact Melanie Dean of EPA’s Acid Rain Division at 202-233-9189.