The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is overloaded with regulations and cannot meet the aggressive timetable set for its proposed ruling on emissions regulations from U.S. power plants, reports The New York Times.
The ruling, now delayed by two months, will enable the EPA to gain greater industry input before putting out a final version in September. Congressional Republicans and some Democrats oppose the changes, which cover a broad range of new, air-quality regulations such as greenhouse gas regulations from power plants and how to dispose of coal ash, plant-cooling water, ozone and toxic air emissions from the stations.
The delay is seen by many as a consequence of the strong political, economic and technical challenges that cannot be adequately addressed in the aggressive timetable originally set. EPA officials say they still expect to have a final rule in place by May 2012.
The new rule may force the shutdown of many older power plants, or at least compel companies to make modifications to these aging plants, according to experts quoted in The New York Times article.
For more information about the EPA’s rules on greenhouse gas emissions, click here
To read The New York Times article cited in this story, click here