Obama Administration issues new emissions rules for coal plants

WASHINGTON — Acting under federal court order, the Obama administration proposed new air-quality rules on Tuesday for coal-burning power plants that officials said would bring major reductions in soot and smog from Texas to the Eastern Seaboard.

Environmental advocates welcomed the new rules, saying they were better than those proposed by the Bush administration and more likely to survive legal challenge. But they also said that the E.P.A. still had a lot of work to do.

“The E.P.A. proposal is a big step in the right direction,” said Frank O’Donnell of Clean Air Watch, an advocacy group. “It’s a step toward taming the environmental beast known as the coal-fired power plant. But it is only a first step. E.P.A. still needs to move ahead with plans next year to limit power plant emissions of toxic mercury and other hazardous air pollutants.”


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Obama Administration issues new emissions rules for coal plants