EPA’s rule on Colstrip coal plant pollution struck down
The Clean Air Act requires companies to use the best available technology on older coal plants to reduce the pollutants, which can cause health problems such as respiratory illness.
But a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the rule from the Environmental Protection Agency would arbitrarily require PPL Montana to install pollution controls costing tens of millions of dollars without assurance of improvements in visibility.
Tuesday’s ruling applies to the 2,100-megawatt Colstrip plant and a second plant in Billings that recently shut down partly because of the projected cost of complying with separate mercury pollution rules.
