The U.S. Court of Appeals has rejected the Environmental Protection Agency’s mercury rule. Senator Collins, who opposed the rule, issued this statement:
"The court's ruling that the EPA’s mercury rule was improperly crafted and ignored federal law is a welcome judgment. The agency's flawed rule had excluded major sources of mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants until 2018, despite clear evidence that cost-effective mercury control technologies are available. EPA’s own scientists, its Inspector General, the Government Accountability Office and now the courts have all found flaws in the rule. Now EPA must establish a new rule that complies with the law. I urge EPA to develop a strong program based on science as quickly as possible in order to protect our citizens and our environment from this dangerously toxic chemical.
"In the meantime, I will also continue to press for the legislation that I authored with Senator Lieberman to create mercury monitoring sites throughout the nation that will provide vital data for the EPA to assess mercury pollution.”
Senator Collins, along with Senator Joe Lieberman (ID-CT) have coauthored of S. 843, which would establish a comprehensive new program to measure mercury levels across the United States.