Montana Energy Firms Urge Supreme Court to Block EPA’s Mercury, Air Toxics Regulations

Two energy companies in Montana want the Supreme Court to block the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from enforcing new mercury emissions and toxic metals standards, citing concerns over what they say is the high-cost burden associated with the rules. Utility providers Talen Montana and NorthWestern Energy asked for an emergency stay of the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) for coal-fired power plants in a court filing on Aug. 22. The new standards, finalized by the EPA in April, reduce the existing mercury emissions limit by 70 percent for plants that use lignite (brown coal) and the emissions limit for toxic metals by 67 percent for all coal plants. They also call for the implementation of systems for real-time emissions monitoring....